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How to Connect Skullcandy Headphones & Speakers to Bluetooth

by Josh Kirschner on July 27, 2023

Updated on 7/27/2023 with new model information and multipoint pairing instructions.

Follow these steps to get your Skullcandy headphones or speaker connected to Bluetooth.

  1. Turn on pairing mode for your Skullcandy headphones or speaker
  2. Find your Skullcandy headphones or speaker on your phone or laptop and pair them
  3. Confirm successful pairing

This will work with most Skullcandy wireless headphones (Crusher ANC 2, Crusher Evo, Hesh ANC, Hesh Evo, Riff Wireless 2), Skullcandy earbuds (Rail ANC True Wireless,  Rail True Wireless, Sesh ANC True Wireless, Grind True Wireless, 420 Grind True Wireless, Push Active True Wireless,  Mod True Wireless, Smokin' Buds True Wireless, Dime 2 True Wireless, Jib True 2 Wireless), and Skullcandy wireless speakers (Terrain XL, Terrain, Terrain Mini, Kilo, and Ounce).

1. Turn on pairing mode for your Skullcandy headphones or speaker

Most Skullcandy wireless earbuds touch controls will automatically go into pairing mode when unpair or "forget" them using your phone, tablet or laptop. For most Skullcandy wireless earbuds with button controls work, press and hold to power off both earbuds (a few seconds). When they're off press and hold again until they power on again and you hear "Pairing."

Wireless over-ear headphones typically share the same button for Power On/Off and Bluetooth pairing. Press and hold the pairing button for 4-5 seconds (varies by device) until you see the LED light start flashing — this indicates the headphones are now in pairing mode. If this doesn't work, try clearing the pairing history by pressing and holding the "+" and "-" buttons. You'll hear "disconnected" and then "pairing." 

Skullcandy wireless speakers may or may not have separate Power and Bluetooth Pairing buttons, depending on the model. Press and hold the pairing button for 4-5 seconds (varies by device) until you see the LED light start flashing — this indicates the speaker is now in pairing mode.

2. Find your Skullcandy headphones or speaker on your phone or laptop and pair them

Android. Go to Settings and turn on Bluetooth. In Bluetooth, select “Pair new device.” When you see your Skullcandy device come up in the list, tap it, and it should be paired with your phone.

iPhone. Go to Settings and then Bluetooth. Turn on Bluetooth. Look for your Skullcandy device under “OTHER DEVICES” and tap on it to connect.

MacOS. On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Bluetooth. Select your Skullcandy device from the list, then click Connect. If asked, click Accept.

Windows 11. Open “Bluetooth & other devices” in the System Settings by clicking on your Bluetooth button in the toolbar and selecting “Add a Bluetooth Device.” If the Bluetooth button is hidden, you'll find it under the upward arrow on the taskbar at the bottom of your display.

Windows 11 Bluetooth Settings menu with Add a Bluetooth Device

When the "Bluetooth & devices" window comes up, click “Add device.” In the "Add a device window, select "Bluetooth." Look for your Skullcandy device in the list and tap on it to connect. 

3. Confirm successful pairing

When you have successfully paired your Skullcandy headphones or speaker to your phone or laptop, the LED on your Skullcandy device will stop blinking, and you should hear an audio confirmation that your device is paired (either a tone or voice confirmation).

How to use multipoint to connect headphones to a second device

Some Skullcandy headphones support multipoint (including Crusher ANC 2, Riff Wireless 2, Rail, Rail ANC, or Mod), which lets you connect your headphones to two devices simultaneously. To pair to a second device while already connected to one device, press either earbud one time and then press and hold for one second. You'll hear "Ready to Pair," and both buds will blink red and blue. Then follow the steps above to pair your headphones. Once you've paired your headphones with two devices, they will automatically connect with both.

