Touch controls that
do what you expect

Which models have touch controls

The WH-1000XM3, WH-1000XM4, WH-1000XM5, WH-1000XM6 and WH-1000XX have a touch panel on the ear cup for playback, volume and calls. The MDR-1000X and WH-1000XM2 have a touch sensor too. The exact gestures differ by model: Sony's Help Guide for your headphones lists them.

One gesture worth knowing: on the WH-1000XM4 and XM5, holding two fingers on the touch panel turns Speak-to-Chat on or off. If your music suddenly starts pausing when you talk, that's often why.

Turn the touch panel on or off

Sometimes you want the touch panel off, for example if you keep pausing the music by accident when you adjust the headphones.

1. Open Open Sound Connect with your headphones connected.
2. Go to Wearing (⌘4) and find Controls, or use Quick Settings on My Device (⌘1).
3. Turn Touch Sensor Control Panel off, or back on.

The setting is stored in the headphones, so it applies on your phone too. A scene can switch it as well, for example off for a scene you use when lying down.

Change what the button does

Depending on the model, one of the headphones' buttons can be assigned a function: the CUSTOM Button on the WH-1000XM4, or the NC/AMB button on other models. In Controls, the app lists the buttons your headphones report, with the functions they offer, such as:

• Ambient Sound Control: switch between noise canceling and ambient sound.
• Volume control or playback control.
• A voice assistant, such as Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa, where offered.
• No function.

The app asks you to confirm, and the headphones may briefly reconnect after the change. On the WH-1000XM5 and newer, if the headphones report it, you can also choose which modes the NC/AMB button cycles through: noise canceling, ambient sound and off, or just two of them. Some newer models also show a Head Gestures switch.

How touch controls behave on a Mac

The headphones send playback commands, such as play, pause and next track, over Bluetooth. On a Mac these usually act like the media keys on the keyboard: macOS passes them to the app it considers to be playing, such as Music, Spotify or a browser tab. If a gesture pauses the wrong thing, pause or close the other app and try again.

Open Sound Connect itself has no playback or volume controls; it changes the touch and button settings stored in the headphones.

When gestures don't respond

Work through these:

1. Touch panel off. Check Touch Sensor Control Panel as above.
2. Cable plugged in. With the cable connected, Bluetooth turns off, and on the WH-1000XX the headset controls are disabled.
3. Charging. The WH-1000XM4 and WH-1000XM5 can't be operated while connected to a charger or a computer. The WH-1000XM6 and WH-1000XX can be used while charging.
4. Connected to another device. With two devices connected, playback commands usually go to the one that's playing. Pause the other device, or see Sony headphones with a Mac and iPhone.
5. Restart the headphones. Turn them off and on. If gestures still do nothing, reset them as below; a reset keeps your pairings.

If music pauses on its own rather than not at all, see Sony headphones keep pausing.