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Bluetooth device won't disconnect/uninstall no matter what I do

Mackerel Tuna 20 Reputation points
2026-05-26T18:15:19.39+00:00

For some additional information the Bluetooth on my laptop stopped working a while back but that got fixed easily with just a bit of hardware that'd plug in and work then. Another thing to note is that I use Windows 10 still, I adamantly dislike the layout of 11. I'll willingly cave and upgrade to 11 but that's in the worst case scenario where nothing else works.

Now it's been around a year, probably more and whenever I try to connect my earbuds (EDIFIER) to my device both of them go from "Connecting" to "That didn't work. Make sure your Bluetooth device is still discoverable and try again". I thought it'd be an easy fix and just went to click "Remove device" for both of them but it just says "Removing device" for a while then "Remove failed", I searched up a bunch of fixes and tried going into device manager and uninstalling them, but when I go back to their settings they're still there.

I tried a bunch of things, like uninstalling them + then resetting my laptop but nothing works, every time I reopen it both of them are back. I tried uninstalling them then unplugging the Bluetooth driver I use but then they just reappeared again, so I uninstalled them again and tried plugging the Bluetooth driver back in, every single time they just reappear! I feel like I'm going mad.

I'd still very much like to use these earbuds with my laptop but the universe seems to be against me, any fixes?

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Devices and drivers
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Answer accepted by question author

Emma1-N 8,035 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2026-05-27T02:31:43.2866667+00:00

Welcome Mackerel Tuna,

I understand how frustrating it can be when you're unable to remove or uninstall your Bluetooth earbuds in Windows 10, and they keep reappearing even after multiple attempts. 

Please kindly try the steps below to troubleshoot the issue:  

Option 1: Remove the device using Registry Editor 

  • Press Windows + R, type regedit, and press Enter 
  • Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\BTHPORT\Parameters\Devices 
  • Expand the Devices folder and locate entries matching your earbuds 
  • Right-click and delete those entries 
  • Restart your PC 

Option 2: Remove ghost devices from Device Manager 

  • Open Device Manager from the Start menu 
  • Click View > Show hidden devices 
  • Expand Bluetooth and Sound, video and game controllers 
  • Right-click any greyed-out or duplicate entries related to your earbuds and select Uninstall device 
  • Restart your PC 

Option 3: Reset Bluetooth services 

  • Press Windows + R, type services.msc, press Enter 
  • Find Bluetooth Support Service 
  • Right-click > Restart 
  • Set Startup type to Automatic if not already 

Option 4: Remove Bluetooth devices via command line 

  • Open Command Prompt as Administrator 
  • Run: devmgmt.msc to confirm device presence 
  • Then run:  pnputil /enum-devices /connected 
  • Identify the device and remove it using:  pnputil /remove-device "InstanceID" 

Option 5: Run Bluetooth troubleshooter 

  • Go to Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot > Additional troubleshooters 
  • Run the Bluetooth troubleshooter 

I hope the steps above help you deal with your issue.  

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