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How to turn on Bluetooth on a laptop (step by step)

User question

Hello.

Tell me how to turn on Bluetooth on an ASUS laptop. The thing is, I don't have any tray icons next to the clock at all! The keyboard also lacks a function key to turn on. I climbed, climbed, I understand all the absurdity: there is Bluetooth, but I can't turn it on ...

Good day.

I think that not everything is so deplorable, and it is possible to enable Bluetooth even on your laptop. 👌 In this article, I will consider sequentially all the main things that need to be checked and corrected.

So...

👉 Supplement!

By the way, when solving a problem with Bluetooth, you may need to make an exact modification of your laptop (for example, to find a driver).

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Enabling Bluetooth: Things to Check

STEP 1: check if the driver is installed

Perhaps the first thing to start with dealing with the problem of Bluetooth inoperability is to check are the drivers installed.

By the way, I highly recommend that you update your current drivers (which Windows picked up for you during its installation) to those downloaded from the website of your laptop manufacturer!

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To see if there are any driver conflicts and if they are in the system - open 👉 Device Manager (for this: either press the Win + Pause combination and you will see a link in the menu on the left, or go to the control panel and open the "Hardware and Sound" section - there will also be a link to its launch).

Then open the tab "Bluetooth" - if everything is fine with the driver, you should see a device whose name is something like: "Wireless Bluetooth" .

Device Manager - Driver Installed

No driver // As an example

👉 If such devices not, or opposite them are yellow exclamation signs - it means you need to update the driver (it will also not be superfluous to check the tab "Other devices" - it displays devices for which there are no drivers).

AboutHow to update drivers on a computer (laptop) I have a lot of articles on my blog. I will give below a couple of links, there you will find all the comprehensive information on this issue.

👉 To help!

1) The best programs to automatically update drivers.

2) How to install drivers on a computer, laptop - instructions for beginners

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STEP 2: is the device turned on, is the adapter turned on

Further, after the driver is installed and the device appears in the section "Bluetooth" in device manager, check that it is enabled! Note: on the switched off device the "arrow" is on (see the screen below 👇).

In general, I would recommend turning the device off and on after updating the driver!

The device is turned off - turn it off

Next, you need to go to "Network connections" and check if the Bluetooth adapter is enabled (it should appear after installing the driver).

Universal way to enter "Network Connections":

  1. press the buttons simultaneously Win + Rto bring up the Run window (or go to the task manager and click on file / new task) ;
  2. enter command ncpa.cpl and press Enter.

Network connections should display (in most cases) several adapters: Ethernet, Wireless network (Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, etc.

Pay attention to the Bluetooth adapter: click on it and turn it on (it does not always turn on automatically after installing the driver). 👇

Checking if the adapter is working

Windows 10 users - I also recommend to go to the START menu, open the parameters: section "Devices / Bluetooth and other devices" (as in the screenshot below). Next, check that Bluetooth is turned on!

Windows 10 - turn on Bluetooth

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STEP 3: check the options if the icon is disabled

After that, I recommend to go Windows to the Windows control panel and write "blue ..." in the search line (as in the example below). You should see some links, we need "Changing Bluetooth Settings" .

Change Bluetooth settings

Next, check that the following checkboxes are checked:

  1. Allow Bluetooth devices to discover this PC
  2. notify me about the connection of a new device;
  3. display an icon in the notification area.

Setting basic Bluetooth settings

Now in the tray, next to the clock, you will have a characteristic icon (see my example below). By clicking on it with the mouse, you will bring up a menu that greatly simplifies the work with the adapter (for example, in 2 clicks you can connect a new device!).

👉 To help!

The Bluetooth icon on the laptop disappeared: how to add it to the tray next to the clock [instruction]

Bluetooth icon for quick device connection and data exchange

By the way, I also advise you to open the tab "Equipment" and see the status of the device (if everything is in order with it, it should be written that it works fine!).

Checking that the device is working properly

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STEP 4: try adding a device (including turning on Bluetooth using the keyboard)

Actually, if all of the above is checked, the drivers are up and running, then it's time to try to connect some device!

👉 Update from 04/10/2020

1) How to connect wireless headphones (via Bluetooth)

2) How to connect a wireless keyboard to a computer and phone (including Bluetooth version)

Method 1

In the tray next to the clock, you should have a Bluetooth icon - by clicking on it, you can add a new device, receive or send a file, view current connections.

Bluetooth System Tray Icon

Method 2

Note the keyboard: some laptops have dedicated function keys to enable wireless networking. For example, below is a laptop that turns on Bluetooth by a combination of buttons Fn + F8.

👉 Supplement!

Often, the problem of the inoperability of the Bluetooth adapter is due to the fact that you simply cannot turn it on, because Fn button does not respond to your presses

Button to start the start of Bluetooth operation

By the way, pay attention to the indicators (LEDs) on the laptop case (some models have a separate LED that is responsible for Bluetooth).

If everything is ok with the adapter, it is turned on and working - you should see how the LED is on (or blinking).

Indicators of the hard drive, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth on the laptop case

Method 3

Another way to add a Bluetooth device is to go to the Windows control panel, enter "blue" in the search bar and select the item "Adding a Bluetooth device" (an example is presented below).

Another way to add a Bluetooth device

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STEP 5: if it suddenly doesn't work

If all of the above did not help, and the adapter does not show signs of life, it may just broken... This could have happened too ...

However, now you should not worry about this - in Chinese online stores you can buy a Bluetooth micro-adapter for literally 50-100 rubles. (when plugged into a USB port, it will simply not be visible on the laptop case 👇).

👉 Help!

1) The cheapest Chinese stores are presented in this article

2) 10 best Bluetooth & Wi-Fi adapters from AliExpress (selection)

Bluetooth adapter

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That's all ... Additions in the comments are welcome!

Happy work!

👋

First published: 03/27/2018

Correction: 04/10/2020

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