How to connect two AirPods or headphones to one Mac at the same time.

Updated October 2026 · tested on macOS 26

Is there Share Audio on a Mac?

No. Apple documents Share Audio for iPhone and iPad, where both pairs must be paired with a supported iPhone or iPad, and macOS doesn’t offer it. A Mac still plays to two pairs at once: choosing an output in Sound settings picks only one, so you need a combined output that holds both. You can build one yourself, or let Quwire do it.

First, connect both pairs to your Mac

1. Pair each set once. For AirPods, open the case’s lid near the Mac, then press and hold the setup button on the case until the status light flashes white. In System Settings › Bluetooth, hold the pointer over the AirPods and click Connect. Other headphones pair the same way from their own pairing mode.
2. Put both pairs on. macOS hides connected AirPods that nobody is wearing, so a pair in its case won’t show up as an output.
3. If a pair is connected but missing from the list of outputs, pick it once in Control Center › Sound.

Apple’s Use AirPods with your Mac has the pairing steps for each AirPods model.

The built-in way: a Multi-Output Device

These steps follow Apple’s Play audio through multiple devices at once in Audio MIDI Setup on Mac:

1. Open Audio MIDI Setup. It’s in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
2. Click the Add button (+) at the bottom of the sidebar in the Audio Devices window, then choose Create Multi-Output Device.
3. Select the new multi-output device, then select the Use checkbox of each pair of headphones.
4. Click the Primary Device pop-up menu, then choose one of the pairs.
5. Make it your Mac’s output: Control-click it in the sidebar and choose Use This Device for Sound Output, or choose it in System Settings › Sound › Output.

Apps that use your Mac’s sound output now play on both pairs. The Multi-Output Device guide covers drift correction, what to check when it doesn’t work, and how to remove it.

What the built-in way can’t do

• The volume keys and Control Center can’t change the volume. Set each pair’s volume in Audio MIDI Setup instead: see why a Multi-Output Device has no volume control.
• You set the primary device, drift correction and sample rates by hand in Audio MIDI Setup; users report crackling when the rates differ.
• When the movie ends, you switch your Mac back to its usual output yourself, and remove the device in Audio MIDI Setup if you no longer want it.

The Quwire way: pick both pairs in the menu bar

1. Connect both pairs, as above.
2. Click Quwire’s q in the menu bar, then click each pair.
3. Turn Quwire on. Both pairs play the same sound, each at its own volume.

A master slider and your own Volume up and Volume down shortcuts change both pairs at once. Quwire picks the output that keeps time and turns on drift correction for the other, and it handles outputs at different sample rates. Turn it off, and your Mac goes back to the output, input, volumes and sample rates it had before.

Quwire’s limits. The volume keys can’t change the combined output: that’s a macOS limit. macOS plays Bluetooth audio on at most 3 devices at a time. Quwire combines outputs, not microphones, and it needs macOS 15 or later.

AirPods with Beats, Sony, Bose or other headphones

Any Bluetooth headphones or earbuds work, in any mix of brands: AirPods with Beats, Sony, Bose or JBL headphones, or two pairs of the same. The steps are the same either way. Each person hears only their own pair, so the two don’t echo. Add a wired or built-in speaker in the same room, and it can sound a moment ahead of the headphones: see why there’s an echo or delay. Wired headphones work too: plug a pair into the headphone jack, or plug in USB-C headphones you already have, and add them like any other output.

How many AirPods can connect to one Mac?

macOS gives Bluetooth audio to at most 3 devices at a time, so three pairs of AirPods is its limit for sound, and with all 3 in use, Bluetooth audio may stutter. For more listeners, add wired headphones on the headphone jack, or USB-C headphones you already have: wired outputs don’t count toward this limit.

If the second pair won’t connect

• Count the Bluetooth audio devices. On macOS 26, a Mac gave Bluetooth sound to at most 3 devices at a time in our tests. Connecting another one can leave it without sound, or take sound from one that was playing. Connected headphones count even when nobody wears them, so disconnect a pair you aren’t using.
• Put the pair on. macOS hides connected AirPods that nobody is wearing; once they’re on, they appear within a few seconds.
• If the pair is connected but missing from the list of outputs, pick it once in Control Center › Sound. More in support: why a device doesn’t show up.

If your AirPods switch to your iPhone mid-movie

AirPods follow you between your Apple devices: if you start playing something on your iPhone, or make a call, they switch to the iPhone. To stop that, change the setting on the iPhone, while the AirPods are connected to it: open Settings, tap the AirPods’ name, tap Connect to This iPhone (if you don’t see it, tap Audio & Routing first), then tap When Last Connected to This iPhone. If the other pair is a friend’s, they can do the same on their iPhone. Apple explains it in Switch AirPods between Apple devices.

Tips for a movie night

• Turn off Automatic Ear Detection for each pair, so taking one AirPod out doesn’t pause the movie for both of you. It’s in System Settings, under the AirPods’ name in the sidebar, while they’re connected.
• Set each pair’s volume before you press play. In Quwire, each pair has its own slider.
• Keep the headsets’ microphones out of use, so neither pair drops to call quality. Quwire’s Keep headphone mics off, on by default, switches the Mac’s input from a headset to the built-in microphone, on Macs that have one.

Good to know

• Up to 3 Bluetooth audio devices play at once, a macOS limit. Wired outputs don’t count toward this limit.
• The keyboard’s volume keys can’t change a combined output. Use Quwire’s slider or your own shortcuts.
• Microphones aren’t combined: Quwire plays to every pair, but a call still uses one microphone.
• One AirPod out pauses the movie for everyone until you turn off Automatic Ear Detection.
• Free to try in the TestFlight beta. On the Mac App Store: a free trial, then a one-time price, no subscription.

Related guides

• Volume

  Why a Multi-Output Device has no volume control.

  Set each pair’s volume, and what Quwire’s sliders and shortcuts add.

• Headphones and speakers

  Headphones and speakers at the same time.

  Your AirPods with a speaker for the room, or with an HDMI or DisplayPort TV.

• Multiple outputs

  Multiple audio outputs with a Multi-Output Device.

  Create one step by step, fix what goes wrong, and remove it again.

Questions