Windows 10 Bluetooth Remove Failed? Here’s How to Fix It!

You can’t remove your Bluetooth device from the Bluetooth settings menu, and it shows ‘Remove failed.’ Don’t worry; you can try one of the methods below to remove your Bluetooth device.

There are four methods available below for you to try. You can try them one by one.

Method 1: Remove the bluetooth device under Airplane Mode
Method 2: Remove the bluetooth device from Control Panel
Method 3: Uninstall the bluetooth device from Device Manager
Method 4: Use Registry Editor to remove the bluetooth device

Method 1: Remove the bluetooth device under Airplane Mode

If you’re using a laptop, to fix the problem, you can try to turn on Airplane Mode, then remove the bluetooth device again.

While Airplane mode is on, Windows 10 will disable some services like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. In this case, removing the bluetooth device may work.

Here’s how to turn on Airplane Mode in Windows 10:

1) Press Win+I keys to open the Windows Settings window.

2) At the Windows Settings window, select Network and Internet.

open network internet

3) In the left pane, select Airplane Mode. Then, in the right pane, go the Airplane Mode section, and then click the button to turn on Airplane Mode.

Method 2: Remove the bluetooth device from Control Panel

Since you can’t remove the bluetooth device from the Bluetooth settings menu, you can try removing it from the Control Panel instead. To do so:

1) Press Win+R keys to open the Run box.

2) Type “control panel” into the Run box and click OK to open the Control Panel window.

open control panel

3) At Control Panel window, select Category from the View by drop list. Under Hardware and Sound, click on View devices and printers.

open view devices and printers

4) Right-click on the bluetooth device you wish to remove, and select Remove device.

remove bluetooth device from devices and printers

If you can’t remove the device in this way, continue to try Method 3.

Method 3: Uninstall the bluetooth device from Device Manager

You can try to uninstall the bluetooth device from Device Manager. Here’s how to do it:

1) On your keyboard, press Win+R (the Windows logo key and the R key) at the same time to invoke the Run box.

2) Type “devmgmt.msc” into the Run box and click OK to open the Device Manager window.

open device manager

3) Expand the Bluetooth category, then right-click on the Bluetooth device you wish to uninstall, and then select Uninstall device.

uninstall bluetooth device

If you don’t see the bluetooth device under the Bluetooth category, it’s possible the device is hidden. In this case, you need to make it show up manually so you can uninstall it.

To show the hidden bluetooth device, just click View at the top and then select Show hidden devices.

show hidden device

4) When a window pops up to ask you to confirm the uninstallation, tick the box next to “Delete the driver software for this device”, then click Uninstall to uninstall the device.

confirm to delete the bluetooth device

5) Reboot your computer then you may see the bluetooth device removed. If it’s still not removed, reboot your computer again.

Method 4: Use Registry Editor to remove the bluetooth device

If none of the above methods works, the last method you can try is to use the Registry Editor.

In Windows 10, after you pair a bluetooth device with your PC, the device will be stored in the Registry Editor. So you can delete the bluetooth device using the Registry Editor.

Note: Modifying the registry incorrectly can cause serious system issues. So make sure you know what you’re doing and follow the steps below carefully. If you’re not sure, just leave it alone.

[Recommended] Before you head to modify the registry, it’s recommended you back up the registry, so you can restore the registry in case any issues occur. To back up the registry, you can refer to the steps in article How to Back Up Windows Registry .

When you’re ready, follow these steps to delete the registry key that represents the bluetooth device.

1) On your keyboard, press Win+R (the Windows logo key and the R key) at the same time to invoke the Run box.

2) Type “regedit” into the Run box and click OK to open the Registry Editor.

open registry editor

3) Navigate to:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\BTHPORT\Parameters\Devices

4) In the right pane, you can see one to several 12-digit registry keys. Each key represents a specific device. You can tell what the specific device is from the “Name” value.

5) Right-click on the registry key that represents the bluetooth device you wish to remove, then select Delete.

delete bluetooth device from registry editor

6) Reboot your computer then check if you can remove the bluetooth device successfully.

Hopefully you find this article helpful. If you have any questions, feel free to drop a comment below. I’ll get back to you ASAP.

37 thoughts on “Windows 10 Bluetooth Remove Failed? Here’s How to Fix It!”

  1. I have tried all methods, and still cannot remove a pair of wireless ear buds. thoughts? I followed all of the steps multiple times….nothing. Still does not when I try and remove.

    Reply
    • Hi Jackson,

      Sorry to hear that your problem cannot be resolved. After you tried Method 4, Can you see the registry key of the bluetooth device showed in Registry Editor?

      Reply
      • I had the same issue – following a reboot after removing the entry in registry editor the my headphones were still not removable and did not appear in the registry.

        I re-added the BT device as if it were a new device and it added fine and then removed with no issues.

