Windows 11 - how to get Bluetooth working

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timmmay

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#318907 3-Mar-2025 16:09

I have a Windows 11 PC based on the Gigabyte B550 AORUS PRO AC motherboard. I tried to add my Sony wireless headphones today, but as soon as I hit "add device" in settings it says "couldn't connect". The Windows Troubleshooter says "I wasn't able to detect a Bluetooth radio on your device". There's no Bluetooth entry in "device manager". There's no way to enable or disable Bluetooth in the BIOS as far as I can see. I've tried a few suggestions from Perplexity with no luck. I recall connecting my computer to Alexa as a speaker in the past, so I know the machine has Bluetooth.

I've tried installing the drivers from the Gigabyte website and restarting, that didn't help. It's like the OS can't see that the computer has Bluetooth. My next step is probably to run a live Linux image, which I'll do tonight if I have time.

Any suggestions how to get Bluetooth working?

Device Manager

bagheera

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#3349669 3-Mar-2025 16:16

not seeing Bluetooth in device manager and it needs to be if you want to connect things to it - looking at the spec on the motherboard, looks like it has BT, so have you installed the drivers for it?

B550 AORUS PRO AC (rev. 1.x) Support | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global

Oblivian

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#3349671 3-Mar-2025 16:20

Interestingly we had someone walk in with that this morning on an HP device.

FW update and reboot and it was back. But that's suspiciously coincidental.

freitasm

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Geekzone

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#3349681 3-Mar-2025 16:56

Even without a driver the Bluetooth radio would show up as disabled. See if you have any software to download from the board manufacturer.

timmmay

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#3349687 3-Mar-2025 17:04

Thanks all. Neither Windows or Ubuntu 22.02 can see Bluetooth hardware. I'll try a BIOS update once I get it to work - @BIOS exits so I'll have to try it direct in the BIOS later.

richms

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#3349691 3-Mar-2025 17:35

Is the wifi card still in the correct slot. If its in another one then the USB cables may not be present for the bluetooth part to work. Had that on an old PC where I had moved it to a different one so the antenna wires would reach where I wanted them to be. Wifi fine, BT nothing.

Richard rich.ms

timmmay

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#3349701 3-Mar-2025 17:49

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are on the motherboard, no slots involved as far as I know. I have put external antennas on the back to increase the signal strength, though I don't even use Wi-Fi, I use ethernet.

I'll do the BIOS update later and see if that helps. After that I'll try installing the manufacturer utilities which I didn't reinstall when I last installed windows 11. That it's not working in Ubuntu is not a good sign.

timmmay

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#3349732 3-Mar-2025 20:22

No luck after the BIOS update, Windows or Linux. I guess it's broken. A USB adapter I remembered I had in a drawer worked - badly as it's a Linux optimised adapter. I'll just buy a decent Windows / USB / Bluetooth adapter some time. Thanks all for your help :)

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mentalinc

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#3349733 3-Mar-2025 20:30

Maybe try latest Intel drivers from here on https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/18649/intel-wireless-bluetooth-drivers-for-windows-10-and-windows-11.html

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timmmay

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#3349737 3-Mar-2025 20:50

mentalinc:

Maybe try latest Intel drivers from here on https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/18649/intel-wireless-bluetooth-drivers-for-windows-10-and-windows-11.html

Thanks for the suggestion, but no luck there. I'll just get a USB adapter if I need Bluetooth on the desktop.

yitz

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#3349740 3-Mar-2025 21:01

As above post by richms System Interface Type Wi-Fi(PCIe), BT(USB) so there must be a USB connection needed somewhere that's not connected or not implemented by Gigabyte on this board.

On Reddit there's a possible fix by unplugging and replugging?
https://www.reddit.com/r/ASUS/comments/he7ci7/support_b550_motherboard_no_bluetooth_on_a/

timmmay

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#3349742 3-Mar-2025 21:14

That worked, thanks @yitz! Who'd have thought something so simple could do it! I followed that processed, installed the latest Intel Bluetooth driver, and it's working.

Here's the method in case the Reddit post disappears... for when this happens again in a year and I Google the problem and find the question from myself ;)

Turn off the PC.
Unplug power cable to PSU.
Hold power button for 30 seconds.
Plug power back into PSU.
Boot PC.

mentalinc

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#3349755 3-Mar-2025 21:44

Wow, it need the super duper turn it off and back on again trick!

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timmmay

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#3349759 3-Mar-2025 21:47

mentalinc:

Wow, it need the super duper turn it off and back on again trick!

Yeah pretty crazy ay?! I've not heard of this one before.

jamesrt

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#3349765 3-Mar-2025 22:31

timmmay:

mentalinc:

Wow, it need the super duper turn it off and back on again trick!

Yeah pretty crazy ay?! I've not heard of this one before.

Yes, from my days in hardware maintenance, this is a common technique to ensure you've done a complete hardware reset. My old manager used to refer to it as 'draining the flea power' - I guess because you needed to make sure all the PSU capacitors were drained to the point they couldn't even harm a flea.

cddt

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#3349819 4-Mar-2025 07:52

mentalinc:

Wow, it need the super duper turn it off and back on again trick!

Roy from the IT Crowd knew more than he let on...

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