How to Find a Missing Bluetooth Button on a Windows PC

If you frequently use your laptop’s Bluetooth to connect to other devices, you may have experienced issues with the Bluetooth button missing from the Action Center at an inopportune time. Fortunately, that doesn’t mean Bluetooth doesn’t work, and retrieving the button is relatively simple.

This article explains why the Bluetooth button is off and offers some reliable solutions.

Reasons why the Bluetooth button is missing

Windows PCs have a built-in Bluetooth on/off button in the Action Center area. Sometimes you may encounter an issue where this button does not appear in Action Center. Many reasons could trigger this problem, including:

• An outdated Bluetooth driver. In some cases, the driver is up to date but damaged.
• Bluetooth support service is disabled.
• Perhaps you have recently updated your Windows.
• Maybe your computer has a system error.

How to solve the Bluetooth button missing issue

Below are possible solutions and the series of steps you can follow for each one:

Editing the quick actions menu in Action Center

The Action Center on a PC has two ps. One is at the top and shows all system notifications and installed apps. The one at the bottom is called the quick action menu. Contains shortcuts to crucial settings. Bluetooth may not be one of the shortcuts your system considers crucial and you may have omitted it from the menu.

However, Action Center usually shows the four most frequently used shortcuts and hides the rest. You can click “Expand” to show the full list.

The Bluetooth on/off button might not be listed because you accidentally disabled it. Here’s how to restore it:

1. Open the “Action Center” by pressing the “Win + A” keys or the message icon at the bottom right of the toolbar.
   
2. Click “Manage notifications.”
   
3. Choose “Edit your quick actions” in the Settings dialog box.
   
4. You can reorder the icons by dragging and dropping them. The top row is the one that will appear when you enter the Action Center.
   
5. If Bluetooth is missing from the icon list, select “Add” at the bottom.
   
6. Choose “Bluetooth” from the list.
   
7. (Optional) Reorder the icons so that Bluetooth appears in the first row for quicker access.
   

Evaluate Bluetooth settings

“Bluetooth Settings” may have a problem. You can rate them this way:

1. Press the Windows button to display the “Start” menu.
   
2. Select the gear icon and choose “Devices.”
   
3. Select “Bluetooth and other devices.”
   
4. Go to “Related settings” and select “More Bluetooth options.”
   
5. Choose “Options” to enable “Show Bluetooth icon in notification area”.
   
6. Select “Apply” and then “OK” to finish.
   

Run the Bluetooth troubleshooter

Find out why the Bluetooth button is missing by running the troubleshooter. This is what needs to be done:

1. Click the “Windows” icon on the taskbar to access the “Start” menu.
   
2. Press the “Settings” gear icon.
   
3. Scroll down and choose “Update & Security”.
   
4. Choose “Troubleshoot.”
   
5. Under “Recommended troubleshooting,” tap “Additional troubleshooting.”
   
6. Scroll down to “Find and fix other problems.” Below it, click “Bluetooth.”
   
7. Now press the “Run the troubleshooter” button and wait for it to detect issues.
   
8. Check the “Problem Found” status and close it if you are satisfied.
   

Open the Hardware and Bluetooth Troubleshooter

If the Bluetooth troubleshooter fails, try using the command prompt method to run the Bluetooth and hardware troubleshooter:

1. In the taskbar search bar, type “cmd” and eight-click the command prompt.
   
2. Select “Run as administrator.”
   
3. Guy “msdt.exe –id DeviceDiagnostic”And press “Enter”.
   
4. Press the “Enter” key to run the troubleshooter.
   
5. Press “Next” to start scanning.
   

Turn on Bluetooth support service

The Bluetooth Support Service is the background program that maintains and diagnoses Bluetooth connectivity. If it is turned off, the Bluetooth service will stop and the icons and buttons may disappear. You can restore it this way:

1. Go to the “Home” search bar. Type “Services” and press “Open.”
   
2. Double-click the “Bluetooth Support Service” option. A “Properties” window will appear.
   
3. Scroll to the bottom and check the “Service Status”. If active, only the “Stop” action will be clickable. Then, reboot by clicking “Stop” and then “Start.”
   
4. If it is not running, click “Startup Type” and choose “Automatic.”
   
5. Then, press the “Apply” button.
   

Confirm Bluetooth support

You may be looking for a Bluetooth button on a PC that doesn’t have one. Additionally, your machine could be using outdated Bluetooth drivers. To find out, follow these steps:

1. Press “Win + 1” to access “Settings.” Alternatively, click the Windows icon in the taskbar and tap the “Settings” gear icon.
   
2. Choose “Devices” to see the “Bluetooth and other devices” window.
   
3. If you don’t see it, return to the “Start” menu search box. Enter “device manager” and choose “Best match”.
   
4. See if you will see the “Bluetooth” menu in the device list.
   

If the Bluetooth icon is not in the “Devices” list, add it to your PC with a compatible Bluetooth adapter. You can update the Bluetooth unit in this way:

1. Go to the “Start” search bar and enter “Device Manager.”
   
2. Click “Open” to view the “Device Manager” programs.
   
3. Choose the “Bluetooth” option and click to expand it.
   
4. Right click on “Bluetooth Driver” and select “Update Driver.”
   
5. Restart your Windows PC to allow these changes to take effect.

Disable fast startup

Quick Start speeds up your machine’s boot times. However, fast startup may interrupt some programs. You can disable it this way:

1. Go to the “Start” menu and click “Settings.”
   
2. Choose “System” and tap “Power & Sleep.”
   
3. Press “Additional power settings” to see “Choose what the power button does.”
   
4. Now click on “Change settings that are currently unavailable”.
   
5. Click to uncheck the “Enable fast startup (recommended)” option.
   
6. Press the “Save changes” button.
   

Frequent questions

Can I lose the Bluetooth button due to downgrading to a newer version of Windows?

You may stop seeing some buttons if you recently downgraded from an older version of Windows to a newer one. One of them is the Bluetooth on/off button. You can fix this by uninstalling Bluetooth. Then, restart the PC and install the Bluetooth drivers that work with your most recent version of Windows.

Can VM hide my Bluetooth button?

Virtual Machine programs can make the Bluetooth connection invisible when using a USB Bluetooth adapter. You must disable the Bluetooth connection from the Virtual Machine. This could solve the problem.

Turn the Bluetooth toggle back on

If you can’t see the Bluetooth button in Windows 10 or 11, you need to reactivate it. Mainly, you will troubleshoot your Bluetooth app to see what went wrong. Sometimes the PC has incompatible Bluetooth drivers. Other times Windows notifications can hide the Bluetooth button if there are a lot of them.