Surface Pro 7 not connecting to Bluetooth 5.0 headphones after update

Question

My bluetooth headphones (Noise Shots X3) are not pairing to my Surface Pro 7 system. Earlier they could pair and stream audio to them, but now, after unpairing the headphones after a failed connection, they cannot pair with the system again. The headphones are visible to the system, but the Surface receives no response from the headphones and the pairing process times out. I have tested the headphones with other Windows 10 systems with the same Intel WiFi 6 AX201 chip and they have paired. These devices are running version 1809 and my device recently upgraded to 2004. I have been experiencing this problem after the 1909 update and have tried various solutions to find a solution.

PS: Please provide the steps to clear the hardware cache of previously paired bluetooth devices at the system level

Answer 1

Hi, gsvarghese!

Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Community and posting your concern regarding your Bluetooth headset on your Surface Pro 7.

May we know if you still see the headset inside Control Panel?

Please go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Devices and Printers. 

If you do, please remove it and try to add your headset again.

If you still cannot pair it, try pairing your headset to another host device.

If possible, try another Bluetooth accessory and connect it to your Surface Pro 7.

Also, please run the Bluetooth troubleshooter.

Go to Settings> Update & Security> Troubleshoot. 

Look for Bluetooth, then run its troubleshooter and follow the instructions.Try adding back your headset.

Run Surface Diagnostic Toolkit and make sure to complete the tasks. 

Let us know how it goes.

Kind regards,

Janette_Z

Answer 2

Hi gsvarghese,

We're sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you.

The firmware of your Bluetooth headphone may not be compatible with the updated OS version of a Surface device so what I can recommend is to check with the BT headphone's manufacturer if there's any available firmware update that needs to be downloaded. If in case it came with the most updated firmware or driver, the best resolution I can recommend is to reset your Surface device back to its default operating system. Everything will be wipe out on your Surface and it will let you re-install its native drivers when we are going to reimage the device. So, you have to save all your files and reply to this message if you'd like to do the factory reset.

Kind Regards,

Crest

Answer 3

Hi Jannette_Z

Thank you for your quick response. I have now discovered that my Surface is able to pair with other headphones, both Bluetooth 4.2 and 5.0 types. Conclusively the issue is with the headphones and not the Surface device, possibly owing to the headphones not giving a response back to the Surface when attempting to pair. Thank you for your assistance

Answer 4

Hi Crest

Thank you for your quick response. I have now discovered that my Surface is able to pair with other headphones, both Bluetooth 4.2 and 5.0 types. Conclusively the issue is with the headphones and not the Surface device, possibly owing to the headphones not giving a response back to the Surface when attempting to pair. Thank you for your assistance