The short version
- 01Check Active Noise Cancellation is selected and Adaptive Audio is not.
- 02Run the Ear Tip Fit Test from the info button beside your AirPods in Bluetooth settings.
- 03Try every tip size you have, and accept a different size on each side.
- 04Keep fingers, hoods and pillows off the external microphones.
- 05Clean the AirPods if bass has dropped and background noise has risen.
- 06Reset only after cleaning, then treat service as the remaining option.
Start here
Run the fit test before assuming it is broken
Active Noise Cancellation depends on a seal, so the most common cause of it working badly is an ear tip that does not fit rather than a fault. Apple builds a test for exactly this: go to Settings, then Bluetooth, tap the info button next to your AirPods, and choose Ear Tip Fit Test or Acoustic Seal Test. Before that, check the obvious two — that Adaptive Audio is not enabled instead of Noise Cancellation, and that you are not covering the external microphones.
Applies to: AirPods Pro, AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3 and AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation, used with an iPhone, iPad or Mac. AirPods Max share the principle but not the ear tip. Models without ANC are not covered.
What changed about it?
Active Noise Cancellation fails in ways that feel like hardware faults and usually are not. It needs three things to work: a seal in your ear, clear external microphones, and the right listening mode selected. Each of those can be wrong without looking wrong, which is why Apple's own sequence starts with checks rather than repairs — and why cleaning comes before resetting and resetting before service.
It sounds weaker than it used to
Do the ear tips still seal?
Run the fit testBass has gone and background noise is up
Are the AirPods dirty?
Clean themIt seems to switch itself off
Is Adaptive Audio enabled instead?
Check the modeSqueals, chirps or feedback
Are you covering the microphones?
Check your grip1. Software and settings, which Apple puts first
Apple's opening checks are version checks: make sure you have the latest software on the connected iPhone, iPad or Mac, and that the AirPods themselves are on the latest firmware. AirPods firmware updates arrive quietly while they are charging and near a connected device, so it is worth confirming rather than assuming.
Then the setting itself. Apple asks you to verify Active Noise Cancellation is actually enabled, and — the part people miss — to make sure Adaptive Audio is not enabled instead. Adaptive Audio deliberately lets some outside sound through and adjusts as your surroundings change, which is a feature that reads as noise cancellation performing badly if you did not choose it.
There is a quick sanity check for the connection too: remove one earbud and confirm the audio pauses. If it does, the AirPods are communicating properly with the device and you are troubleshooting the cancellation rather than the pairing.
Adaptive Audio is the answer more often than anything else on this page. It is not a failure of noise cancellation; it is a different mode doing its job.
2. The external microphones, and covering them
Noise cancellation works by listening to the outside world and generating the opposite of it, so the external microphones are not optional. Apple's guidance is to avoid blocking or covering them, and notes that blocked or covered microphones can cause temporary high-pitched squeals, chirps, feedback or other audio problems.
That is a distinctive symptom and worth recognising, because it sounds like a fault rather than an obstruction. If the squealing appears when you adjust an earbud, put a hood up, or lie with one ear against a pillow, the microphones are being covered and nothing is broken.
It also explains why cancellation can be excellent on a walk and poor under a hat or a motorcycle helmet. The microphones need to hear the noise before they can cancel it.
3. The seal, and the test Apple built for it
Noise cancellation cannot work against sound that is leaking straight past the ear tip, so fit is not a comfort preference — it is a functional requirement. A tip slightly too small feels fine and quietly costs you most of the effect.
Apple provides a test rather than asking you to guess. Go to Settings, then Bluetooth, tap the info button next to your AirPods in the list of devices, tap Ear Tip Fit Test — called Acoustic Seal Test on some models — then tap Continue and the Play button. It plays audio and measures what leaks out.
Test each size you have rather than only the one fitted. Ears are frequently different sizes left to right, and a different tip on each side is a normal and legitimate outcome that a lot of people never try.
This is also the first thing to check when cancellation has gradually got worse rather than failing suddenly. Ear tips compress and harden with use, and a set that sealed perfectly a year ago may not now.
