Windows 10: How to prevent Windows from automatically connecting to bluetooth devices

This is a dead simple problem. I have a bluetooth device that you can turn on by connecting to it. It's a simple feature that is usually quite useful. The problem is that whenever Windows boots or wakes up, it will power on the device and connect to it. This is also a problem when I turn on a device within a certain distance of my computer, it gets hijacked by Windows and I can't connect it to my phone or anything else. I understand that for now Windows doesn't allow users to turn off automatic bluetooth connection, but that's preposterous. This should just be a switch setting.This is reminisc

:)

 

Keeping devices from automatically connecting via Bluetooth

I've tried disabling the Bluetooth earlier and again following your suggestion

and offer that this is not a workable solution.

With, on my laptop, my Bose speakers and other devices are paired but not connected and the

Bluetooth is turned off, if the TV is on and connected (using) the Bose system, the laptop will

automatically connect to the speakers (disconnecting the TV) when Bluetooth is toggled on.

Given the above, I have to go through a convoluted routine anytime I want to connect to a device (printer, etc.) while the TV is on. Connecting, disconnecting, pairing, reconnecting, disconnecting, etc. etc. isn't a real solution.

Hopefully there's another approach or a real solution coming in the Windows 10 upgrade

that I understand is to be out this year.

Any thoughts??

 

Don't connect to bluetooth automatically which are in use, or switch to newly activated bluetooth device

Hello, I'm Felipe and I'm an independent Community Advisor, and I'll do my best to help you.

Yes, there is a way to prevent Windows from automatically connecting to Bluetooth devices at startup. Here are the steps to do it:

Open the Settings app by clicking on the Start menu and selecting "Settings".

Click on "Devices".

Click on "Bluetooth & devices" on the left-hand side of the screen.

Under the "Mouse, keyboard, & pen" section, turn off the toggle switch for "Automatically connect to devices".

Under the "Audio" section, turn off the toggle switch for "Hands-free mode".

With these settings turned off, Windows will no longer automatically connect to Bluetooth devices when they are in range. If you want to connect a new device, you will need to do it manually by going to the "Bluetooth & devices" settings and selecting the device you want to connect.

Note that these steps are for Windows 11, but the process should be similar on Windows 10.

 

Uninstalled Bluetooth Devices Automatically Install


The issue is; when I pair a device with my computer using Bluetooth I am no longer able to unpair, or even uninstall the device, as if i do, somehow windows will just automatically reinstall it even if it's not connected. This means that if i connect the device to something other than my computer, I can no longer re-pair it with my computer as it thinks that the device is still paired.

When I pair the device from the Bluetooth section of control panel, the device will disappear from the control panel Bluetooth menu, and the only way to see that the device is connected is by looking in device manager.
Here is an image I have found of what the Bluetooth section of the control panel should look like with paired devices:



Now here is what mine looks like even though I have a number of devices connected:




Here's what I've Tried
I have removed, and completely uninstalled all Bluetooth devices from the PC using device manager (even the hidden devices), and also uninstalled all Bluetooth applications from the control panel.
After doing the previous steps, I reconnect the Bluetooth dongle (ASUS BT-400) and install the driver I downloaded from the Asus website. As soon as the driver for the device install, all of the previously paired (since time began) devices will install and windows will think they air all paired (again I can see this though the device manager).

I had this issue when I was on windows 8.1 and I have it again now. I did a clean install of windows 10, and the issue still persists even though I have tried two different Bluetooth adapters (to make sure one wan't faulty). How is Windows storing these devices to re-install even though they're not connected?