Don’t despair, de-pair! Free your AirPods from tracking
The Find My system lets you find lost things and alerts you when you leave something behind. But because devices (things that can contact the Internet) and items (things like AirTags that can transmit Bluetooth signals) are so trackable, it means you have valid concerns when something you own could be followed by someone you don’t know.
My pal Lex Friedman, known to all as a stand-up guy (he does comedy, too), wrote me a few weeks ago with a question on that front:
A few years ago, I bought AirPods Max from Amazon. They were used, like new. They’re great. They’re linked to my Apple ID. It’s wonderful. Except they’re also linked to someone else’s Apple ID. Which I know because iOS constantly warns me that the original owner can see where I live and where I go.
Is there anything I can do to permanently disconnect the old owner from potentially having access to these AirPods?
Indeed, there is! And Lex did it. And it worked. As usual, you can jump ahead if you don’t want to learn the fascinating background and want to skip to the chase. (Lex would read the whole thing.)
An invisible glowing network of location transmission
Apple has grown its Find My ecosystem slowly over the years into the current octopus of coverage with which it girdles the world. Initially designed to help track iPhones—lost or stolen, but probably stolen—you can now keep tabs on an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch. A few years ago, Apple added or improved tracking for audio hardware sold under its name or the Beats brand.
Broadly, Apple labels these things devices: Anything that can connect directly to the Internet to update its location or anything that has a paired relationship with a device that it can relay through to report its location.
Apple also introduced a second kind of thing, which it calls items (as in Find My items): initially AirTags, then followed by Apple-licensed third-party tracking hardware, now available from about two dozen companies, who compete on form factor, battery life, and recharging capability.
To prevent iPhones from being stolen, erased, and reused, Apple added Activation Lock over a decade ago. It later extended it to the iPad, Mac, and Watch. When you disable Find My on a device, this also disables Activation Lock. Activation Lock can be removed remotely, too, by removing the device from your set of Apple hardware in Settings > Your Name (iPhone/iPad), System Settings > Your Name (Mac), or via icloud.com/find.
After the AirTag was introduced, Apple added Find My Lock, which keeps AirTags and third-party Find My items from being reset and used with other devices. Because audio hardware is not exactly a “device” and not exactly an “item,” this lock applies to them, too.
Originally called Pairing Lock, you couldn’t remove this connection unless the item was within Bluetooth range of your paired device. However, Apple updated the AirTag and item firmware, and now you can remove it while you are not within range using the Find My app (iPhone, iPad, or Mac) in the Items tab.
I spy someone named Lex
Lex bought his AirPods Max used. He was able to pair them with his iPhone and see them in his Apple Account. However, their location never appeared for him—and iOS warned him the original owner could see his location.
This happened because the original owner didn’t carry out all the necessary steps before selling. You can pair AirPods 3, AirPods 4 (ANC), AirPods Pro (all models), and AirPods Max with multiple Apple Accounts. However, Apple mentions in a footnote to one of their support documents, “…only the person who turned on the Find My network can see them in the Find My app. You may also get an alert if someone else’s AirPods are traveling with you.”
Lex was not precisely concerned about this, as he didn’t know who the former owner was. But it’s a little bit of a worry, because you don’t really want to have your whereabouts known to a random person, either.
I’d also like to know why the former owner apparently didn’t see a random set of AirPods Max in Find My and remove them—perhaps they never use Find My or have lost access to the Apple device with which the AirPods Max were associated. And the Apple Account. Because the AirPods Max don’t appear in your Apple Account, only in a native Find My app, that’s a possibility.
Fortunately, the solution was easy. It just required Lex trusting that I knew what the heck I was suggesting. That’s what friends are for.
Lex first removed the AirPods Max from his Apple Account by using Find My. Here’s how you do this:
- Go to the Find My app; let’s use the iPhone/iPad version as the example here.
- Tap the Devices button. (Audio hardware appears under that tab.)
- Select your audio device. In my example, that’s my AirPods Pro.
- Swipe to the bottom and tap Remove and confirm to remove.
This action removes the Find My Lock, removes the audio device from your Apple Account, and unpairs the device from Bluetooth.
Lex confirmed that the AirPods Max no longer appeared in his Apple Account or in Find My. He followed the normal procedure to pair the headphones again. And, lo and behold, he saw them in Find My! My usual fee ($0.00) applied.
For more reading
My book Take Control of Find My and AirTags covers all the ins and outs of the increasingly baroque but increasingly helpful Find My network and technology. If you’re trying to track your car or find it in a parking lot, keep an eye on baggage in transit, discover where your pet has disappeared to, or need to recover a lost or stolen laptop, the book will help. Plus, tons of information and tips about preventing unwanted tracking, and what to do if you believe someone is tracking you—or attempting to—without your knowledge.
A new edition is coming in a few weeks with updates for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, and watchOS 26. Purchase today, and you will get a free update to the new versions (and all later updates to the same edition).
[Got a question for the column? You can email glenn@sixcolors.com or use /glenn in our subscriber-only Discord community.]
[Glenn Fleishman is a printing and comics historian, Jeopardy champion, and serial Kickstarterer. His latest books are Six Centuries of Type & Printing (Aperiodical LLC) and How Comics Are Made (Andrews McMeel Publishing).]
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