How to Find Lost Galaxy Buds (Including One Missing Earbud)

Galaxy Buds can be located through Samsung's finding network, and each earbud can be rung independently — which is what you need when only one has vanished down the side of a sofa.

Ring them with SmartThings Find

1. Open the SmartThings app.
2. Tap SmartThings Find (or the Map / Devices tab).
3. Select your Galaxy Buds.
4. Tap Ring.

You can usually ring the left and right buds separately. Use this when only one is missing — ringing both makes it much harder to work out which sound you are chasing.

The buds must be out of the case to ring. Sealed in a closed case they are disconnected and silent.

Find them on the web

Go to smartthings.com or findmymobile.samsung.com and sign in with your Samsung account. Registered Galaxy Buds appear alongside your phones and watch.

If they are out of range

The map shows the last known location — where they were last connected to your phone. That is usually enough to narrow it to a room, a car or an office.

Newer Galaxy Buds also support offline finding through Samsung's network of nearby Galaxy devices, which relay an anonymous location over Bluetooth. This works even when your own phone is nowhere near them, but it needs other Galaxy devices to pass by — effective in a city, less so in a remote area.

Finding one earbud in the house

Ringing gets you close; these get you the rest of the way.

1. Ring only the missing bud so there is one sound to follow.
2. Check the classic hiding places: sofa cushions and the gap behind them, coat and jacket pockets, gym bags, the car footwell and between the seats, bedding, and the laundry basket.
3. Use Bluetooth signal strength as a hot-and-cold game. Walk around with the phone; the connection stabilises as you approach and drops as you move away.
4. Turn off the lights and use a torch at a low angle — the case and buds are glossy and catch light from the side far better than under overhead lighting.

If the case is what you lost

The case itself is not trackable. Only the earbuds have radios, and only while out of the case and charged.

If you lost the case with the buds inside, the last known location on the map is all you have. Replacement cases are sold separately by Samsung — you do not need to buy a whole new set.

Set up finding before you need it

Do this now, while you still have them.

1. Pair the buds with the Galaxy Wearable app.
2. Ensure they are registered to your Samsung account.
3. In SmartThings Find, enable Offline finding and Send last location for the buds.
4. Confirm they appear in the device list.

Without registration, none of the finding features work, and there is no way to add them after the buds are lost. The same applies to finding a lost Galaxy phone.

Why buds sometimes will not ring

Non-Samsung earbuds

If yours are not Galaxy Buds:

• Google Find Hub now supports compatible Bluetooth trackers and some headphones.
• Android's Bluetooth device list shows the last connected time, which helps narrow down when they went missing.
• Many manufacturers have their own app with a find feature — check the one for your brand.

Prevent it happening again

• Keep them in the case whenever they are not in your ears. This solves ninety per cent of losses and preserves battery.
• Attach a case strap or carabiner so the case clips to a bag.
• Enable offline finding and confirm registration.
• Consider a Bluetooth tracker attached to the case if you lose it habitually — the case is the untrackable part, and a tracker fixes exactly that gap.

In short

Use SmartThings › SmartThings Find, select the buds and Ring — one bud at a time if only one is missing. Out of range, use the last known location on the map. Register the buds to your Samsung account and enable offline finding now, because neither can be set up after they are lost.

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