How to reset AirTag in a few steps

Apple developed the AirTag as a tracking device. AirTag is designed to track different things, ranging from small items such as keys, bags, clothes, and small electronic devices, to large items such as cars, for example.

How AirTag is working explained

The device works in the following way: AirTag uses Apple’s crowdsourced Find My. This network, estimated at the beginning of 2021, consists of about one billion devices worldwide that detect and anonymously report radiated Bluetooth signals.

AirTag is compatible with any iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch capable of running iOS/iPadOS 14.5 or later. Using the built-in U1 chip in iPhone 11 or later, users can more accurately locate items using UWB, ultra-wideband technology. The only exception is the 2nd generation iPhone SE.

AirTag, like any other device, has certain settings that must be reset to factory defaults if you want to pass the device on to someone else. You will find how to do that, below.

How to reset AirTag if it’s near to your iPhone

To reset AirTag, you need to have the device near the device to which it’s connected. AirTag must be within the Bluetooth range of your iPhone.

Only after the connection is broken, and all settings are reset to factory defaults, the new user can configure the device in his/her own way. To reset AirTag to the factory settings, you need to:

1. Start opening the AirTag by pressing firmly on the silver back cover.
2. Then, with your finger pressed, rotate the cover counterclockwise.
3. Rotate the cover about a third of a turn. Then remove the cover.
4. Remove the battery from the device.
5. Insert the battery and push it in until you hear a chirping sound.
6. As soon as you hear the chirping sound, immediately remove the battery again.
7. Wait one moment and put the battery back in place. Press again until you hear the chirping sound.
8. Remove the battery from the device again.
9. After that, repeat the removal and reinserting procedure a total of five times.
10. After the fifth round, leave the battery and remove the cover.
11. While examining the cover, you’ll see three protrusions on it. On the AirTag you’ll find three slots. Align them, press, and keep pressing until you hear another chirp.
12. Once you hear the sound you want, turn the cover clockwise.

You’ll need some effort to remove the cover. There isn’t much to grasp on the unit, and it is hard to know that you’re successfully turning it. Press, twist, and then hold the AirTag upside down in your hand to see if the cover has come off.

How difficult it’s to reset AirTag explained

Quite often, users lose track of how many times they have heard the sound. In total, you should hear the rattle six times – five at the beginning and then the sixth before the end. There are times when you’re sure you’ve done everything right, but nothing works.

To make sure everything works, try setting up AirTag again. Hold it up to your iPhone, and if you have done everything correctly, the phone will recognize the AirTag and begin the pairing process.

It’s critical that you put the battery back in with the label facing up. If you have inserted it, otherwise the iPhone will completely ignore the AirTag. All you can do is go through the entire reset process again and quite possibly again until it works.

All these complicated nuances are provided in case a thief can’t steal the device and then just reset it. The reset only works if the original owner has removed the pairing and deleted the AirTag from their Apple ID.