Apple’s AirTag is arguably the best smart tracker you can get. Thanks to its massive Find My network, Ultra-Wideband (UWB) chip for Precision Finding, a user-replaceable battery, and seamless integration in the company’s ecosystem, it’s a no-brainer for most iPhone owners to keep track of their valuables. You can attach it to your keyring, pets, purse, or even luggage, since the TSA allows it, to locate your belongings in case you lose them.
While Apple has made the AirTag pretty user-friendly, a few things it does can alarm or confuse its owners and other people around it. While AirTags typically chime to help you find them when you’re looking for lost items, it’s not the only time when they beep or make a sound. There are a few other reasons why your AirTag may start beeping. But in each case, it’s trying to tell you something. So, here are some of the most common causes behind a beeping AirTag and how you can fix them.
Low battery or out of Bluetooth range warning
The AirTag comes with a user-replaceable CR2032 coin cell battery, which lasts around a year under normal use. So, if your AirTag detects that the included battery is deteriorating and about to die soon, it may beep to let you know. If you randomly hear this sound, it may be a cue to replace your AirTag’s battery. Another major reason for an AirTag to start beeping is a lost Bluetooth connection to its paired iPhone. If your AirTag is next to you but making a sound, you can toggle your phone’s Bluetooth to re-register a connection with the tracker.
Once the tracker regains a Bluetooth connection to your iPhone, it should stop beeping. The AirTag can also start chiming if you have accidentally marked it as a lost item. This is a basic AirTag feature designed to help users find lost trackers. You can check the status in your iPhone’s Find My app, and if the Lost Mode is enabled, turn it off to stop the sound.
Notification of unwanted tracking
If an AirTag has been away from its paired iPhone for an extended period of time and it moves, it starts beeping to let the person around it know that they may be a victim of stalking by the AirTag owner. If you recognize the tracker because it belongs to someone in your family or friends, and you are meant to carry it, the best you can do is ignore the sound, as there is really no way to stop it without asking them to share it with you in the Find My app.
However, if it’s an unidentified tracker, bring the white portion of the AirTag in contact with the back of your NFC-enabled Android phone or iPhone. This will trigger a notification, and you can tap on that to open a webpage showing the details about the AirTag. You can also tell from this page if the original owner has marked the AirTag as lost. You’ll also find instructions to disable tracking, which will stop the sound as well as stop sending the tag’s location information to the owner of the AirTag.
