You’re sitting in your office, waiting for a phone call from your boss. When she finally calls, you say “Hello?”, only to be met with, “Hey, I can’t hear you!” “Oh no,” you think to yourself, “my iPhone’s microphone is broken.”
Luckily, this is a relatively common problem with iPhones new and old. In this article, I’ll explain why your iPhone microphone is not working and walk you step-by-step through how to fix an iPhone mic.
First, Test And Inspect Your iPhone’s Microphone
The first thing you should do when your iPhone’s microphone stops working is to test it using different apps. This is because your iPhone has three microphones: one on the back for recording video audio, one on the bottom for speakerphone calls and other voice recordings, and one in the earpiece for phone calls.
How Do I Test The Microphones On My iPhone?
- To test the front and rear microphones, shoot two quick videos: one using the front camera and one using the rear camera and play them back. If you hear audio in the videos, the video’s respective microphone is working fine.
- To test the bottom microphone, launch the Voice Memos app and record a new memo by pressing the large red button at the center of the screen.
Clean Your Microphone
If you find that one of your iPhone’s microphones sounds muffled after you test it or it has no sound at all, let’s clean them. My favorite way to clean iPhone microphones is by using a dry, un-used toothbrush to clean the microphone grill at the bottom of your iPhone and the small black dot microphone to the right of the rear-facing camera. Simply slide the toothbrush over the microphones to dislodge any stuck pocket lint, dirt, and dust.
You can also use compressed air to clean your iPhone’s microphones. If you take this route, however, make sure to spray gently and far away from the microphones themselves. Compressed air can damage microphones if sprayed at too close of a proximity — so start by spraying from a distance and move closer if you need to.
Make sure to test your iPhone’s microphone again after cleaning. If you find that your iPhone microphone still is not working, move onto the next step.
My iPhone Microphone Still Isn’t Working!
The next step is to reset your iPhone’s settings. This won’t erase any content (except for Wi-Fi passwords), but will set all of your iPhone’s settings back to factory default, erasing bugs that may be causing your microphones to not respond. I highly recommend backing up your phone before erasing your iPhone’s settings.
How Do I Reset My iPhone’s Settings?
- Launch the Settings app on your iPhone and tap the General option.
- Scroll to the bottom of the screen and tap the Reset button.
- Tap the Reset All Settings button at the top of the screen and confirm that you would like to reset all settings. Your phone will now reboot.
Bring Your iPhone In For Repair
If after cleaning your phone and resetting all settings you find that your iPhone’s microphone still isn’t working, it’s time to bring your iPhone in for repair. Be sure to check out my article on the best places to get your iPhone repaired for inspiration.
iPhone Microphone: Fixed!
Your iPhone microphone is fixed and you can start talking to your contacts again. We encourage you to share this article on social media to help your friends and family when their iPhone microphone is not working. If you have any other questions, leave a comment down below!
my iphonw works for some apps and facetime/calls but not for apps like houseparty and especially siri wich i use alot what do i do?
my iphone 7+’s microphone stopped working out of nowhere yesterday. i was playing music in my headphones and the sound cut, but it wouldn’t continue. i shut my phone off and turned it back on and the sound started playing. but then it stopped again. now the only thing that works in that port is the charger
Hi Jazmine, the same think happenes to me. It stopped working out of nowhere. I made an softwer update, thinking this was the problem and it really start working again for a few hours, than went to broke and now I am trying to fix it unssucesfully. Did you find any solution?
Same on sunday during call. Nothing can help, I have tried to reset, but nothing possitive happens. I gues it is kind of bug, but no update is avilable yet
Same here! Letøs hope it gets fixed
My iphone 6s has a problem. When i turn on my mic in my pubgm my headset wont work and the sounds goes from the speaker and if i turned it off it goes back. How can i use my mic properly? Help please.
I am currently using iPhone 6, 16 GB and its current version is iOS 12 .I have a problem, when I make a calls people can’t hear me clearly. They hear me very faintly. But when I put it on speaker they can hear me better. Or when I talk directly into the bottom mic, it works decently. Besides if I use Facebook messenger, Viber, or some other app to make a call then all is well. My front facing camera is working fine, my rear facing camera is working fine, my voice memos is working fine. I have tried… Read more »
FB Messenger is not letting microphone work on video chat I phone 6 plus
He answered that question. Look above for “If you cant remember your Restrictions passcode”
No. Its not clear how to do a resrt bc its asking for the passcode to reset. Do you know what to do ???
Followed your steps and it fixed it. THANKS!
Ive got a 2 week old iPhone 8 , where the bottom mic doesnt pic up peripheral sound. So people say they cant hear me unless the mic is near and infront of the mic.
Tested calls between iPhone 8 and 6 , the problem only occurs from sound originating from 8 , but oddly voice memo pics up all sound.
Have you heard of any issues with the iPhone 10 Apple Watch callers not hearing you speak when they call you but when you call them back they can then hear your voice & if you have have you any ideas on how to fix this issue as Im having this issue?