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  • Remove Bluetooth Phone Connection from Toyota?

Remove Bluetooth Phone Connection from Toyota?

June 27, 2018 / Dave Taylor / Auto Tech Help, Computer & Internet Basics / 20 Comments

I’m turning in a rental car after two weeks – while mine was being repaired – and I want to remove my phone data from the car. It’s an older Toyota, so how do I delete the bluetooth pairing info?

Props to you for paying attention to the fact that when you pair a phone with a vehicle’s bluetooth system, it often also includes transferring your phone directory and all your contacts into the vehicle’s entertainment and communication system. Which means that if you don’t delete your phone from the system, then next driver will have access to all of your friends names and phone numbers. Not so good.

The car companies aren’t doing anything bad in this situation, though, they’re trying to make it easier for you to call up and chat with your friends. Indeed, if the systems have voice navigation, then you can actually just speak a friend or family member’s name and it’ll figure out which entry it is from your contacts. Pretty handy. As long as you remember to delete it when you’re done with the car.

With the Toyota I used for the test, getting started involved pushing on the “APPS” button on the left side of the screen. If your rental is just a few years old you should be able to do exactly the same sequence…

toyota bluetooth apps car vehicle entertainment system

From this point, just tap on the “Setup” app (don’t get sidetracked with the Phone app!). You’ll see quite a few different choices because modern cars are just as complicated as all the other gadgets and devices in our lives!

toyota nav system settings

Again, you can go into Phone for various settings, but since we’re talking about bluetooth connectivity, it’s the Bluetooth button you want to tap…

Now it’ll show a list of phones that are currently paired with the vehicle:

toyota list of paired phones

Notice that the “Remove” button will be greyed out and unusable if you’re in motion: removing a bluetooth pairing from the Toyota nav system requires that you’re parked safely on the side of the road or in a parking lot.

The brighter aqua buttons adjacent to “iDave X” shows that it’s the currently paired phone, if you’re curious. To remove that particular connection, don’t tap on the phone name, just tap “Remove” on the lower right.

toyota bluetooth remove pairing

Now you can choose the phone you want to unpair from the vehicle. I’ll do “iDave X” by tapping on it…

would you like to remove device bluetooth pairing toyota

Yes, I do want to remove the device from the vehicle’s nav system, so a tap on “Yes” does the job. And that’s it. Actually, pretty easy once you learn that you need to go to setup > bluetooth > remove!

Pro Tip: I’ve been writing about basic computing, including automotive systems, for many years. Please check out my computer basics and tutorials to see what other helpful articles I’ve written!

About the Author: Dave Taylor has been involved with the online world since the early days of the Internet. Author of over 20 technical books, he runs the popular AskDaveTaylor.com tech help site. You can also find his gadget reviews on YouTube and chat with him on Twitter as @DaveTaylor.

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Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!
bluetooth pairing, bluetooth unpair, phone contacts, privacy, toyota nav system

20 comments on “Remove Bluetooth Phone Connection from Toyota?”

  1. KenAm says:
    January 8, 2023 at 5:44 am

    Dave,
    I wish it was as easy as you described. My 2020 Toyota automatically reconnects my phone even after I delete it. If I remove Toyota on my phone, it also automatically turns Bluetooth back on. It also automatically connects my wife’s phone if she tries to make a call as a passenger. Very annoying.

    How can I disconnect the bluetooth function, so it never pairs or tries to pair.

    Reply
    • Dave Taylor says:
      January 9, 2023 at 12:14 pm

      If you delete it from your Toyota, then delete the entry from your phone, it should never automatically reconnect. If your wife’s phone is paired with your car, it will automatically connect, however; that’s how it’s designed to work. Delete (don’t “disconnect”, but “delete”) her phone too. No way to completely disable Bluetooth, however.

      Reply
  2. Chris wright says:
    April 4, 2022 at 9:44 pm

    Hi mate I have a 2012 hilux in Australia and it has 5 (Max) phones already registered and I can’t delete them because they are not my phones please help

    Reply
    • Dave Taylor says:
      April 5, 2022 at 11:18 am

      You shouldn’t need the phone to delete its entry from the system, Chris. Check your manual to see how to do it if my instructions aren’t working for you!

