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iPhone Headphone Jack Not Working? Here’s The Fix!

    David Lynch
  • 6 years ago
    • Categories: Sounds

The headphone jack isn’t working on your iPhone and you don’t know why. You plugged your headphones in and started playing a song, but you can’t hear anything! In this article, I’ll explain why your iPhone headphone jack is not working and show you how to fix the problem.

Is My iPhone Headphone Jack Broken?

At this point, we can’t be sure whether or not your iPhone headphone jack is not working because of a software issue or hardware issue. However, it’s important for you to know that software problems can prevent your headphone jack from working properly. So before taking your iPhone into the Apple Store, work through the troubleshooting steps below!

Restart Your iPhone

To test for a potential software problem, try restarting your iPhone. Turning your iPhone off and back on can sometimes fix small software problems because all of the programs running on your iPhone can shut down and reboot naturally.

To turn off your iPhone, press and hold the power button. After a few seconds, you’ll see “slide to power off” and a small power icon appear on the screen. Swipe the power icon from left to right to turn off your iPhone.

Wait approximately 15-30 seconds, then press and hold the power button again. Release the power button when the Apple logo appears right in the center of your iPhone’s display.

Turn Up The Volume On Your iPhone

If you plugged headphones into your iPhone, but you can’t hear any audio playing, then the volume on your iPhone may just be turned all the way down.

Press the volume up button on the left side of your iPhone to turn up its volume. When you do, a small box will pop-up on the center of your iPhone’s display indicating the volume of your iPhone.

When the box appears, look for two things:

  1. Make sure it says Headphones at the top of the box. This confirms that your headphone jack has detected that headphones are plugged in.
  2. Make sure there’s a volume bar at the bottom of the box. If it says Mute, then audio won’t play through the headphones.

If a box doesn’t appear when you tap the volume buttons, open the Settings app and Sounds & Haptics. Then, turn on the switch next to Change with Buttons.

Try A Different Pair Of Headphones

It’s possible that nothing’s wrong with the headphone jack on your iPhone. Instead, there may be an issue with the plug of your headphones.

Try plugging a different pair of headphones into your iPhone’s headphone jack. Can you hear audio playing now? If audio is working with one pair of headphones, but not the other, then your headphones are causing the problem — your headphone jack is perfectly fine!

Check To See If Audio Is Playing Somewhere Else

Even if your headphones are plugged in, there’s a chance that the audio is playing through a different device such Bluetooth headphones or speaker. If your iPhone connected to a Bluetooth device after you plugged your headphones in, then audio would start playing through the Bluetooth device and not your headphones.

For iPhones Running iOS 10 Or Older

If your iPhone is running iOS 10, open Control Center by using a finger to swipe up from below the bottom of the display. Then, swipe right-to-left to view the audio playback section of Control Center.

Next, tap on iPhone at the bottom of Control Center and make sure there’s a check mark next to Headphones. If the check mark is next to something else, simply tap on Headphones to switch. If you don’t see a Headphones option even though your headphones are plugged in, then there may be a hardware problem with the headphone jack or the plug on your headphones.

For iPhones Running iOS 11 Or Newer

If your iPhone is running iOS 11 or newer, open Control Center by swiping up from below the bottom of the screen. Then, press and hold the audio box in the upper right-hand corner of Control Center.

Next, tap the AirPlay icon and make sure there’s a check mark next to Headphones. If the check mark is next to a different device, you can switch to headphones by tapping on Headphones.

Clean Out The Headphone Jack

Lint, gunk, and other debris stuck in the headphone jack can prevent your iPhone from recognizing headphones that are plugged in. If the headphone jack is not working on your iPhone, grab an anti-static brush or brand new toothbrush and clean out the headphone jack.

Don’t have an anti-static brush? Check out Amazon where you can buy a six-pack of great anti-static brushes that you can use to safely clean out the ports on your iPhone.

For more great tips on cleaning out the headphone jack on your iPhone, check out our article on what to do when your iPhone is stuck in headphones mode!

Repairing The Headphone Jack

If you’ve worked through the steps above and your iPhone headphone jack is not working, then there may be a hardware problem with your iPhone. If your iPhone is covered by an AppleCare plan, take it into your local Apple Store — just make sure to schedule an appointment first!

Headphone Jack Problems: Fixed!

You fixed the problem with the headphone jack on your iPhone and you can start enjoying your favorite music and audiobooks again. I hope you’ll share this article on social media to help out your friends and family if their iPhone headphone jack is not working. If you have any other questions, ask them in the comments section below!

View Comments (51)

  • My control center does not have any headphone check box it only has a phone thing to check no place that says “ head phones”.

  • Hello my headphone isn’t working on my iPhone 7plus and it’s working on my sisters phones

  • Thank you so much. My earphones had just stopped midway. I had tried everything from other sites, thought I'd try a final search and found your site. The Sounds and Haptics thing solved mine.

