How to replace an AirTag battery

Airtag Battery Open Hero (Image credit: Joe Keller / iMore)

While it was rumored for a long time, Apple finally launched the AirTag in 2021. This is Apple's own foray into the item tracker market, and it's a direct competitor for brands like Tile, Chipolo, and more. But what makes AirTag stand out from the crowd are features like Precision Finding, which uses Apple's U1 Ultra Wideband chip inside, and how it utilizes the entire Find My network to help you track your lost items.

While Apple is notorious for making it hard to replace batteries on most of its products, it's actually very easy to replace an AirTag battery, just like most of the other best Bluetooth item trackers on the market. That's because it just uses a standard CR2032 battery, which you can find at pretty much any store. A single 3-Volt lithium coin cell battery will power your AirTag for around one full year with regular use, at which you'll need to replace it.

Here's how to replace an AirTag battery, no trip to the Apple Store required.

How to replace an AirTag battery

Before you replace your AirTag battery, if it is in one of the best AirTags accessories like a case or loop, make sure to remove it so that the AirTag is by itself.

Flip your AirTag so that the white side faces down and the stainless steel side is up.

Replace an AirTag battery by showing: Flip the AirTag so that the white side is down and the stainless steel side is up (Image credit: Joe Keller / iMore)

With two fingers, simply push in and twist counter-clockwise on the metal — similar to opening a child-proof cap on a medication bottle.

Replace an AirTag battery by showing: Push in and twist counter clockwise on the metal to open (Image credit: Joe Keller / iMore)

Remove the old CR2032 battery.

Replace AirTag battery by showing: Remove the old CR2032 battery (Image credit: Joe Keller / iMore)

Replace it with a fresh CR2032 battery with the "+" facing up.
Place the stainless steel cover back on by twisting it clockwise back until it locks.

Replace an AirTag battery by showing: Twist stainless steel part back clockwise until it locks in place (Image credit: Joe Keller / iMore)

As you can see, replacing an AirTag battery is super easy, barely an inconvenience.

How can you tell when you need to replace the battery?

Find My Precision Finding Airtag Hero (Image credit: Christine Romero-Chan / iMore)

According to Apple, one CR2032 should give you about a year of AirTag usage with normal use. Of course, this may vary depending on how much you want to play with the AirTag features like Precision Finding with one of the best iPhones, like the iPhone 13 Pro. Keep in mind that you need at least an iPhone 11 for Precision Finding to work.

Thankfully, you don't even need to worry about that. Through the Find My app in iOS 15, you'll be able to get a notification when your AirTag battery is running low, so you can purchase a CR2032 battery and change it out with time to spare. The Find My app will even tell you the current battery level of each AirTag as well, so you'll always know how much battery is left at all times.

Track everything you need

AirTag is one of our favorite Bluetooth item trackers. With AirTag, we never need to worry about losing our keys or bags again, and if we misplace them, we can easily find them with Precision Finding. And if your AirTag is out of juice, just pop that cover off and replace the battery, easy!

Updated April 2022: These are still the same steps to replace an AirTag battery.

Christine Romero-Chan has been writing about technology, specifically Apple, for over a decade at a variety of websites. She is currently the iMore lead on all things iPhone, and has been using Apple’s smartphone since the original iPhone back in 2007. While her main speciality is the iPhone, she also covers Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac when needed.

When she isn’t writing about Apple, Christine can often be found at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, as she is a passholder and obsessed with all things Disney, especially Star Wars. Christine also enjoys coffee, food, photography, mechanical keyboards, and spending as much time with her new daughter as possible.

1 Comment

Unfortunately, you have to be careful which batteries you try to use. The Duracell 2032 with the bitter-taste protection doesn't make the proper connection with one of the nodes (positive or negative, not sure which). I messed around with it for a while before finally googling it to see if it was just me. I ended up getting Energizer 2032, and it worked fine. Here's an article from July 2021 describing it (https://www.imore.com/apple-issues-airtag-battery-warning-customers)