      Reply
    • Helzy says:
      May 8, 2023 at 5:21 pm

      Yep need help with this issue too. Select “Add new” and it says Max 5 registrations. Delete a registration and try again. Problem- how do I delete registration from previous owner? It has option to connect or disconnect, no delete/remove option.

      Reply
  3. roy says:
    November 27, 2020 at 12:23 am

    does anyone know how to remove/delete old mobile phones from the multi media unit on a 2020 toyota hiace AFTER i have sold the phone have no access to it anymore

    Reply
    • Dave Taylor says:
      November 27, 2020 at 7:58 am

      You don’t need access to the phone or even the phone to be present to go into Settings > Phones and delete individual phones from your vehicle, Roy. Actually, on the Toyota I think it’s MENU > SETUP > BLUETOOTH, then choose the old phone, then choose DELETE. Good luck!

      Reply
  4. TJ says:
    September 21, 2020 at 5:40 pm

    It does not let me select “remove” it clicks options above it when I try to select remove. Any suggestions?

    Reply
    • Dave Taylor says:
      September 22, 2020 at 9:08 am

      Very strange, TJ. Could you pop into a local Toyota dealership and show them what’s going on? They might have an idea… Oh! And also try it when you are sure that your phone bluetooth is OFF so that your phone isn’t connected simultaneous to you trying to delete the record.

      Reply
    • Heather Thorpe says:
      June 10, 2021 at 7:28 pm

      Did you figure this out? I’m having same problem with my 2020 Toyota Sienna. 2 old phones that I can’t delete. The delete button isn’t highlighted therefore they cannot be removed. It’s like you must have the old phones in order to disconnect them from the bluetooth.

      Reply
      • Jennifer K says:
        October 16, 2021 at 7:18 am

        Make sure you are in PARK while trying to delete or connect Bluetooth devices.

        Reply
    • Amatulrauf amir says:
      February 9, 2022 at 12:18 pm

      I am having exactly the same issue. So frustrating…

      Reply
  5. Robert William Leach says:
    August 26, 2020 at 11:39 am

    We’re driving right now, but will try this at the next rest stop. However, you say that this procedure works with “currently paired phones”. We want to remove the previous owner’s phone and an old phone of ours. Will this removal procedure work for any phone (currently paired or not)?

    Reply
    • Dave Taylor says:
      August 26, 2020 at 11:52 am

      Yes, it will let you remove phones that are on the list but aren’t currently paired too. Hopefully your experience demonstrates that!

      Reply
  6. Meric DuBose says:
    July 22, 2019 at 7:42 pm

    Hi. I have a 2016 Camry. Presently, I want to use my Bluetooth headset because I am in and out of the car. I have removed my phone from my car Bluetooth setup and my device is not shown. However, my car continues to play audio from my phone. Any suggestions? Thank you.

    Reply
  7. Margaret Largent says:
    March 6, 2019 at 2:31 pm

    Thank you for your help but is there a way to disable the bluetooth network in a 2017 camry.some one has connected to my bluetooth and is using this access to me.

    Reply
    • Dave Taylor says:
      March 6, 2019 at 6:31 pm

      You can’t disable it as far as I know, Margaret, but go into the Settings (as shown in the above article) and delete or forget any and all devices you don’t recognize. Since they can’t re-pair with the car without having access to the vehicle while it’s running, you should be all set.

      Reply
      • Rachel G. says:
        April 4, 2019 at 7:29 am

        Hi Dave,

        I loved your explanation! It got me one step closer to connecting my pixel 3xl with my sienna. My challenge is that under portable player settings I can only change the name of the device connecting but not the actual device. Very frustrating!! Ideally I want to be able to call contacts AND stream books on my phone through my car. Any suggestions?

        Reply
        • Dave Taylor says:
          April 4, 2019 at 8:35 am

          If you connect to your car as an audio and phone device (should be the default) then it’ll automatically push all audio out to the bluetooth device and listen, as appropriate, for your voice through the bluetooth device too. On my car, for example, it just works: I listen to lots of audio books through audible or itunes and it’s on my car stereo. If a call comes in, then I hear it in my car and can talk through the car’s built-in mic. Maybe pop into a Toyota dealership and ask them to help you with this task? Should be easy! 🙁

          Reply
  8. Doris J STMartin says:
    July 6, 2018 at 9:40 am

    Dave you are the greatest such easy directions step by step

    Reply

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