If you are already connected to two devices and want to add a new device, enter pairing mode by pressing and holding on one bud for 3 seconds until you hear "Ready to Pair."  Then follow the steps above to pair your headphones. You will then be connected with the two most recently paired devices. 

Troubleshooting your Bluetooth connection

If you have followed the steps above and your device still isn’t pairing, try resetting your Skullcandy headphones or speaker. For headphones, press the volume up and down buttons at the same time and hold until you hear two short beeps (about 4 seconds). For speakers, hold the center pairing button and the volume up button until you hear two short beeps. This will clear out any old Bluetooth connections and allow you to start the pairing process fresh again.

If that doesn't fix your Skullcandy connection problem, try our more detailed guide for fixing Bluetooth pairing problems.

[Image credits: Skullcandy, Techlicious]

Josh Kirschner is the co-founder of Techlicious and has been covering consumer tech for more than a decade. Josh started his first company while still in college, a consumer electronics retailer focused on students. His writing has been featured in Today.com, NBC News and Time.


Topics

Music and Video, Headphones, Tips & How-Tos, Tech 101


Discussion loading

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From Debbie Lauridsen on April 16, 2019 :: 10:36 pm


How do I pair JIB Wireless earbuds to my laptop?

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From Mike Scirocco on June 06, 2020 :: 1:02 am


Did you try these steps? Please describe in detail what you did and what happened.

https://www.skullcandy.com/content/jib-wireless-setup-instructions.pdf

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From JITENDRA PATEL on May 19, 2019 :: 1:45 pm


not able to connect my skull candy bluetooth headphones to laptop or samsung tablet , Help pages are useless.

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From Mike Scirocco on June 06, 2020 :: 1:01 am


What device are you trying to connect to, and what OS does it run?
What procedure did you try?

Did you hold the power/pause button for about 8 seconds until you heard “Pairing”?

If so, what did you do after that?

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From Nawal on August 29, 2020 :: 4:54 am


Hi
I looking for the answer to my problem I found it with the questions thank you very much 🌹

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From Hal B Long on January 02, 2021 :: 4:41 pm


I
I can not hook up or pair headphones

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From Scottig on June 14, 2019 :: 10:46 am


My laptop is requesting a pin for my Venue to connect the bluetooth function.

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From Josh Kirschner on June 14, 2019 :: 6:12 pm


The Skullcandy Venue headphones shouldn’t require entering a PIN. Go to your phone Bluetooth settings and look at your “Previously connected devices”. Are the Venue headphones there? If so, click the settings icon and hit “Forget”. Then turn off your headphones and turn them back on in pairing mode. Did that fix it?

If your laptop is still asking for a PIN, try the standard Bluetooth default PIN: 0000. If that doesn’t work, try 1111 or 1234. But you really shouldn’t need to.

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From Jeremy on January 22, 2020 :: 8:07 am


I just replaced my Anrdroid with the LG G8Thinq.

My old Skull Candy S2JSW won’t connect. My phone asks for a PIN… What??  I never had a PIN for the last phone - I don’t think.

Anyway, the PIN you suggest like 0000 1234 1111 do not work.  Always get the “cannot pair” 

Bummer.  And why?

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From Cat on February 09, 2021 :: 10:03 am


I have this same issue. I haven’t been able to use mine since it started.

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From Mark Rapha on July 05, 2019 :: 10:32 pm


My headphones centerpiece led light keeps flashing red and blue. I don’t know if it’s trying to pair. I’ve tried turning it on and off again, Bluetooth settings turned on and off as well. I also tried charging it, but nothing. Any help?

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From Josh Kirschner on July 10, 2019 :: 11:29 am


Here are the instructions from Skullcandy on how to disable the flashing LED light:

“To disable the flashing LED indicator light put the headphones in pairing mode (ie: flashing red and blue) and then press the volume down button. After this action turn the headphones off and then turn the headphones on and connect them to your device in the standard manner.”

ref: https://sennheiserusa.happyfox.com/kb/article/128-how-do-i-disable-the-flashing-led-indicator-light/

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From ram bdr on August 03, 2019 :: 6:51 pm


There’s a constant red/blue flash that’s not allowing the headphone to be paired. IT seems to be stuck on pairing mode and starts with the pairing mode after turning it on.

