My iPhone sometimes stops outputting sound after I remove my earbuds/headphones? How can I fix this?

My iPhone sometimes stops outputting sound after I remove my earbuds/headphones? How can I fix this?

Though the fix for this particular issue has remained unchanged for some time now - which can be surprising because it is so un-elegant - this issue continues to come to us from iPhoneFAQ readers. It also continues to pop up on Apple's iPhone discussion forums and on other iPhone related websites. So, we figured we'd publish the all-too-uninteresting solution.

For those unfamiliar with the issue, on occasion, the iPhone will stop outputting sound out of its external speaker after headphones are removed from the headphone jack . Essentially, the iPhone thinks the headphones are still connected and will continue to ouput sound only through the headphone port until you're able to "convince" it that the nothing is plugged in. Often, even powering down and back up one's iPhone won't solve the problem.

Why? Because that attempted solution is just too fancy. Believe it or not, the only known fix to this issue is to repeatedly insert and remove a device from the headphone jack. Remember to play a song or otherwise output sound when plugging and unplugging your earbuds, headphones, etc.

We've forwarded this solution to everyone who has written in with this same issue, and we've yet to hear back from anyone reporting that it did not solve the problem.

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Comments

Jesica replied on

HOLY CRAP! I'd tried everything to get my sound to turn back on and i finally read this and squeezed a bit....it came on immediately! Thank you so much!

Anonymous replied on

I was listening to a podcast on my phone when all of a sudden when a new podcast came on it was very faint, could hardly hear it. I tried playing my phone sound -- weak. Music -- weak. Alarm -- weak. I thought oh no gotta get another phone, but then I tried the squeeze thing (squeeze gently at the side) and voila! sound was back! Thanks!

Tyler Mellins replied on

Oh my God, thank you so much!

My phone was recently dropped in an argument and I have heen trying for so long to fix it - no matter how many times I tried the headphone jack/USB tricks, I just knew it wasn't right as I'd had those issues before and was getting no notification about the USB being plugged in or the volume did not register as (headphones). This worked PERFECTLY, thank you so much.

It seems that issues started by removing headphones are fixed by cleaning the headphone jack, problems started by removing a USB device are fixed by cleaning the USB port, debris issues either of the former and issues causes by impact ie. dropping by squeezing the phone.

I had to try lots of different areas, but it finally worked. Mine was vertically, with my finger on the headphone jack and thumb on the USB port. I recommend playing some music whilst trying to find the right area to squeeze, as then it plays little snippets as you squeeze and helps lead you in the right direction.

Again, MANY THANKS.

Alan Reid replied on

Worked for me too... Weird!

Amanda Grace replied on

This worked. Nothing else did. Gave it a squeeze and POOF, just like magic, it started playing through the speakers again. Thank you!

Anonymous replied on

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried all the other tips and they didn't work for me. Then I saw what you had written about gently pressing in center of the phone. I tried it and it worked. I have sound again.
Thank you.

Zeff replied on

I was facing this problem this morning, after
That I just went to the hardware kit shop and borrowed a compressed air cleaner. As what others said, just spray it into the headphone plug and it works for me. Thanks

Anonymous replied on

I swear this worked. Literally after reading your comment I squeezed it once, really gently and the sound started popping out of the speaker instantly. Try this guys, it really works!

Thanks!

Arup replied on

Hey thanks a ton buddy. I dropped my 3GS
And it stopped playing the sound unless the
Earphone jack was connected.However I can
Listen to the songs without connecting the
Earphone from phone speakers only.it won't
play any sound only when I'm talking to someone
Unless I connect the earphone jack.
I tried pushing the earphone jack in & out it
Did not work.
Then as suggested tried squeezing the phone
From all the sides and somehow it worked.
Thanks for your idea again.

