In one of our previous guides we talked about restoring the missing Bluetooth icon in the system tray of Windows 10. A reader, who read the guide, asked us what if Settings app not displaying Bluetooth settings.
As you likely know, one can turn on or off Bluetooth by navigating to Settings app > Devices > Bluetooth & other devices section. Here you can add new Bluetooth devices to your PC as well as view all paired Bluetooth devices.
What to do when Bluetooth and Bluetooth settings are missing from the Settings?
At times, you might notice that the Bluetooth section is completely missing from the Settings. Of course, Windows 10 doesn’t display Bluetooth section and settings if your PC doesn’t come with a Bluetooth adapter.
Solution 1 of 4
Enable Bluetooth in Windows 10 Device Manager
If you’re sure that your PC has a Bluetooth adapter, then the Settings app is not showing Bluetooth section and settings because Bluetooth has been disabled in Device Manager. Yes, if the Bluetooth’s hardware is disabled in Device Manager, the Settings app doesn’t list the Bluetooth section and settings.
Just because your PC has Bluetooth hardware and drivers are installed for the same, that doesn’t mean that Bluetooth is enabled. Here is how to enable or disable Bluetooth in Windows 10.
Step 1: Open Device Manager. There are a couple of ways out there to open Device Manager in Windows 10. The easiest way is to right-click on the Start button and then click Device Manager.
Step 2: In the Device Manager, double-click on the Bluetooth tree to see the Bluetooth hardware’s name. As you can see in the picture below, my ThinkPad T450s has Intel Wireless Bluetooth.
Step 3: If there is a down arrow on the Bluetooth icon (refer to the picture above), then Bluetooth is turned off. To turn it on, right-click on Bluetooth’s name and then click Enable. Bluetooth should be enabled immediately without any delay.
Step 4: Open Settings app now. If the Settings app is already open, please close it once and then open it again to see Bluetooth settings under Devices (Settings > Devices).
Solution 2 of 4
Enable the Bluetooth service
Step 1: Type services.msc in the Start/taskbar search field and press the Enter key to open the Services window.
Step 2: Look for the Bluetooth support service. Right-click on it and then click Properties.
Step 3: Change the Startup type to Automatic. Click the Start button. Finally, click the Apply button.
If the Start button is greyed out, right-click on the Bluetooth support service entry and then click the Restart option.
Solution 3 of 4
Reinstall the Bluetooth driver
Reinstalling the Bluetooth driver should fix the issue. Here is how to do that.
Step 1: Download the Bluetooth device driver from your computer manufacturer’s website.
Step 2: In the Device Manager, expand the Bluetooth entry to see the Bluetooth adapter entry.
Step 3: Right-click on the Bluetooth adapter entry and then click the Uninstall option.
Step 4: Select Delete the driver software for this device option. Click the Uninstall button.
Step 5: Once the uninstall is done, reboot your computer.
Step 6: Finally, install the already downloaded the Bluetooth driver.
If these solutions fail to work, as a last resort, you can try resetting Windows 10 to default settings.
Solution 4 of 4
Run the Bluetooth troubleshooter
The built-in Bluetooth troubleshooter in Windows 10 can help you fix the problem. Navigate to Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot page, run the Bluetooth troubleshooter and then follow the on-screen directions.
Hope this helps!
ThisisWhyI'mSwitchingtoLinux.com says
What if Bluetooth is missing from Settings and Device Manager?
brandon says
thank you sooooo much
i struggled with this for almost a year but thanks to you its working now
Steve Rawcliffe says
Follow up to my previous comment.
Bluetooth went off again today. Same symptoms, but this time, Device Manager was showing Bluetooth as enabled. Disabling and enabling didn’t fix it, nor did rebooting the PC.
What did finally work was:
– reboot
– go into BIOS setup (on my machine, that means hitting Del during bootup)
– turn Bluetooth off
– save and exit BIOS setup
– reboot
– go into BIOS setup
– turn Bluetooth on
– save and exit BIOS setup
Hope this is of use to somebody.
Steve Rawcliffe says
Many thanks.
I had a slightly different problem but your solution worked anyhow … “Bluetooth & other devices” was available, but the Bluetooth on-off toggle switch was not. Re-enabling the BT adapter as you described solved the problem!
Anjan Karmakar says
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-other_settings/bluetooth-onoff-toggle-button-windows-10/f64d9e17-d786-4e79-a4a5-2455f077085c
The answer by n05033 solved my problem. :)
David says
Thank you. Wasted an hour before I found this post
Ken Leibow says
SOLUTION: I have a Lenovo Yoga 710. This morning after logging into Windows 10, my bluetooth mouse stopped working. I looked in the Action Center and in the Windows 10 Settings and could no longer find “Bluetooth”. I did extensive research, including watching YouTube videos and no solution worked. I believe the combinations of the 3 steps below solved the problem.
1. In Services turned the BlueTooth support from manual to automatic, stopped and started the service. (Bluetooth still missing)
2. In Device Manager uninstalled the Bluetooth driver. Rebooted and then reinstalled the Bluetooth driver allowing Windows to find the driver. (Bluetooth still missing)
3. Turned on Bluetooth Speaker – detected hardware. Anwser “YES” to turn on. (BLUETOOTH NOW AVAILABLE IN ACTION ITEMS AND SETTINGS) Mouse and Speaker now works.
Hal says
does not work. it is enabled in device manager but missing from settings and control panel. M$ has really destroyed windows as a desktop OS.
Vincent says
Would be nice to know what’s causing it so we can prevent it from happening again. Constantly having to re-enable it is not really a solution.
k. l. m. says
As Alec says….bluetooth is not in devices nor in device manager. Searched pc for bluetooth anything and came up with nothing. I’ve been using bluetooth on this machine for two and a half years.
Alec says
What if the Bluetooth icon is missing from the Device Manager? I know I have Bluetooth because yesterday I was using my Arc Mouse. Thanks!
tony searle says
Worked a treat. Keep losing Bluetooth from menu in Windows10 and this does return it.
Thanks !