        Obviously this will be no help for those who do not still have the BT device in their possession!

        Reply
  2. Amazing post!. Why isn’t this more transparent for the final user, instead of going around in circles, I just don´t know.

    Would like to believe Win 11 will be better but, who am I kidding?

    Thanks for doing the investigative work for your readers Camilla.

    Have a great week and stay safe.

    Reply
  3. Sadly, none of these methods worked for me. I was amazed that the registry modification didn’t have an effect. Just how deep was the device stuck in the system?

    The fix in the end was hiding beneath the fact that my gamepad was paired to a different Bluetooth adapter. I had to unplug my current one (it’s important!), plug the old one (that the gamepad was originally paired to) in and THEN remove it from the normal (“modern”) Bluetooth control panel.

    And apparently Windows just doesn’t enable a Bluetooth adapter if another one is already plugged in. It doesn’t give any notices about it either. Just deep in Device Manager you may find the last plugged adapter with a warning sign (⚠) that drivers aren’t loaded for it. Thanks, WIndows.

    Feel free to add this as a 5th method ?
    Credit for the pointer goes to the bottom of the first page of this Microsoft Answers thread: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/unable-to-remove-bluetooth-device-on-windows-10/ea6da83d-583e-4b80-8714-367510879f07?page=1

    Reply
    • Same with me. I wouldn’t probably come up with such solution. The thing was to plug out the new dongle and plug in the new one. Then remove the device and plug in the new dongle again.

      Mind blowing but works.

      Reply
    • Hi,

      I can confirm that method 5 suggested from user D-side is the ONLY thing that worked for me too in order to remove Bluetooth devices tied to a previous BT-adapter (DELL Wireless 1820A) and re-pair them again to the new BT-adapter (Intel AC9260) on my XPS13 9350 under Windows 11.
      ALL other proposed solutions were attempted but failed to remove these existing BT-devices. Believe it or not, I really needed to physically reinstall the old BT M.2 adapter in order to do that.

      Reply
  4. Method 3 worked for me, though the device still appeared to be connected – the trick was, after Method 3, to search for a new device as if I was pairing for the first time. The device appeared in the scan and I was able to connect. I’ve since been able to disconnect and reconnect as normal. I’m very glad because Method 4 was intimidating!

    Thank you for your help, Camilla!

    Reply
    • I would also add that it may be necessary to remove the PC Bluetooth device, reboot, then let the PC find it and install it again. Then install Bluetooth drivers for the device along with the CSR drivers.

      Reply
  5. Method 4 Removal of Bluetooth Devices from Registry works for me after troubleshooting a long time when I got Asus PCE-AX58BT today.

    My System:
    -Asus Z390 Extreme motherboard with WiFi (comes with shark-fin shape antenna) onboard
    (it has an issue with Aftershokz Aeropex, cannot maintain audio output, intermittent audio signal jitter/lag)
    -Windows 11 Pro upgraded from Windows 10 Pro

    Ordered the PCE Wireless & Bluetooth adapter and install it myself for the first time. could not get it to work with the latest Intel drivers. I have tried several online websites’ suggestions, many have suggested the method 1~3 type resolution and couldn’t work work me.

    Thank you very much for sharing!

    Reply
  6. Hi Camilla,
    I couldn’t connect to any other Bluetooth devices as the rogue device kept automatically pairing and connecting even though the device was miles away from my laptop in a different part of the country!
    Thank you for solving this, method 3 worked for me, I wasn’t aware of “show hidden devices” using this method and restarting laptop twice has thankfully removed the ghost device.

    Reply
  7. After hours and days I finally got here And the last option resolved my problem.
    Thank you a lot!
    Sorry for my bad english, I didnt found solution in my lenguage (spanish)
    <3

    Reply
  8. Method 3 was the trick, but needed to view hidden even though my device was there. Had to delete several instances of the same device, reboot, device finally gone

    Reply
  9. Click on “+Add Bluetooth or other device” search the device again and click on add.
    Now it will connect. Once connected, you can remove.

    Reply
  10. My headset was working fine an hour ago, and has been fine since I got the BT dongle a week ago. I turned it off to go feed the dogs, can back and got nothing–not connecting. Checked BT Devices: cannot connect, cannot remove to repair–‘Cannot remove’ error.
    The headset works fine with my phone.

    – Desktop, no plane mode.
    – Get ‘Cannot remove’ error in Bluetooth controls in Bluetooth Devices.
    – Remove device in Device Manager, get ‘Cannot remove’ error in Bluetooth controls in Bluetooth Devices, Scan For Hardware Devices in Device Manager puts it right back.
    – Get ‘Cannot delete due to an error’ (not named or described) in Regedit (started in Admin mode).

    Tested with another headset: same problems, test headset works fine with my phone.

    Is there a known way to make this work? Or do I switch to another OS?

    Reply

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