How to use Bluetooth Swift Pair on Windows 10

Using a Bluetooth device is a two step process; first you have to pair it with your PC, and then you have to connect it. The pairing is really what takes more time, while connecting requires clicking a button (or tapping a keyboard shortcut) and nothing more. Pairing is really what’s time consuming. Windows 10 has a neat feature called Swift Pair that makes it easier to pair Bluetooth devices that are in ‘pairing’ mode. Here’s how it works.

Bluetooth Swift Pair

This feature has been around for at least a year so if you’re still waiting on Windows 10 1903, you will still be able to use it. Open the Settings app and select the Devices group of settings. Go to the Bluetooth tab, and look for an option called “Show notifications to connect using Swift Pair’. Make sure that it’s enabled.

That’s all there is to it. The only thing you need to do now is turn on the Bluetooth device you want to pair. If it isn’t set to connect to another device nearby, it will turn on in ‘pairing’ mode. You should now see a notification like the one below (courtesy Microsoft), telling you that there’s a device nearby that’s ready for pairing. Click it, and the device will be paired and connected.

Compatible devices

Microsoft has neat Bluetooth features but they’re limited by device. Swift Pair is only going to work with compatible devices and the list of these devices is going to be small. Chances are that whatever Bluetooth peripheral you have, if it isn’t a Microsoft product, or an exceptionally popular product, it isn’t compatible with Swift Pair.

Microsoft added a feature to Windows 10 for viewing the battery percentage of Bluetooth devices and it too was similarly limited. This is despite there being third-party apps that can do the job. It’s not that the technology isn’t available, it’s just that Microsoft uses technology that isn’t as commonly used.

Swift Pair is quicker when it comes to pairing a device and nothing else. Just because your device isn’t compatible doesn’t mean you won’t be able to connect it to your PC. It will pair, and connect just fine through the pair menu. If you have trouble connecting a device from the Settings app, give the Control Panel a try since it’s far more stable than the Settings app. It’s hard not to point out that Apple does this much better on macOS.