Can't Remove Bluetooth Device

[Spec_tech]

Hi Everyone. I have a pair of Jabra Elite 3 wireless earbuds that I connect to an ASUS USB-BT500 Bluetooth 5.0 USB adapter that is plugged into my Windows 10 desktop PC.
I’ve connected it so many times before that usually all I have to do is just pull them out of their case and they automatically connect. But lately, they’ve been failing to connect at random times. I don’t think it’s an issue with the earbuds themselves, but that’s not the main concern.

I’m trying to remove the Jabra earbuds from the list of devices in the Bluetooth devices section of Windows’ Settings to see if it will help reset things, but they fail to remove every time.

I tried asking Chatgpt and tried some suggestions such as removing them from Device Manager after ticking Show Hidden Devices, restarting all bluetooth services as well as the computer several times in all these steps, I’ve tried removing it in the Devices and Printers list, I tried removing it in the registry based on cross referencing hardware ID’s found from Device Manager and deleting them from the following registry location, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\BTHPORT\Parameters\Devices

None of these seem to have worked. I’m not sure where to go from here. Does anybody have knowledge on how to handle this?

[Bruce]

May be going over what you have already tried, but here goes…

Click the Bluetooth icon in the system tray (if there is one), click Open Settings.
For each bluetooth device you want removed, click the down arrow on the right side, click Remove.

So you can connect them OK and they work - you just want them gone off the PC?

[Spec_tech]

Yes, i performed those steps exactly. It says “Removing device” for 15 seconds or so, then says “Remove failed” every time.
Typically it connects right away. But since i started trying to remove it, it just says “Connected” instead of “Connected with audio/music” or something of that nature.

So i’m basically trying to remove it so i can start fresh and reconnect it without it being in the list of already connected devices. Then i’m hoping these transient connection issues will go away.

[xrobwx71]

Hit Start. type services, Open Services. Look for anything with the Bluetooth name and disable those. Try to remove what you need to remove, reboot. Re-enable the services you disabled.

[Spec_tech]

@xrobwx71 I tried what you said and disabled any service starting with bluetooth, but it’s still not able to be removed. There is one service called BluetoothUserService_580f0 that doesn’t look like an official service. Plus it’s set to start manually and not automatically, and wasn’t started when checked.

Anything else to try maybe? I don’t know if nuking the bluetooth drivers themselves is the next best thing or not.

[xrobwx71]

Do you have the Jabra app? If so, you may have to “unpair” them from it.

https://www.jabra.com/software-and-services/apps/jabra-sound-plus

I had some in the past, Soundcloud or some such thing that I had to do this with.

[Spec_tech]

Do you have the Jabra app? If so, you may have to “unpair” them from it.

https://www.jabra.com/software-and-services/apps/jabra-sound-plus

I had some in the past, Soundcloud or some such thing that I had to do this with.

I didn’t even realize there was an app to pair them. I’ll try installing that and see if I can get it either added and removed or just removed.

[Spec_tech]

lol. Looks like the main app to use for desktops is Jabra Direct, and it says you need a Jabra Bluetooth or Jabra DECT USB adapter in order to pair with the app. Which i don’t have. I think this route is a dead end from the looks of it.

I don’t know if i should just try uninstalling the bluetooth drivers from device manager or something else and have windows reinstall them or reinstall them manually.

[xrobwx71]

I don’t know if i should just try uninstalling the bluetooth drivers from device manager or something else and have windows reinstall them or reinstall them manually.

That was my next suggestion.

[Spec_tech]

That was my next suggestion.

Welp, so I borked bluetooth for good on my desktop i think by deleting any folders within the driver store C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository that had folders with the name bth______.inf_***. Now whenever i plug in my bluetooth adapter, even if i try to install the official adapter drivers or update them manually, Windows still fails to recognize it.

At this point, i think i’m just going to do a dual boot setup since i have an extra M.2 drive and do a Windows 10/11 setup and slowly migrate everything over. I’ve been looking to do this for a while and this is the last straw for me.

[xrobwx71]

Ok, let us know if you change your mind. If you need to re-open, send one of us a DM.