Good seal
The test passes and cancellation works as designed.
Poor seal
Bass and cancellation both fall away. Try another tip size, per side.
4. Cleaning, and the symptom that names itself
Apple ties cleaning to a specific symptom: if you experience a loss of bass sound, or an increase in background sounds when you enable Active Noise Cancellation, you might need to clean your AirPods.
Those two together are the tell. Cancellation that has faded while the sound has also thinned points at debris — in the speaker mesh, on the microphone ports, or in the ear tip itself — rather than at a failing chip.
Take the ear tips off and clean them separately from the earbuds. Wax collects on the inside face of the tip where it is invisible while they are assembled, and that is exactly the surface that has to seal against your ear.
Be gentle with the meshes. Anything pushed in drives debris further in, and this is the point at which a cleaning attempt turns into a permanent problem.
5. Resetting, in the right order
Apple's order is deliberate: clean first, and reset only if the problem persists after cleaning. That is worth following, because a reset costs you the pairing and the customised settings while a clean costs nothing.
A reset re-establishes the AirPods' relationship with your devices from scratch, which clears the state that occasionally leaves cancellation behaving oddly on one device while working fine on another.
Before resetting, try the AirPods with a different device. If cancellation is correct there, the problem is the original device's settings — Adaptive Audio, a listening mode, a stale connection — and the reset is aimed at the wrong end.
6. When it is service, and what to tell Apple
Apple is direct about the endpoint: if Active Noise Cancellation still is not working after you have reset your AirPods, you might need service. That is a short list of steps before service, which is a useful signal — there is not much more to try than what is above.
One asymmetry is worth checking first. If cancellation works on one earbud and not the other, that points at that single earbud rather than at settings, and it is the clearest evidence of a hardware problem you can bring.
When you contact Apple, say whether it failed suddenly or faded, whether the Ear Tip Fit Test passes, whether cleaning changed anything, whether Adaptive Audio was enabled, whether both sides are affected, and whether it behaves the same on a second device. Those answers separate a fit problem from dirt from a mode setting from a genuine fault.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my AirPods noise cancellation seem weaker than it was?
Usually the seal. Cancellation can't work against sound leaking past the ear tip, and tips compress and harden with use. Run Apple's test: Settings, Bluetooth, the info button next to your AirPods, then Ear Tip Fit Test or Acoustic Seal Test — and try every tip size you have, per side.
Why does noise cancellation keep letting sound through?
Check whether Adaptive Audio is enabled instead of Active Noise Cancellation. Apple lists that specifically. Adaptive Audio deliberately lets some outside sound through and adjusts to your surroundings, which reads as cancellation performing badly if you didn't choose it.
What makes AirPods squeal or chirp?
Covered microphones. Apple notes that blocked or covered external microphones can cause temporary high-pitched squeals, chirps or feedback. If it happens when you adjust an earbud, put a hood up, or lie on one ear, nothing is broken — the microphones just can't hear the noise they're cancelling.
When should I clean my AirPods for this?
Apple ties it to a specific symptom: a loss of bass, or an increase in background sound when you turn Active Noise Cancellation on. Those two together point at debris. Take the ear tips off and clean them separately — wax collects on the inside face, which is the surface that has to seal.
Should I reset my AirPods?
Only after cleaning — that's Apple's order, and a reset costs you the pairing and your settings while a clean costs nothing. Before resetting, try them on another device: if cancellation is fine there, the problem is the first device's settings and the reset is aimed at the wrong end.
How do I know if my AirPods need service?
Apple's line is that if cancellation still isn't working after a reset, you might need service. The strongest evidence to bring is asymmetry — cancellation working on one earbud and not the other points at that earbud rather than at any setting.
Sources and review notes
Checked on . Compiled by Glitchary from Apple's support article on Active Noise Cancellation not working as expected. The step order, the fit test path, the Adaptive Audio check and the covered-microphone symptoms are Apple's. The advice to test tip sizes per side, to clean tips separately, and to try a second device before resetting is editorial. Menu names differ between AirPods models and iOS versions. Glitchary is independent of Apple.