How to turn on noise cancellation on your AirPods

There's more than one way to cancel the noise.
By Truth Headlam  on 
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AirPods Pro headphones with Active Noise Cancellation for immersive sound turned on on the iphone 11 Pro smartphone
AirPods Pro headphones with Active Noise Cancellation for immersive sound turned on on the iphone 11 Pro smartphone Credit: Adrian Hancu via Getty Images

The cool thing about Bluetooth headphones like AirPods is that you can listen to things without being directly next to your device, and you can choose how much background noise you let in through noise cancellation. 

With this handy feature, you can say "goodbye" to excess sounds and focus on the sounds you want to hear. But you have to turn on the noise cancellation feature first.

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Here are three ways to turn on noise cancellation on your AirPod Pros: 

Turn on noise cancellation in Settings

  1. Take at least one of your AirPods out of the case so it is connected to your phone (you do not need to place it in your ear)

  2. Go to Settings

  3. Click on your Airpod name, which should appear right below your iCloud profile

  4. Scroll to the section marked "NOISE CONTROL"

  5. Choose your noise cancellation level:

    1. "Noise Cancellation"

    2. "Off"

    3. Transparency

Or you can:

  1. Take at least one of your AirPods out of the case so it is connected to your phone (you do not need to place it in your ear)

  2. Go to Settings

  3. Go to Bluetooth

  4. Select the "circled i" icon

  5. Scroll to the section marked "NOISE CONTROL"

  6. Choose your noise cancellation level:

    1. "Noise Cancellation"

    2. "Off"

    3. Transparency

Turn on noise cancellation in the Control Center 

  1. Place at least one AirPod in your ear

  2. Go to the Control Center by swiping down from the top right of your screen

  3. Click and hold the volume/sound control slider until it embiggens and is the only thing on your screen

  4. Click on the "Noise Control Transparency" icon on the bottom left of the screen

  5. Choose your noise cancellation level:

    1. "Noise Cancellation"

    2. "Off"

    3. Transparency

Turn on noise cancellation by holding the sensor on your AirPod Pro

  1. Place at least one AirPod in your ear

  2. Hold the sensor located on the outside of your AirPod until your hear a chime

Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) Wireless Earbuds
$268.00 at Amazon
AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)

Topics AirPods Apple

Truth Headlam
Truth Headlam
Tech & Culture Fellow

Truth Headlam is a journalist who enjoys following the money and diverse storytelling. She reports on tech and culture for Mashable. You can find her sharing her favorite articles on Instagram @truthheadlam.


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