How To Turn Off And Factory Reset Bose Headphones

One of the most essential accessories for a person who keeps up with technology is a good pair of headphones. If you’re looking for the top-of-the-line products, you’ll likely come across Bose. We’ve highlighted several of the company’s offerings, from customer favorite Bose earbuds, to more immersive over-ear models such as the Bose QuietComfort headphones. If you have the budget for it, Bose is certainly one of the tried-and-true headphone options out there.

Of course, even premium electronics run into glitches sometimes. If, for some reason, your Bose headphones stop working as intended, there are a number of ways to troubleshoot them. The first step is usually turning the headphones off and then on again after around 30 seconds to one minute to force a power cycle. How to do it on your Bose headphones will depend on what model you own, but in general, there should be a power button right on the device that you can press.

If performing a basic power cycle doesn’t get your headphones back to working condition, your user manual or Bose’s support pages may offer solutions specific to the headphone function you’re having an issue with. When all else fails, your last resort could be to factory reset your Bose headphones and start fresh.

Before you panic and contact customer service, one of the easiest glitch fixes you can try without huge repercussions is turning your Bose headphones off. In some cases — for older models such as the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 – all it takes is a quick press and release of the power/Bluetooth button to turn the headphones off.

Headsets like the Bose QuietComfort 35 may have a slide power button that you’ll have to push to the left to shut the device down. For newer iterations, namely the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen), you will need to long-press the power/Bluetooth button until you hear a power down tone or see the status light turn off. If you happen to have Bose earbuds, you’ll probably need to place both back in the charging case and close the lid to execute a power down.

After around 30 to 60 seconds, hit the power button again or take your earbuds out of the case to complete a basic power cycle. Normally, this should clear any temporary bugs or memory issues without erasing any pertinent device preferences. If a problem persists, consult your user manual or Bose’s Help Center for your specific needs. Only consider factory resetting your Bose headphones as a last resort as it may clear your paired device history and other customizations you’ve done to your headphones’ audio settings. Apart from the power switch on the headphones, another common fix is toggling the Bluetooth function your Bose headphones are connected to, forcing a new connection by unpairing the headphones from your device, or updating the Bose app on your device. If none of these work, you may need tо go with the factory reset.

Resetting your Bose accessory can be further classified into two actions: you can either “reboot” or “restore” your device. The less aggressive of the two is to reboot, which entails restarting your device without modifying any of your settings. This is often the move if your headphones are not responding or if none of the controls are working. Although performing a power cycle can also be a way of restarting your headphones, actual rebooting refers to a series of steps to be performed in order.

For cup-style or over-ear headphones like Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) or Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen):

1. Remove the headphones from your device’s Bluetooth list.
2. Disconnect any charging or audio cables from the headphones.
3. Connect the headphones’ charging cable and charger head to a power outlet, or a powered on computer’s USB port. Do not connect the headphones to the charging cable yet.
4. Long-press the power/Bluetooth button on your headphones.
5. While long-pressing the button, connect the charging cable to the left (on the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones 2nd Gen) or right (on the Bose QuietComfort Headphones 2nd Gen) earcup. This should cause the power light to blink twice.
6. Once connected, wait a few seconds then let go of the power/Bluetooth button.

For the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen):

1. Place the earbuds in the charging case and make sure the light that indicates it’s charging is on.
2. Close the lid of the charging case.
3. Plug the charging case to a wall charger or a powered on computer using its charging cable.
4. Long-press the button on the back of the case for around 30 seconds until the light on the case turns off.

For most Bose headphones, rebooting should be sufficient enough to fix unresponsiveness. If not, you can try the reboot process one more time. If it really doesn’t do anything to fix the problem, you may need to go all-in and reset your headphones by completely restoring them.

Also known as a “factory reset” or “factory default,” restoring returns your headphones to its original, out-of-the-box state. It will remove all your settings modifications as well as all the pairings you’ve established. This option is usually reserved for more serious issues, such as headphones that won’t connect or pair to a device.

Here’s how to restore the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) to factory default settings:

1. Remove the headphones from your device’s Bluetooth list.
2. Remove the headphones from your Bose account using the Bose app on your mobile device.
3. Long-press the power/Bluetooth button and multi-function button at the same time. This will cause the status light to blink amber for five seconds.
4. Keep long-pressing both buttons for 15 seconds until the status light turns solid white. The light should pulse blue when the restore process is complete, indicating that it’s ready for Bluetooth pairing.

To restore the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) to factory settings, do the following after removing the headphones from your device’s Bluetooth list as well as from your Bose account via the Bose app:

1. Place both earbuds in the charging case and keep the lid open.
2. Long-press the button on the back of the case for 25 seconds until the status light blinks white twice, pulses blue, and then turns off.
3. Repeat step 2 two more times. After the third time, the status light should blink amber for three seconds to indicate that the reset is starting. The light will pulse blue once the restore process is complete.

Based on testing, some Bose headphones models only offer the “reboot” option to reset your product. Double-check your manual and your product’s dedicated page on Bose’s Help Center for steps on resetting your product by “restoring” your headphones to factory settings. If you can’t find any, reach out to customer support via Bose’s Contact Us page for assistance in restoring your Bose headphones to its out-of-box conditions.