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From Miranda Darlene Marcantel on July 29, 2019 :: 9:38 am


I absolutely could not figure out how to get my headphones to pair to my phone again. Took two seconds after reading this lol

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From Josh Kirschner on July 29, 2019 :: 1:06 pm


Glad the info helped you out!

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From Brandy on August 11, 2019 :: 3:41 am


The right speaker on my skullcandy Bluetooth headset is crackling and making high pitched scratching sound while the left one is crystal clear. What do I do?

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From Josh Kirschner on August 13, 2019 :: 5:19 pm


Does this happen everywhere or only in certain locations? If the latter, something is probably creating interference with the Bluetooth connection between the buds. If it happens everywhere, sounds like a bad earbud.

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From Jamie guidry on August 31, 2019 :: 7:59 pm


I have some skullycandy wireless earphones can’t get them to work please help

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From Nakul Arora on November 07, 2019 :: 5:15 pm


Every time I switch between mobile and laptop it requires me to pair again. Is it normal?

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From Anna on November 25, 2019 :: 4:33 am


So when I first got these headphone(today) I connected them to one phone perfectly no problems. But now I am trying to pair with my other phone so I can use them for phone calls and Netflix etc. however they don’t even show up in my Bluetooth for my phone but they are in pairing mode and now I can’t even pair them back to the original phone. What do I do? Please help me

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From Josh Kirschner on November 26, 2019 :: 9:45 am


Ok, I’m assuming you held down the function button for three seconds to put it pairing mode (LED flashes red and blue) and you’re still not seeing it you phone Bluetooth? If that’s the case, try resetting the headphones by powering on and holding down the + and - buttons at the same time until the LED flashes, then try to re-pair.

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From Mike Scirocco on May 04, 2020 :: 4:06 am


When I turn on my Crusher headphones I have to hold the power button for about 5 seconds until I hear “power on” and then continue to hold the power button depressed for 2 more seconds until I hear the pairing message.

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From Simqliclty on December 07, 2019 :: 1:24 am


I tried 0000 1234 1111 4321 and a few random pins and none of them seem to work

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From Josh Kirschner on January 22, 2020 :: 3:56 pm


The Skullcandy headphones shouldn’t require entering a PIN. Go to your phone’s Bluetooth settings and look at your “Previously connected devices”. Are the headphones there? If so, click the settings icon and hit “Forget”. Then turn off your headphones and turn them back on in pairing mode. Did that fix it?

Reply

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From Valerie on April 06, 2020 :: 11:20 am


Im having the same problem and nothing is fixing it

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From Teresa Anderson on December 25, 2019 :: 2:43 pm


My earbuds are pairs to my iphone but the left will not pair to the right. I have tried repairing them several times and nothing working. Anyone have any advise or why they wont pair?

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From Brenda on February 01, 2020 :: 3:10 am


It says it’s in the pairing but I’m not getting from phone to earbuds blue tooth on lights flashing

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From Vladimir on February 29, 2020 :: 6:17 am


I cant connect my skullcandy riff wirelsess to my windows 10 laptop. Headset isnt shown in the wireless divices list. How can i fix that ?

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From Mike Scirocco on June 09, 2020 :: 1:16 am


IS BT enabled on the computer?

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From CFS on March 11, 2020 :: 11:22 am


I disconnected my headphones and now cannot reconnect them. They appear on my bluetooth menu, but when I click “connect” a yellow warning sign appears and says “connection rejected.”

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From Josh Kirschner on March 11, 2020 :: 2:54 pm


Go into your phone, find the Skullcandy headphones in your Bluetooth devices and “forget” them. Then re-pair and see if that works.

