Linux Mint: How To Manage Bluetooth Connections
You can use traditional cables like USB and 3.5mm jack to connect your device to your computer, but these can create a mess of cables and limit how far you can get away from your computer while still using it. Bluetooth offers a reliable wireless platform that doesn’t consume too much power and works at a respectable range.
Linux Mint includes a Bluetooth control panel by default, although you’ll need a Bluetooth adapter either built-in or plugged into the system for it to be of any use. To open the Bluetooth control panel and manage your Bluetooth connections, press the Super key, type “Bluetooth” and press Enter.
Tip: The “Super” key is the name many Linux distributions use to refer to the Windows key or the Apple “Command” key, avoiding any risk of trademark issues.
Press the Super key, type “Bluetooth” and press Enter.
If “No Bluetooth Adapters Found” appears in the Bluetooth window, your computer cannot find a local Bluetooth transmitter to connect to other devices. In this case, you will need to check that your Bluetooth device is properly installed. If your Bluetooth adapter is working, you should see the statement “Visible as “” and available for Bluetooth transmissions”. To change the name of the device, click on the burger menu icon in the upper right corner, then click in the “Name” field.
In the same burger menu, you can also configure whether files can be sent to your device with “Receive files from remote devices” and whether the Bluetooth icon is displayed in the system tray with “Show icon on taskbar”. You can also disable the Bluetooth radio completely by clicking the slider in the upper left corner of the main window to the “Off” position.
You can change the Bluetooth device name via the burger menu.
In the “Devices” section, you can see a list of Bluetooth devices that you can connect to. Click on a device in the list to start the connection process and then follow the displayed connection instructions. Once connected, click on the device again to open the device control window. Here you can disconnect using the “Connection” slider, transfer files by clicking “Send files” or forget the device by clicking “Remove device”.
Tip: You don’t need to be connected to any device to forget your connection.
Click on the device and follow the instructions to connect, click on the paired device to manage the connection.