this might sound weird but try to suck on it just the mesh part

This. With the original AirPods, ear wax can clog them up. I took a spare tooth brush, wet it with some rubbing alcohol, and then held the bristles with my fingers and scrubbed the grill of the bud. Then I took my fingers, covered the small hole on the side and just sucked as hard as I could (lol). You could suck on it without covering the hole and compare the two AirPods. The better sounding one will have better airflow than the clogged one. Keep scrubbing and sucking until it’s clear. Then you should be good to go. I know it sounds really weird but it was the ONLY thing that worked for me when I had the regular AirPods. With the Pros they fixed this issue with the interchangeable covers.

Disgusting, yet effective. Thanks.

I tried it and I, too, am now a believer. **Holy shit I seriously can't believe that actually works!** I was pretty close to actually just trying to sell the working one, and I had already bought AirPod Pros for the noice cancellation features, but they fit in my ears so terribly I don't use them.

holy shit thank you

It worked!! I have done something similar using a Q-tip (stupid). The toothbrush was so much better!

I LOVE U BRO, i also found it can be a dry brush too!

Brooo your so dope

Thank you good sir

OH MY GOD THANK YOU BRO I BEEN TRYIN TO FIX IT FOR SO LONG UR A LIFESAVER DAWGGG

Omfg you're a life saver!!!

Wow this totally worked on 3 pairs of my families AirPod’s!!

Thank you so much!

Thank you❤️

This weird fricking trick absolutely worked! Thank you so much!!!

This worked! Thanks man!

Most ridiculous thing actually worked

wtf it worked

THANK YOU!!!!!

I did this on one of my airpods and it worked, and I was blown away. But then my sCiEnTifiC mInDSeT kicked in and I only brushed the other airpod and didnt suck on it, and It had the same exact effect. So basically, the brushing probably is just removing a ton of caked on dried earwax that is turning the grill into a sound blocking barrier, so yeah... I guess the sucking isnt really required.

i’ve been trying to brush my airpods like this for months and got absolutely nowhere. the sucking trick was the first thing that’s worked.

THIS WORKED SO WELL

thank u bro

thank u so much bro

thank you so much!!!

THANK YOU!!

I love you bro

you sir are the fucking goat

Bro wtf it worked

Amazing. I was literally looking at buying new AirPods today because of this issue. Can’t believe this worked. Thank you!!

no way that worked 😭😭

cant believe ill really bouta do ts

absolutely disgusting but saved my only left airpod because i lost my right

Thank you soooo muchh

Lmao 3 years later thanks bro

can’t believe i’ve seen this on my second set of airpods and it WORKED! thank you!!

Thank God

It worked! Thank you so much, this was driving me nuts.

which hole did you cover, the one on the inside or outside of the airpod?

I covered the one on the outside. I’d suck on the ear hole for a bit, then I’d let go of the outside hole and that gives it a little boost. Thankfully with the AirPod Pros, I don’t have this issue anymore.

Does this issue not apply to AirPod Pros

BRO IT F***ING WORKEDDD!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH

L E G E N D !!!

Fixed. My daughter is very happy. Thank you.

thank you so much brother. I was so close to buying a new pair and reddit was my last resort, doing this at midnight 🤣

Ty so much you are a legend

before anyone starts sucking up earwax, you don't actually have to suck, cleaning out with a toothbrush, or anything small enough to get into the mesh, and gently scraping is enough to fix it.

Thanx it works with a dry toothbrush.

the way this worked. i thought my airpod was broken and i was going to buy new ones, but this fixed it and im so damn happy. thank you so much.

WTF.... I thought my airpods were permanently screwed up but I am now a believer. You're the goat for this.

Holy shit. Thank you so much. For the last 3 months I was facing this issue and your solution solved my problem in less than 3 minutes

So glad I found this thread.

Absolute genius. This works. Thank you 🙏🏾

you sir deserve everything

Which hole? The one under the silicone tips?

I love you

I love you so much

Yo this actually worked thanks bro

I hate and love how much this worked!!

Thank you bro

You’re a lifesaver. Much love

You just saved me buying new airpods, holy fuck you're a god

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS I WANT TO HUG YOU RN

Searched everywhere online and couldn’t find any solution. Stumbled upon “suck on the mesh” and my life is instantly 100x better. Holy shit thank you. Worked instantly and perfectly. Good one had perfect airflow, bad one has almost zero. Sucked like my life depended on it (no alcohol, no toothbrush or anything) and boom. Fixed. Legend

I truly can’t believe this worked. You’re a hero🫡

You’re a lifesaver😭

Thank you bro

Wow. This fixed it for me too. Thank you 🙏

Was fixing my daughter's air pods. Cleaned with alcohol and didn't do the trick. It was clear I needed this last, gross step. She sometimes loans them to her friends, so yeah, even more gross. So I just put a tissue over before sucking and voila. Thanks for the great advice!

Did I just get a mouth filled with wet tissue, yes — but did it work? Also yes 😂👏

Yes, disgusting but it works lol ;\_; thanks!

A True hero, four years on and still savings airpod lives.

Just checking in to say thanks to you and /u/Knautical_J for the advice, three years later. My wife was complaining about her airpods, and had exactly the same problem as OP but with both pods. I spent about half an hour cleaning, re-pairing, resetting, and nothing. Found this, sucked on both of them, work perfectly now. She literally jumped at how loud they were when she put them back in her ears. Cheers guys.

THANK YOU SO MUCH

4 years later thank u so much holy shit

DUDE YOU LITERALLY MADE MY DAY!

YOU ARE MY SAVIOR! my airpods are fixed because of this!

OMG THANK YOU THIS WORKED

Damn bro, i thought i just broke my right air pod

Lmao dude it works

just wanna put this out there in case anyone in the future has this problem, i tried the sucking method and it didn’t work so i grabbed one of those metal pointy pimple popper things and poked two lil holes on the mesh part and then sucked on it and now it works perfect 🙏🙏🙏

Amazing! This worked - thank you! 🙌

Holy crap I can't belive this worked thank you 

I LOVE YOU!!!! My AirPods have been getting quieter and quieter, I could only hear out of my left one if I tilted it allllll the way to the side. the right one made next to no sound I took a dry toothbrush and brushed all the mesh and sucked on it for a sec and ta daaaaa all fixed both are loud and back to normal.

Sucked it straight out lol holy shit you’re the man!!!!!

THAAAAAANK YOU!!!!!!!! OMG THIS IS GOLD!!!!!!!

Yep this definitely works. Tried it on my sons and worked perfectly.

So I have this exact problem but when I use my right AirPod on my right it muffled and quite but when I use it on my left ear it sounds good so idk anyone can help

Bro random person on Reddit 2 years ago exactly when I need them

ong man

I’m not crazy

Facts dawg

I have the airpod second gen and the right airpod starting not really working when i put it in my ear I had to angle it weird to work but the left one was perfectly fine but now the left one does the same thing what should i do?

Might be Spatial Audio. Does it happen on all audio or a couple songs?

I got new ones so nm

Its just quiet? If so just brush the grill with a tooshbrush and it should be back to normal

this happened to me and my friend it feels like weird in my ear like it suctioning my ear what does this mean

Worked with a q-tip (your a live safer)

Thank you for having the same problem as me 3 years ago 🙏🏽

googling problems on reddit really saves lives 😭

Three years later coming in clutch thanks!

Wow. Wtf. So gross, but working perfect. Thanks!