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From Reynol on March 17, 2020 :: 4:21 pm


I got a new phone and I’m trying to pair my jib skullcandy head phones to my Android but it keeps asking for a pin i can’t remember and i can’t seem to find my instructions

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From Josh Kirschner on March 20, 2020 :: 1:16 pm


You shouldn’t need to enter a pin. Try following the advice above for how to reset your Skullcandy headphones and see if that fixes the issue. If not, try the standard Bluetooth default PIN: 0000.

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From Devi Prasad on April 21, 2020 :: 5:36 am


The headphone has paired but not listening from booth speakers

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From Devi Prasad on April 21, 2020 :: 5:38 am


paired with desktop & mobile but not listening booth systems

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From Mike Scirocco on May 04, 2020 :: 4:04 am


My AKG Y50bt headphones pair automatically with my phone, but my Skullcandy Hesh 3 and Crusher headphones don’t, I have to select ‘previously paired’ devices and click on those headphones to get them to pair with the phone. Is there way to make them automatically connect like the AKGs do?

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From Josh Kirschner on May 06, 2020 :: 10:43 am


Have you tried resetting them in the troubleshooting step above?

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From Mike Scirocco on May 06, 2020 :: 9:29 pm


Thanks for your reply. I turned on the Hesh 3 perparing to reset them per your instructions and they paired automatically, first time that’s ever happened! So I reset the Crushers, turned them off, then on, held the power button, heard “power on” but not “pairing”. After a couple more restarts heard “pairing” again but still have to connect it manually on the phone. Sounds like I got some buggy headphones. Thanks very much for your article and time.

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From Mike Scirocco on May 06, 2020 :: 11:21 pm


After a few more attempts my Crushers auto connected! I bought both of these used (on ebay w/broken hangers and fixed them) so I have no idea if they were glitchcy before. Thanks again.

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From Sheila on June 06, 2020 :: 12:01 am


I need to know if I can use them with my smart tv

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From Josh Kirschner on June 09, 2020 :: 12:21 am


If your TV has built-in Bluetooth (some do), you will be able to use your headphones with your TV. Otherwise, you can buy a Bluetooth adapter that connects to the audio output of your TV. We go into more details on this is on story on how to watch TV with headphones.

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From Deeksha on June 07, 2020 :: 3:36 am


It’s been 4 years and I Was done trying to use my head set to connect to my phone via Bluetooth..
I thought I could give a last try to it..then I discovered this page and give it a try once .well after resetting my device it got paired with my phone..
Well thanks for your help.

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From Josh Kirschner on June 09, 2020 :: 12:22 am


Glad you found the story helpful!

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From Ted Hall on June 17, 2020 :: 2:33 pm


I=are there instructions for these things anywhere? Mine came with the worst instructions for any product I have ever seen. Sometimes these damn thing flash fast. Sometimes slow. Sometimes red, sometimes blue, sometimes it oscillates between the two colors. I have no idea what is going on. I think maybe I have it paired. No way to tell. I see two sesh devices on my audio drop down but no matter which I choose no noise from the doodads. The noise still comes out of the cpu speakers. No wonder these were so cheap. I think I got ripped off.

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From Mike Scirocco on June 17, 2020 :: 8:35 pm


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From Ted Hall on June 18, 2020 :: 9:50 am


I appreciate the reply but I’m not wasting anymore time on these things. Right in the bin.

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From D s on June 18, 2020 :: 6:53 am


My skullcandy s2jpw-m003 wine connect to laptop

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From Lisa on July 11, 2020 :: 6:53 pm


My earbuds stop working on my phone.

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From Carter on July 14, 2020 :: 10:53 am


This does not help!!!!!!😠😠😡

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From Scott L Williams on August 19, 2020 :: 11:05 am


I bought a inkd wireless earbuds. After initial charge, I can’t get them to charge. I turned power off, and have tried a variety of cords and outlets. No red light come on??
Thanks

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