  • I tried all of these steps and my headphones still don’t work it just plays the sound from the speaker on the phone while the headphones are plugged (iPhone 11)

  • iPhone se 2020 2nd generation - Problem when use the lightning headphone to jack the sound kept switching from iPhone to headphones very so often.
    please Kindly advise how to resolve this .
    I've shut down the phone and use toothbrush bristles to clean still no progress.

  • My headphones were not working when plugged into the headphone jack of my iPhone 6 Plus running iOS 14.4.1. I used a toothpick to clean out the jack and pulled out a piece of lint from the bottom of the jack. That fixed the problem. I cannot access some audio settings because I deleted the music app because it would autonomously play music through my bluetooth headphones.

  • Wow! I didn’t know that if my sound isn’t working, it could be an issue with my sound! Very well informing article, highly recommend it to everyone!

  • I was using the Apple adapter from lightning to jack and it just would not work until get this, I turned the lightning adapter "upside down". Weirdly, even though lightning connections are meant to work the same on both sides, mine only work when I plug them in, the right way up. Strange. I hope this helps someone.

  • I have turned off my Iphone, used a wireless headset and brand new one that plugs in. I don't get any sound from with of them. Sound comes out of phone but not through headsets. It detects they are plugged in, but there is no sound. I can hear a click on the headset but no music.

  • Thanks so much! Just got a new phone, had used the headset fine about an hour ago. It had inadvertently been put on mute somehow! Really grateful!!

  • hey I have some issue with my headphone or port, when I jacked headphones during calls,it drop down..and sounds was clear when I phone near to body and sound not clead when it is far from body.plz help

  • Hi there, this is so helpful. The issue i am having though, relates to the fact i can hear music fine, but for some reason the audio on phone calls has now gone and my headset is one that supports phone calls. the Aux cable has a mic on the cable for speaking in to. Plus it used to work fine and then one day boom just stopped. i purchase a new lightening audio adapter thinking the old was faulty but got the same issue. Then i tried the cable and adaptor on my husbands phone and it worked once only when making a phone call then stopped as well.... really weird. have you heard of this before? PS I hve an iphone XMax brand new

    • I have the same issue as you ... just bought 12 promax ... have you solved yours ? If you have, may l have the tips please ... thanks a lot.

  • Hey mate , I just got a second hand iPhone 7 . When I plug in my headphones ( which are brand new ) it plays on the on the phone Speakers and not in the headphones . Any ideas as to what might be wrong ?

    • Unfortunately the iPhone 7 does not have wireless charging. However, you could get a wireless charging accessory like a case that would allow you to do this.

  • I have an IPhone 6s with the earphones that go into the charging spot and I’ve only just recently brought them from OMGosh! I’ve cleaned it out and turned off my phone and the sound keeps coming out of my phone. Can someone please help me out here? I’m getting really frustrated.

    • It's possible that the the headphones you purchased could be defective, which might be why it's not working. Although rare, even from reputable sellers you might wind up with a defective model. Try using another pair of headphones either in the iPhone 6s headphone jack and the charging port to see if either of those work.

  • I replaced my charging port piece but the jack and the microphone are still not detected... the only thing that I got for replacing this piece is a weird noise in my headphones... help pls (I have a jailbroken iphone SE on ios 11.0.1 btw)

  • I am so glad that I found this page as it forced me to take another hard look to find my headphone sound issue. My particular problem was solved by another means (iPhone 7): I went to Settings > Music > (Under the "Playback" heading) > Volume Limit > open this option and slide the "Max Volume" bar to the far right side (which will show as "Off" when you return to the previous menu. Then test some audio or video. My headphone sound came roaring back. Thanks!

  • One earbud (L) of my headphone has stopped working. Strangely, whilst the sound longer comes through the main loudspeaker that points down my earhole, it continues to come from the smaller outlet on the flat part of the earbud. I can rotate the earbud in my ear to hear the sound but it is hardly comfortable. Clearly the electrical sound signal is arriving in the earbud, but the main speaker no longer works. Any ideas how to solve this?

  • weird - orig earbuds play nothing - I plug in the adapter and the phono plug and it plays fine - can the lightening plug be the issue ?

  • The tip about seeing the word "Headphone" in the volumn window fixed my problem. After the last software update, my Bose earphones worked but zero sound out of the car audio system. (No Bluethooth) Oddly, the volume setting for the two playback devices was different even though the jacks look identical.

  • Found a new way for it to be fixed. My husband deleted the Music app that comes with the iPhone because we use Amazon Music well it turns out the Music app runs the controls for your speakers, App Store and reinstall turn up volume in settings of Music and you are all set

  • This has happened to me so many times when I play music will I take a shower but this time none of the things I usually do are not working and I cant get my phone fixed because I dont have the money.Eny advice?

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David Lynch: David Lynch is an expert on cell phones, cell phone plans, and other tech. After using a flip phone into his early 20s, he learned the ropes about iPhones and Androids from a former Apple employee. Today, his articles and videos are read and viewed by millions, and he has been cited by major publications including Reader's Digest, Wired, CMSWire, Consumers Advocate, and more.