Bose SoundLink Mini Won't Pair

Sometimes Bluetooth can be a bit buggy. An easy way to test whether Bluetooth is still working on the SoundLink Mini is to attempt to pair it to a different device—if you have one available. The SoundLink Mini manual has full instructions on pairing, but here’s the gist:

1. Turn on both the speaker and the device you want to pair with.
2. Press the Bluetooth button on the top of the speaker to enter pairing mode. The light above the Bluetooth button will begin blinking blue. In some circumstances you will have to press the Bluetooth twice to enter this mode.
3. Turn on Bluetooth on your device and select the SoundLink Mini speaker. If your device asks for a key, enter “0000”. The blue flashing light should now turn solid white if the pairing was successful.

Sometimes the SoundLink Mini can get into a state where it needs to be reset. The oldest tech support tool in the book is “turn it off and back on again,” so let’s do just that. To reset the SoundLink Mini, follow these three steps:

1. Plug the speaker in.
2. Press and hold the mute button for 10 seconds until the LEDs on the top of the speaker flash.
3. Let go of the mute button. Press the power button to turn the speaker back on.

After resetting the speaker, try pairing your device again. Hopefully it works…

Sometimes, the speaker’s memory of previously paired devices is interfering with the connection to your device. If you recently reset the bluetooth settings on your device, or are pairing with a new device, the SoundLink Mini could be ignoring the new signals as it tries to pair with the old ones it remembers. To remedy this Bluetooth issue, you can clear the speaker’s memory. This will force the SoundLink Mini to forget about any previous Bluetooth connections it has made. The procedure is very similar to the process for resetting the device:

1. Press and hold the Bluetooth button for 10 seconds.
2. Release the Bluetooth button once the speaker plays a noise.

After you complete this process, you will have to go through the pairing process with any devices that you previously had paired with the speaker.

If your speaker is still being stubborn, the issue might be related to Bluetooth interference. Bluetooth communication occurs via electromagnetic waves (the same type used for radio or on-air television) that have a frequency specifically around 2.4 GHz. Unfortunately, the 2.4 GHz spectrum is also used for other purposes including Wi-Fi and even microwave ovens. To reduce the chance that these other products are interfering with your speaker’s Bluetooth communication, bring your device and speaker close together and move away from from other sources of 2.4 GHz waves.

Here’s an extra tip just for anyone who can pair their device with the speaker but finds that they keep having to re-pair after some time. The SoundLink Mini can remember up to six devices that it has paired with, meaning that the when you attempt to pair a seventh new device, the next most recently paired device is kicked out of the speaker’s memory. You might run into this issue if you’ve paired the speaker with a lot of devices—say, for your family or friends.

If you want to clear up space from the six device limit, clear the speaker’s memory as described above in Cause 3.

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