How to reconnect to a already paired bluetooth A2DP headset?

Anonymous
2009-12-03T13:50:48+00:00

I use a bluetooth stereo headset with my Laptop running Windows7/Fedora 12 and also with my mobile phone and with my ipod. I want to connect my headset to one of above devices at a time.

I have paired my headset with all of above devices (Windows 7, Fedora 12, my mobile and my ipod). Suppose I've currently connected my headset to the ipod and now I want to use it with my mobile. All I have to do is disconnect headset from ipod and connect it to my mobile. (The 'connect' and 'disconnect' facilities are there in both my ipod and mobile).

Suppose now I want to use the headset with Windows 7. (it's already paired and shown under Bluetooth Devices). Surprisingly in windows 7 there's no way of connecting to a already paired headset. (when you right-click on the headset icon under bluetooth devices there's no 'connect' options.). Now one might ask why don't you restart the headset? But it'll never work since headset will try to connect to the last device it connected. (in this case my mobile phone). Only way I can connect my headset to Windows 7 now is putting the headset back into pairing mode, deleting the headset from windows, and re pair it. This will take a lotof time and this will also install drivers for four bluetooth profiles headset supports. (A2DP, AVRCP, handsfree, headset). (This will also create a system restore point to make things slower).

Similar to my mobile phone and ipod in Fedora linux it's just a matter of right clicking bluetooth icon and selecting 'connect'. I have not used windows for a long time and may be I miss something very obvious or the way Windows 7 bluetooth works is very frustrating.

I use Windows 7 professional in a Dell Inspiron laptop. The bluetooth stack used is the one supplied with Wndows 7.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2010-07-20T14:39:16+00:00

Hi Jeff,

Reconnecting using Playback Devices works for reconnecting an already paired A2DP Bluetooth Headset to your PC, per the OP. Headsets are usually "dumb" in the respect that you cannot ask them to connect to a specific device, they just try to reconnect to the last device they connected to. Using "Playback Devices" gets around this by getting your computer to ping the device and ask it for a connection.

It sounds like you're having a totally different issue to the OP, namely that you can't get your android phone to connect to your PC after you've paired it. It's probably worth starting a new thread on that issue as it is completely separate to reconnecting "dumb" devices.

Apologies if I've misunderstood you.

Was this answer helpful?

40+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

67 additional answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2010-05-28T13:51:43+00:00

    Hi,

    While it automatically reconnects, I would still prefer an option to manually connect/disconnect a device. Because my bluetooth headset can remember multiple device pairings, i would want to desconnect from my pc and connect it to phone without turning the headset off and on again.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2010-07-19T23:42:56+00:00

    Same problem, only with a Samsung Moment (Android phone).  The suggestion to reconnect using the Playback Options from the Sound icon does not work for none audio devices such as this.  Also, reconnecting automatically is not the issue at hand, it is the inability to reconnect after connecting to another device; the update from Windows Update is useless in this regard.

    • Jeff Barton

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2010-08-21T17:37:17+00:00

    @ThursdayNext it worked. Thanks a lot :) I was looking for a long time for this.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2010-12-10T21:06:36+00:00

    Chris, I am an IT professional.  I too have the issue of not being able to connect or reconnect to a bluetooth device from Windows 7 32 or 64 bit.  I researched the issue a lot and I have found some information but not a solution.

    What many of the non-technical people are trying to tell you is that these devices pair with Windows 7, but Windows 7 does NOT add them to the playback devices.  That is why they have no way to connect!!

    Most of the devices mentioned that are having issues are A2DP bluetooth devices.  A2DP devices require a profile.  Windows 7 does not provide that functionality.  The hardware manufacturers of these devices assume a generic BlueTooth compatability so they do not provide specific drivers for WIndows 7.

    So we are all stuck with devices that do not function with Windows 7.  One of serveral devices that I have tested is Sonys HWS-BTA2W.  Like the other devices mentioned, it connects and pairs perfectly, but when you go to play music to it, it is not included in the playback devices and right clicking on the device does not bring up a 'connect' option.

    This is something that could be resolved by the Microsoft Windows team and would make a lot of people very happy.

    Best Regards,

    Gordon West

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments