How to Find Lost Galaxy Buds, Even When Offline

To find lost Galaxy Buds, open Samsung Find or SmartThings Find on the Galaxy phone or tablet your buds are connected to, select your buds, and check the map. If they’re still connected over Bluetooth, tap Ring and listen for the beep (Samsung). If they’re out of range, the map shows their last known location, which other Galaxy devices can update when they pick up the buds’ signal (Samsung). Once you’re close, follow the Bluetooth signal or play a sound through the buds to cover the last few feet.

What Samsung’s finding tools need

Samsung has two finding services that do much the same job: SmartThings Find, inside the SmartThings app, and the Samsung Find app. Both run on devices with Android 10 or later (Samsung). For your buds to show up, Samsung lists three conditions (Samsung):

• The earbuds are turned on.
• They’re connected to a phone or tablet through the Galaxy Wearable app.
• That phone or tablet has a Samsung account added to it.

Samsung’s list of supported earbuds is Galaxy Buds+, Buds Live, Buds Pro, Buds2, Buds2 Pro, Buds3, Buds3 Pro, Buds4 and Buds4 Pro (Samsung).

Offline finding lets nearby Galaxy devices detect your device even when it isn’t connected to the internet. It’s on by default, but Samsung suggests making sure: in SmartThings, tap Life, then Find, then the three-dot menu, Settings, and Allow devices to be found, and check that Offline finding is switched on (Samsung).

Check the map

In the Samsung Find app, go to the Devices tab and select your buds. You can also get there from the Galaxy Wearable app by tapping Find My Earbuds, or from Settings by tapping your Samsung account name and then Samsung Find (Samsung).

In the SmartThings app, tap the Life tab, then Find, and pick your buds at the bottom of the screen (Samsung).

The map shows the address along with a timestamp (Samsung). Tap Refresh to update it. When the buds are out of Bluetooth range, you’re looking at their last known location. Other Galaxy users who have opted in to the Galaxy Find network can update it: their devices pick up your buds’ signal and pass on where they are (Samsung). Check the timestamp before you set off, since an old location may be out of date.

If you don’t have the phone with you, sign in to the SmartThings Find or Samsung Find website in a web browser with your Samsung account and select your buds to see them on the map (Samsung). Under More, both apps also offer Lost mode and Notify when left behind (Samsung).

Make them beep

Ringing works only while the earbuds and your phone are connected over Bluetooth (Samsung), so use it when the buds are probably close, like down the side of the couch or in a bag. Samsung’s steps:

• Samsung Find: Devices, select your buds, tap Ring, then Start, then Play sound.
• SmartThings: Life, Find, Ring, then Start and Play sound.
• Galaxy Wearable on Android 15 or earlier: Find My Earbuds, then Start and Play sound.
• Android 16 or later: Settings, select your Galaxy Buds, then Find My Earbuds, Start and Play sound.

Find My Earbuds may switch you over to Samsung Find or SmartThings Find, depending on what your phone supports. Stop the alert once you’ve found them. If an earbud stays silent, Samsung notes that debris in the IR sensor can stop it beeping (Samsung).

SmartThings Find also has Search nearby, which sends a short-range signal to help locate a device that’s close by (Samsung). Galaxy Buds FE, Buds2 and earlier models don’t support Nearby search while the earbuds are inside the charging case (Samsung).

If your Galaxy Buds are paired with an iPhone

All Galaxy Buds can connect to an iPhone over Bluetooth (Samsung), but Samsung says the Galaxy Wearable app isn’t available on iOS (Samsung). Samsung’s finding tools need the buds connected through Galaxy Wearable on a phone or tablet with a Samsung account, so buds you’ve only used with an iPhone won’t be in SmartThings Find or Samsung Find. Samsung’s Galaxy Buds app for iPhone works only with Galaxy Buds+ and Buds Live (Samsung), and none of Samsung’s guides to finding lost buds mention it.

If the buds are still connected to your iPhone, play a loud chirp through the left or right earbud with the Earbud Sound Finder and listen for it. If they’ve dropped the connection but are probably still on, follow their signal.

Follow the signal for the last few feet

When your buds are on and in range, your phone can measure the strength of their Bluetooth signal. That reading is called RSSI, short for received signal strength indication, and a higher number means a stronger signal (Bluetooth SIG).

A single reading won’t tell you much. RSSI drifts with the surroundings, and its scale differs from one chip maker to another. What helps is the trend: if the signal keeps getting stronger as you walk, you’re moving toward the buds, and if it gets weaker, you’re moving away (Bluetooth SIG). The Bluetooth SIG suggests taking the value that comes up most often over a short period to filter out noise, so pause for a few seconds at each spot.

Walls, windows and other obstacles weaken a Bluetooth signal, and how much depends on what they’re made of (Bluetooth SIG). Samsung says to keep Galaxy Buds within 30 feet of the phone for a stable connection, and names walls, routers and electrical equipment as things that can block the signal (Samsung). Search one room at a time, and hold the phone still while you read it.

When no app can find them

Some lost buds give off no signal at all, and then no phone or app can detect them:

• If the batteries in the earbuds and the charging case are both completely drained, the earbuds can’t be located (Samsung).
• Earbuds in a closed case may not send a signal until the case is opened (Samsung).
• Samsung’s finding tools only work when the earbuds are turned on (Samsung).

In those cases, start from the last location and time on the map and search by hand. Our guide to finding earbuds that are turned off walks through how to retrace your steps.