In today’s world of connectivity and the Internet of Things, Bluetooth plays an important role in connecting to these devices without cumbersome and restrictive cables. Devices such as your smartphone, speakers, and wireless headphones connect via Bluetooth. Connecting to such devices is usually straightforward and begins with the push of a button to pair the devices. At best, your device connects, and voila, the magic begins!
However, sometimes you run into problems. While the troubleshooting procedures for devices that don’t connect are product specific, the basic requirement for all of these devices is Bluetooth in the first place. This article covers two easy ways to enable Bluetooth on your PC when using Windows 10 (Version 1809, OS Build 17763.437).
But before we get to how to enable it in Windows, you need working hardware bluetooth. If you don’t have built-in Bluetooth, you’ll need to plug in a USB dongle.
However, if your computer has a built-in Bluetooth radio, you need to enable it in the BIOS as well as Device Manager. Once it is enabled in the BIOS, Windows will be able to manage your Bluetooth functionality and any paired devices. Below is a screenshot of an Asus X299 UEFI showing Bluethooth enabled and also what it looks like enabled in Device Manager. These should be enabled by default, but that’s not always the case.
Action Center
The first, and arguably the easiest method of switching on Bluetooth, is to use the Action Center . If you don’t know what it is, look for the message icon in the lower right corner of the screen.
1. Open the Access Center by hovering over the message icon and clicking once. The menu should slide out from the right side of the screen and look something like what you see below, although you may also need to click “Expand” for the Bluetooth button to appear. In this image, Bluetooth is off and the window is greyed out. If Bluetooth is not shown here, make sure it was enabled in the BIOS and the list below expanded to see all tiles.
2. Click the Bluetooth tile and it should turn blue when it is enabled (it also says “On” but returns to the symbol quickly). /p>
After pairing a device with a PC, Connected (1) is displayed at the bottom of the tile, where the number in brackets is the total number of connected devices.
Turn on Bluetooth-using-settings
Another way to turn on Bluetooth is through the Windows settings menu. The difference here is to just take a couple more steps. But the Bluetooth screen here has more information and is one of the places where you can pair devices.
1. Go to settings. You can get there by clicking the gear icon in the start menu.
2. Click on Devices.
3.Select “Bluetooth and other devices” if you don’t already see it selected.
4. Enable Bluetooth. Once enabled, your desktop should be discoverable and provide a desktop name.
As for which method is best, the answer depends on what you are trying do. If your devices are already set up and paired, turning it on via the Action Center seems like a smart idea and will save you some time compared to the other method.
However, if you need to pair with a new device, you can go to Settings Bluetooth, although you can get to the same settings menu with the first method by simply right-clicking on the Bluetooth tile once it’s enabled and selecting “Go to Settings.”
