How to Find Lost Sony Earbuds or Headphones

If you have an Android phone, open Google’s Find Hub app and tap your Sony earbuds or headphones to see where they are, or where they were last seen if they’ve since switched off. This works only for models with Find Hub support that you paired with that phone before they went missing (Sony, Google). Sony says Apple’s Find My app doesn’t work with Sony headphones or earbuds (Sony), so on an iPhone, and for any pair Find Hub can’t see, the way to find them is to retrace your steps and follow their Bluetooth signal while they’re still switched on and nearby.

Sony models that work with Find Hub

Google’s list of Find Hub accessories includes seven Sony models (Google):

• WH-1000XM5 and WH-1000XM6 headphones
• WF-1000XM5 and WF-1000XM6 earbuds
• LinkBuds Fit, LinkBuds Open and LinkBuds S earbuds

If your model isn’t on the list, pair it with your Android phone and open Find Hub anyway. Sony says headphones and earbuds with Find My technology appear in the app once they’re paired (Sony).

Find them with Find Hub on Android

Sony’s own instructions still use the app’s old name, Find My Device. Google renamed it Find Hub (Google), and the steps are the same:

1. Sony’s steps start with the headphones switched on and paired with your Android phone or tablet before you open the app (Sony). That means Find Hub only helps if you set this up before they went missing. If you paired them with Fast Pair, Google says your phone would have prompted you to add them to Find Hub at that point (Google).
2. Open Find Hub and tap your Sony earbuds or headphones in the list. The app shows their location. If they switched off after being located, it shows their last known location instead (Sony).
3. If they’re already off or out of battery, Sony says the app can’t reach them and will only show where they were before they shut down (Sony). Go to that spot and look.

Don’t count on making them ring. Google’s help describes a Play sound option for lost headphones, which needs the headphones to be on and earbuds to be out of the case (Google). Sony’s article says the sound feature doesn’t apply to its headphones (Sony). Sony’s page is the one written about Sony products, so plan on using the map and then searching by eye or by signal.

If you use an iPhone

Sony’s Find Hub instructions are for Android phones and tablets, and Sony says Apple’s Find My app isn’t compatible with its headphones and earbuds (Sony). With an iPhone, you can still check whether your phone connects to them and, if they’re switched on, follow their signal.

Check whether your phone can still reach them

Open your phone’s Bluetooth settings. If your Sony earbuds or headphones still show as connected, they’re switched on and within range. Play something loud through them, or use our Earbud Sound Finder, which plays a loud chirp in just the left or right earbud so you can listen for the missing side.

If they don’t show as connected, they may be out of range, switched off, or connected to another device. If they could still be on, the next step is to follow the signal.

Follow the signal for the last few feet

A phone can measure how strong a Bluetooth signal is when it arrives, a reading called RSSI (received signal strength indication). The Bluetooth SIG, the group behind the Bluetooth standard, says a higher RSSI number means a stronger signal, and that watching it rise or fall tells you whether you’re moving toward the source or away from it (Bluetooth SIG).

The reading is rough. The Bluetooth SIG says the environment has a large effect on RSSI (Bluetooth SIG), and Sony says the reach of its headphones’ signal changes with obstacles such as people, metal objects and walls (Sony).

How to use the readings:

• Look for your model’s name in the list. Sony’s pairing steps show its earbuds and headphones listed on a phone by model name, such as WF-1000XM6 or WH-1000XM6 (Sony, Sony).
• Start where you last had them and move slowly. Stop for a few seconds at each spot, because the number jumps around.
• Walk in one direction. If the signal gets stronger, keep going. If it gets weaker, turn back and try another direction.
• Where the signal is strongest, search low and inside things: couch cushions, bags, coat pockets, car seats.
• Walls weaken the signal, so a reading that peaks beside a wall can mean they’re on the other side.

When there’s nothing to detect

Find Hub, your phone’s Bluetooth settings and any scanner app all rely on a signal the earbuds or headphones are sending. Some Sony models stop sending one on their own:

• WF-1000XM6 earbuds turn off when you put them in a charging case that still has battery and close the lid. Out of the case, they turn off after about 15 minutes if you’re not wearing them (Sony).
• WH-1000XM6 headphones turn off after 15 minutes of not being worn (Sony).

Sony says the Sound Connect app can change both of these automatic power-off settings (Sony, Sony). Sony treats a dead battery the same way as switching them off: either way, Find Hub can’t reach them (Sony).

If your earbuds are shut in their case, switched off or out of battery, there may be no signal for any app to pick up. Go to the last known location in Find Hub, or the last place you remember using them, and search by eye. Our guide to finding earbuds that are switched off covers that kind of search.