How to turn on Bluetooth in Windows 10

Fun fact: Bluetooth is named after Harald Bluetooth, a king that united parts of Denmark and Norway. The Bluetooth icon was forged by combining both letters of his Nordic signature, symbolizing the technology’s universal connectivity to millions of peripherals.

This guide highlights the easiest ways of enabling Bluetooth in Windows 10. Just make sure you actually have a Bluetooth transceiver installed. While a standard feature of most laptops, Bluetooth adapters are usually an additional purchase for budget desktops.

Enable Bluetooth through the Action Center

1. Click on the chat bubble at the right edge of the taskbar.

2. Click on “Expand” if there are only four tiles.

3. In the expanded tile section, find the one for “Bluetooth” and click on it. Make sure it’s highlighted.

Enable Bluetooth through Windows search

1. Press the Windows key or click Start, which should bring up the start menu.

2. Type “Bluetooth” on the keyboard


3. Select “Bluetooth and other device settings”.

4. In the settings window that appears, toggle the switch under “Bluetooth” to “On”.

How to pair Bluetooth devices

1. Pair through Settings

Once Bluetooth has been turned on, it’s ready to accept other devices.

1. In the same settings panel, click on “Add Bluetooth or other device”.

2. In the “Add a device” window that appears, click on “Bluetooth”.

3. Make sure your other device is in pairing mode. It usually involves holding down a button for a few seconds. Refer to device manual to for precise instructions.
4. Click on the device name, wait for a few seconds, and if all goes well, then it should be able to communicate with the host.

2. Pair through Swift Pair

Microsoft introduced Swift Pair for Bluetooth back in September 2018. It’s a guideline for manufacturers to create devices that can instantly pair with Windows 10. If your device is compatible with Swift Pair, then you need to do nothing more than to put the peripheral in pairing mode and move it close to the host computer. When Windows detects it, it will send a notification in the Action Center, prompting you to hit “connect”.

Would you recommend this article?

Share

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you think of this article!
We'd love to hear your opinion about this or any other story you read in our publication.


Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

Featured Download

Tom Li
Tom Li
Telecommunication and consumer hardware are Tom's main beats at IT World Canada. He loves to talk about Canada's network infrastructure, semiconductor products, and of course, anything hot and new in the consumer technology space. You'll also occasionally see his name appended to articles on cloud, security, and SaaS-related news. If you're ever up for a lengthy discussion about the nuances of each of the above sectors or have an upcoming product that people will love, feel free to drop him a line at [email protected].

Featured Articles

Cybersecurity in 2024: Priorities and challenges for Canadian organizations 

By Derek Manky As predictions for 2024 point to the continued expansion...

Survey shows generative AI is a top priority for Canadian corporate leaders.

Leaders are devoting significant budget to generative AI for 2024 Canadian corporate...

Related Tech News

Tech Jobs

Our experienced team of journalists and bloggers bring you engaging in-depth interviews, videos and content targeted to IT professionals and line-of-business executives.

Tech Companies Hiring Right Now