Picture of the JBL Charge 3 portable waterproof speaker, top view, showing its control panel buttons.

JBL Charge 3 Bluetooth Pairing Instructions

This post gives JBL Charge 3 Bluetooth pairing instructions, for source devices like the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the iPad line of Apple phones and tablets.  A similar routine also works for Android phones and tablets.

JBL Charge 3 Bluetooth Pairing Instructions

With your JBL Charge 3 powered off (power button is dark), run through this routine to pair it to your mobile device. We’re using an iPad Air tablet in this demo.

1. Find your Way to the Home Screen on your Tablet or Phone

Press the Home button to uncover the mobile iOS device’s Home screen.

2. Find the Settings App

We found ours on the second page of our Home screen.

Picture of an iPad Home screen, with the Settings app highlighted by an arrow.
iOS Home Screen with Settings App Highlighted

3. Bring up the Settings App

Tap the Settings app icon.

The source device then displays the first page of its settings, as shown in the next step.





4. Go to Bluetooth Settings to Continue with JBL Charge 3 Bluetooth Pairing 

Our Bluetooth Settings screen displays as follows. Note that our Bluetooth is enabled here. But since JBL Charge 3 speaker is currently powered OFF, it does not show up in the Bluetooth Devices list. Also, we don’t see it since we’ve never paired this speaker with this iPad Air before. See this as shown in this list of previously paired Bluetooth devices, shown next.

Screenshot of the iOS iPad Air, showing previously paired Bluetooth devices list. Note that there's no JBL Charge 3 speaker now.
iOS iPad Air, showing previously paired Bluetooth devices list. Note that there’s no JBL Charge 3 speaker now.

5. Turn On your JBL Charge 3 Bluetooth Speaker

Turn on the JBL Charge 3 by quickly pressing its Power button. See this pointed at by the green arrow in the next picture.

Picture of the JBL Charge 3 Bluetooth speaker, powered off. Showing the Power button highlighted.
JBL Charge 3 Bluetooth speaker, powered off. Showing the Power button highlighted.

The speaker then powers up.

But since our iPad does not know about this speaker, it will not pair with the JBL Charge 3 automatically. The light that comes on in the Power switch denotes this not-paired state by glowing solid white, as shown next.

Picture of the JBL Charge 3 Bluetooth speaker, powered On, not paired. Showing the glowing white power button highlighted.
JBL Charge 3 Bluetooth speaker, powered On, not paired. Showing the glowing white power button highlighted.

6. Put your JBL Speaker into Discovery Mode

Now, to see your JBL Charge 3 on your source BT device, place the speaker into Bluetooth pairing mode. To do that, press and release the Pairing button, as shown in the next picture.

Picture of the JBL Charge 3 Bluetooth speaker, powered On, not paired. Showing its Bluetooth discovery mode button highlighted.
JBL Charge 3 Bluetooth speaker, powered On, not paired. Showing its Bluetooth discovery mode button highlighted.

When you press the Bluetooth Discovery Mode button, the speaker makes a repeating single pluck guitar note sound several times. Also, the power button changes from a solid white glow to flashing blue. See this next.

Picture of the JBL Charge 3 IPX7 certified portable Bluetooth speaker, powered on and in Bluetooth discovery mode. Power button is flashing blue and highlighted.
JBL Charge 3 IPX7 certified portable Bluetooth speaker, powered on and in Bluetooth discovery mode. Power button is flashing blue and highlighted.

7. Find your JBL Charge 3 on your iOS iPad, iPod, or iPhone Device

See the screen shot next. We found our Bluetooth speaker, as pointed at by the blue arrow, as shown next.

Screenshot of the iOS Bluetooth settings screen, showing JBL Charge 3 speaker discovered but not paired.
iOS Bluetooth settings screen, showing JBL Charge 3 speaker discovered but not paired.

8. Pair with your JBL Charge 3 Portable Speaker

Tap the listed speaker in the Other Devices section of the Bluetooth devices list, shown above.





Your iOS device then pairs with the Charge 3 (“JBL Charge 3” in this demo). The iOS device’s Bluetooth Settings screen then changes to look something like the following.

Screenshot of the iOS 11 Bluetooth Settings page, showing the JBL Charge 3 Bluetooth speaker paired with our iPad Air tablet.
iOS Bluetooth Settings page, showing the JBL Charge 3 Bluetooth speaker paired with our iPad Air tablet.

Note that the JBL Charge 3 now shows as connected, as pointed at by the Blue arrows in the last picture.

9. Done with JBL Charge 3 Bluetooth Pairing !

We have now successfully paired our JBL Charge 3 portable speaker with our iPad iOS device.  This procedure also works when pairing with Apple iPhone and iPod devices, although the screen faces may differ slightly on the iPhone.

Related Posts to JBL Charge 3 Bluetooth Pairing

    1. Sony SRS XB01 Bluetooth Pairing Instructions
    2. JBL Xtreme 2 Bluetooth Pairing Instructions
    3. Sony SRS XB10 Bluetooth Pairing Directions
    4. Google Home Mini Bluetooth Pairing Instructions
    5. JBL Speaker Bluetooth Pairing Instructions

Other Posts About the JBL Charge 3 Power Bank BT Speaker

    1. Finding JBL Charge 3 Firmware Version
    2. How to Recharge Charge 3 Speaker
    3. JBL Charge 3 Charging Instructions, How to Recharge
    4. Pairing Victor Reader Trek with JBL Charge 3, How To
    5. Charge 3 JBL Speaker Factory Reset Instructions

References for JBL Charge 3 Bluetooth Pairing

    1. Harman Audio JBL Charge 3 Waterproof Speaker on harmanaudio.com

Revision History

    • 2022-12-02: Updated links.
    • 2020-07-30: First published.