Bluetooth: Is my computer discoverable or not?

On my laptop under Settings>Devices>Bluetooth>Manage Bluetooth devices I have the button switched to "On". The note below the button reads, "Your PC is searching for and can be discovered by Bluetooth devices."

If I click on "More Bluetooth options" the Bluetooth settings dialogue box opens. Under "Discovery" there is a small box alongside which are the words, "Allow Bluetooth devices to find this PC" and below them a warning which reads, "Bluetooth devices will see the name of this PC". This box is not ticked. As it is not ticked, this would seem to mean that Bluetooth devices would not be able to discover my computer but for the fact that the earlier note says my computer can be discovered.

This looks like a contradiction to me but can anyone give me an explanation, please?

Check the box to make the PC discoverable.

Thanks for your reply, spapakons. Does that mean, then, that if I don't put a tick in the box my PC won't be discoverable even though the earlier note still says, "Your PC. is searching for and can be discovered by Bluetooth devices"?

No, to make it discoverable you must tick the box. The other message is probably wrong.

Thanks, spapakons. That's good to know.

curt jugg said:

On my laptop under Settings>Devices>Bluetooth>Manage Bluetooth devices I have the button switched to "On". The note below the button reads, "Your PC is searching for and can be discovered by Bluetooth devices."

If I click on "More Bluetooth options" the Bluetooth settings dialogue box opens. Under "Discovery" there is a small box alongside which are the words, "Allow Bluetooth devices to find this PC" and below them a warning which reads, "Bluetooth devices will see the name of this PC". This box is not ticked. As it is not ticked, this would seem to mean that Bluetooth devices would not be able to discover my computer but for the fact that the earlier note says my computer can be discovered.

This looks like a contradiction to me but can anyone give me an explanation, please?

YES, your computer is indeed visible to any and all Bluetooth devices. That little box makes zero difference--boggles the mind why MS put it there. So, yes, you have uncovered a strange contradiction. (Try it with your mobile phone--you WILL see your computer when it has its Bluetooth turned on under Settings, irrespective of whether you checked that little box or not.)

That said, not to worry. While your computer IS visible, the pairing process in WIN10 is a two-way process. That is, BOTH devices have to accept. So, if a device sees your computer and tries to connect, and you have checked the box "Alert me when a new device wants to connect" you will be notified of such attempt and directed to enter the access code of the device (if you tap the notification). If you do not enter the proper code, OR you do nothing (not tapping the notification, or tapping but exiting the pairing process), the pairing attempt fails. Similarly, if you never checked the notification box, the pairing attempt will fail in the background. In both cases, the device trying to connect will simply get rejected (they will get THAT rejection notification on their device).

Hope this helps.