Anonymous replied on

EA has a sound option called Global Setting. If you set that to off, it messes with all other audio applications.

macconvert replied on

It may be a problem of conductivity. There is a circuit that determines whether or not the headphones are inserted by the metal. But other particles can get in the headphone jack that are conductive. I tried the headphone insert/removal and this did not work on its own. I finally had to blow air (I would suggest compressed canned air for computer cleaning purposes) into the headphone jack. Miraculously, the sound started working only after doing this.

Anonymous replied on

Thanks, The compressed air from a computer cleaning duster finally worked for mine after I tried all other suggestions.

Anonymous replied on

Fixed mine, holding the unit upside down and repeatedly shoving a headphone jack into it. did make me chuckle when i found this solution. :-)

Stigsnor replied on

Fixed mine too. Upside down repeatedly shoving headphone jack. Sweet.

Ash replied on

I found the best way to snap my iphone out of thinking my headphones were plugged in was to go to 'sounds' in the setting icon and play a ringtone. Hope this helps.

Angie replied on

THANK YOU!! I tried EVERYTHING and this is what worked!
Thanks for posting!

Anonymous replied on

Wow! I tried everything from from all of the other suggestions. My external sound only worked if I had the USB plugged in. I went as far as to cut the cable off of the USB connector to leave it in their permanently. Then I used your suggestions and "Presto"! Thanks

Anonymous replied on

That did it. Tried all the others, but going to Sousa and playing a ringtone and it worked. Thanks!

Elroy Dsylva replied on

Thanks a ton!
Ur'e the GURU

Anonymous replied on

OMG! Thank you! I tried everything and this worked!! I was nearly about to cry there!

Jonas replied on

Tried all the tricks above to no avail, but this, changing the ring signal, worked like a charm. Thanks!
//Jonas

Awood11 replied on

Ok, I'm not stupid nor am I an idiot so through those two out. I've tried this and it worked the first time. Same thing happened again. I have a cramp in my hand from plugging and unplugging. The magic just won't work twice.

iBoldguy replied on

I had the same problem,
only sound through earphone..
if i try to change volume without earphones the earphones volume shows up...

my phone was jailbreaked...
my solution was:
plug in earphones, play music and kill the 'mobile music layer' proces with memTool..
worked for me...

Anonymous replied on

playing the ringtone worked for me! Thanks, Ash!

Heather replied on

My phone won't alert me to new happenings (phone calls/texts) nor will it play any game sounds. When I go into settings it WILL play ringtones through the speakers, as it will also play music.

Yes, it's jailbroken. Tried everything. Any other ideas?

Anonymous replied on

BLOW! honestly, I tried everything above and i finally got so frustrated with nothing working that i simply blew into the headphone hole as hard as i can and it WORKED =)

Anonymous replied on

Hello all ... I have the excact same problem when using the earplugs and the missing sound afterwords ... I have tried everything from blowing hard into the headphone-hole and plugged in and out many times, but the odd thing is if I go to settings and sounds it will play the ringtones but not the SMS-alerts or other sounds. When this happens I just turn off the phone and wait a while before turning it on again. Normaly this works.

If that's the case, then it will have no effect to try to blow out "something" from the headphone-hole and will be the same if the music is playing when you removes the headphone. If you have the problem you can check this: Plug in the earphone-contact and play some music ... After that pull out the plug while the music is playing. Whatching the display it will show, when the plug is pulled out. I gather, that the phone then "knows" weather the earphones is connected or not ??

LKG

Anonymous replied on

I followed the described solution and also tried what another commented; blew in to the earphone jack as hard as I could which surprisingly worked. Thanks

boo_peep replied on

i almost tried everything from reseting, to blowing to jacking headsets, squeezing almost all from the comment i tries but still no sounds in coming out.. anything else? please help...

Murph100 replied on

This earlier method from Ash just worked perfectly for me :

I found the best way to snap my iphone out of thinking my headphones were plugged in was to go to 'sounds' in the setting icon and play a ringtone. Hope this helps.

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