It’s time to toss that third-party adapter to the side — the Nintendo Switch finally supports Bluetooth headphones. That means your AirPods, Bose headphones or any other Bluetooth-enabled headsets can be paired directly to your Switch for hassle-free wireless audio while you battle Bowser or explore Hyrule on the go.
If you’re looking to figure out how to pair your Bluetooth headphones to your Switch, we’ve got you covered. And now that our favorite earbuds and headphones also double as Nintendo Switch headsets, we’ve got some excellent recommendations for getting lost in your favorite Switch games without fumbling with adapters or wires.
How to pair Bluetooth headphones to Nintendo Switch
Pairing Bluetooth headphones to the Switch is a pretty painless process, and we were up and running with a few of our favorite earbuds after just a few seconds of fiddling. Here’s what to do.
- Put your headphones of choice in pairing mode. This varies by device — for example, on the AirPods or AirPods Pro, you’ll just need to hold down on the button the charging case until you see flashing white lights.
- From the Switch home screen, go to System Settings.
- Select Bluetooth Audio.
- Select Pair Device.
- Select your headphones of choice to get connected.
We were able to pair our AirPods, AirPods Pro and Jabra Elite Active 75t to our Switch without issue, and we didn’t notice any latency or interference when playing games. However, there are a few caveats to keep in mind here.
While you can use your Bluetooth headphones to hear game audio, you can’t use them to chat with friends — that feature is still exclusive to headsets connected via the USB port on the Switch dock or the headphone jack on the system itself. If chatting is a priority, you can use a dual-pairing headset like the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 to connect to your Switch via USB while connecting to your phone via Bluetooth for talking on Discord or the Switch Online app. You can only connect up to two wireless controllers when using a Bluetooth headset, and the feature will be disabled during local wireless play with another Nintendo Switch system.
