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

Internet Rocks replied on

I had the "iPhone thinks the headphones are still plugged in problem" this morning and found this thread. Headphones in and out 100x didn't work, squeezing the phone didn't work, and blowing really hard didn't work.

BUT the can of compressed air you get to clean off keyboards and the like DID work. Put the little tube in the headphone jack hole and let 'er rip. After about 10 seconds, I got sound again.

God bless the internet.

Michael replied on

Thanks a lot, blew as hard as I could into the headphone jack and viola sound again.

Anonymous replied on

happened to mine, i just blow into the earphone socket.

Jankiphone replied on

it's been 30 minutes now, and nothing has worked. I'm so pissed off!

Alex Abate replied on

This fix didn't work for me. When I put a headphone I can hear the audio through the headphones. When I take it off, it goes back to mute.

Rob replied on

connecting and reconnecting the headphones to the iphone didn't work for me so i tried scraping it gently with a wooded toothpick and it worked great a lot of crud came out of the port i was very suprised

Anonymous replied on

So as a girl with this problem.. I have to insert the Jack numerous times before it expresses it's sound.. How endogenous.

Anonymous replied on

So as a girl with this problem.. I have to insert the Jack numerous times before it expresses it's sound.. How endogenous.

Anonymous replied on

I read down through a few posts and other websites, all have lots of different "solutions" to this issue and I think there can be many different causes. The issue specifically where some sounds work and others down is related to your iPod volume. If you turned down your volume while iPod app was open, then close/kill it certain app sounds (like games) won't work even though it appears your normal volume buttons raise and lower the sound. The solution of course is to open iPod again and turn the volume up within it - then you can close/kill it, etc.

Anonymous replied on

Wow I tried everything, from blowing in it really hard squeezing it but I didn't have the headphones by me so I didn't try that but then I read some more comments and going to settings and playing a ringtone worked like magic! I can't believe it thanks everyone!

Lorips replied on

So thankful for this thread! I tried inserting headphones and pulling them back out again and again, pressing the center of the phone gently, blowing into the earphone jack, cleaning it with a cotton swab, restarting, restoring..... Nothing worked. I left the phone alone for 30 mins and the sound was back. I have had my iphone4 since the summer and this is the first time this happened.

Anonymous replied on

Thank you for the solution. Life saver!

melissa replied on

i tried plugging and umplugging the headphones and resetting.. but what really did the trick was the compressed air. at first i just held it for very few seconds and didnt blew much air into it (i was afraid it would damage it) but it didnt work.. so i blew a lot of air into it with the little tube and.. it worked! thanks!

Anonymous replied on

i have a problem where i cant hear anything and no one can hear me in calls even if i have headset on, and im sure its not a headset issue. The problem have been occuring since my 1st call when i got the phone(3 days ago), and the problem have been coming and going duno wtf is the problem.
I reset & restore & reboot & restart and done every possible thing and still the problem comes and goes, can anyone PLEAAASE help me?

Anonymous replied on

Okay... same issue, not on mute... 3 weeks old Iphone 4. No sound from External Speakers, yes with earphones-

Diagnosis-

Earphones plugging in and out changes volume settings in ipod - Phone is not stuck in earphone mode-

With that in mind, I've still tried everything. blowing, headphone jack in and out, multiple types, upside down in and out, squeezing sides and spots next to home button, playing ringtone, off and on, hard reset... everything.

Noticed speaker phone was not working during face time or regular calls..

Time to call it a full on manufacturer defect?

Any suggestions?

Naveed replied on

Hi,
I've had same problem... did everything .. squeezed middle of the iphone, played ringtone from setting but dint work.. The thing that finally worked for me is earbud... i inserted an ear bud in the headphone jack and did rotate the earbud few times and voooooooooollllllllllllllaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh
It worked..

Anonymous replied on

Tried all these tips and none of them worked... Tried the last suggestion, the one about twisting the headphone jack when its inside the iphone and that totally worked!!! Thanks!

LH replied on

Like above, tried all but twisting the headphobe jack made it work again......
Seems a QC issue or possibly a design issue to me...

Anonymous replied on

Big-time thank you for this suggestion (twisting the headphone jack around). This is what did the trick for me. So happy to have this resource. Much appreciated for all your suggestions. Thanks for writing in all these ideas to try. :)

Anonymous from ... replied on

THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU =D
i thought my iphone 4 was broken or wtv -_-

Anonymous replied on

After start a game, press Home button for a while until voice control show up. Wait for the voice control beeps, and then click Cancel.
Then it sounds. It seems when the voice control beeps, the output audio is activated:)

Anonymous replied on

yes this is the only thing that actually worked!!!

Anonymous replied on

yes this worked for me too. This is the second time it's happened. First time it seemed to be a bluetooth issue (switching off BT and on again worked, but this time it didn't work. I realise after trying the voice activation trick today that it must be some combination of the cars bluetooth and voice activation that was casuing the problem.

Anonymous replied on

hi..... thanx a lot... i tried everything... but the only thing tht worked for me was switching on/off the bluetooth.... it really helped me... as i had thought my phone was gone for a toss... thanx once again...

voice control works replied on

i tried every method short of a complete restore (like all: headphones in and out, squeeze middle, blow into jack socket, compressed air, airplane mode, play around with ringtones, alcohol qtips in jack, toothpicks in usb port, hard boot, phone on/off, let it cool down ) to no avail and this finally worked!! thank you! you are a god send!! :D

Danny replied on

Thanks the voice controll fixed it fast just two times

Anonymous replied on

I just tried the compressed air fix, and it worked like a charm! I used on of those cans of compressed air we had in the office. Aimed it right down the earphone jack hole. So glad I found this solution!!

rebar replied on

This didnt help my problem. My problem is that when i play games(apps), in my iPhone there is no sound if i dont have my headphones plugged in. I try to put the volume up but nothing hapends.
But as soon as i plug in my Headphones it works.
But when i listen to music works without headphones.. :/
So, whats the problem do you think? Is it the same problem?

Anonymous replied on

same here but mine didn't work if vibrate was on but if it was off, the sound worked i also played around in settings a lot before it started doing that now it only works half the time

Anonymous replied on

FOR MOST OF THESE COMMENTS AND PROBLEMS!

>>>> LISTEN UP! <<<<<<

There is a "silent" button/switch on the LEFT side of your phone.
ITS ABOVE the volume buttons. Its small.
If you have a case on it, it would completely hide it.

It took me 2hours to figure this out. I hope it fixes all your problems!

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