You’re absolutely sure that headphones aren’t plugged into your iPhone, because, well, they’re not. You see “Headphones” above the volume slider when you press the volume buttons, but your iPhone isn’t making any sound. You’ve tried a hard reset, putting your headphones in, and taking them out again, but it’s not working. In this article, I’ll explain why your iPhone is stuck in headphone mode, an awesome trick to get junk out of your headphone jack or Lightning port, and how to fix the problem for good!
My iPhone Doesn’t Have A Headphone Jack! How Can It Be Stuck In Headphones Mode?
Apple got rid of the headphone jack when they released the iPhone 7. It was very controversial at the time, but many people have moved onto using Bluetooth headphones like AirPods.
However, Apple didn’t completely eliminate the ability to use wired headphones on newer iPhones. Your purchase of an iPhone 7 or newer model includes a pair of wired headphones that plug directly into your iPhone’s Lightning port (also known as the charging port).
A new iPhone 7, 8, or X also includes a dongle which lets you connect your old headphones to your iPhone’s Lightning port. However, Apple stopped including this dongle with the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR.
Even though the iPhone 7 and newer models don’t have a traditional headphone jack, they can still get stuck in headphones mode! The steps below will help you fix any model iPhone that is stuck on headphone mode.
No, iPhone, There Aren’t Headphones Plugged In!
Your iPhone is stuck on headphone mode because it thinks headphones are plugged into the headphone jack or Lightning port, even though they’re not. This is usually caused by a problem with the headphone jack or Lightning port itself. 99% of the time it’s a hardware problem, not a software problem.
Eliminate The Possibility Of A Software Problem
The easiest way to make sure a software problem isn’t causing your iPhone to stay stuck in headphones mode is to turn it off and back on again. To turn off your iPhone, press and hold the power button (also known as the Sleep / Wake button) and slide the button next to “slide to power off” across the screen.
If you have an iPhone X or newer, press and hold the Side button and either volume button until “slide to power off” appears on the screen. Swipe the power icon left to right to shut down your iPhone X or newer.
It can take 20 seconds or so for your iPhone to turn off, and that’s completely normal. To turn your iPhone back on, hold the power button (iPhone 8 and older) or the Side button (iPhone X and newer) until the Apple logo appears on the screen. You can let go of the power button or Side button when the Apple logo appears.
If your iPhone is still stuck on headphones mode after your iPhone turns back on, there’s a hardware problem with your iPhone. At this point, this problem is being caused by one of two possibilities:
- Debris stuck inside the headphone jack or Lightning port is fooling your iPhone into thinking that headphones are plugged in.
- The headphone jack or Lightning port is damaged, either physically or by liquid.
Take A Look Inside Your iPhone
Grab a flashlight and shine it inside your iPhone’s headphone jack or Lightning port. Is there any debris stuck inside? I’ve seen everything from rice, to brown goo, to broken-off tips of cheap headphones stuck inside. Trying to extract something from your iPhone’s headphone jack or Lightning port is extremely difficult, and some Apple techs won’t even try.
Poking around in your iPhones headphone jack or Lightning port can cause damage, but most people I’ve worked with agreed it was worth the risk because they really had nothing to lose. If I had to guess, I’d say I was successful about 50% of the time when I tried to extract something from a customer’s headphone jack when I worked at an Apple Store.
How Do I Get Junk Out Of My iPhone’s Headphone Jack?
There’s no right way to do this, and Apple Stores don’t have any tools designed to extract debris from headphone jacks. There are, however, some unofficial tricks that Apple techs sometimes use to get stuff out. Be careful — none of these are Apple-approved methods because they can cause damage, but I’ve had success with each of them in different situations.
The BIC Pen Trick
I really wanted to write this article so I could share this trick with you. An Apple Genius showed me how to do it, and I still think it’s brilliant. Be warned: Your pen will not survive this procedure. Here’s how to use a BIC pen to remove debris from an iPhone’s headphone jack:
- Use a standard BIC pen and remove the cap.
- Use pliers to pull the pen tip away from the plastic housing.
- The tip is attached to a circular plastic cartridge that contains the ink.
- The opposite end of the cartridge is the perfect size to remove debris from the headphone jack.
- Insert that end into the headphone jack and gently twist to loosen the debris, and then shake it out of your iPhone or iPad.
I’ve saved lots of headphone jacks using this trick. Be careful not to press too hard. If the debris isn’t coming out, move on to the next tip.
Compressed Air
Try using a can of compressed air to blow air directly into your iPhone’s headphone jack. This may work even if you don’t see anything stuck inside. Compressed air can loosen debris just enough to shake it out or blow it out completely. Be gentle: Don’t stick the hose all the way into your iPhone’s headphone jack and start blowing. Start from the outside of your iPhone and work your way in.
If you don’t have a can of compressed air, you can try blowing it out yourself, but I don’t particularly like that option because our breath contains moisture that can damage your iPhone’s internal circuitry. If you feel like you have nothing to lose, then by all means, give it a try.
Tweezers
Really thin tweezers can sometimes reach just far enough inside to pull a piece of rice or other debris out of an iPhone’s headphone jack. Using tweezers is risky, though. It’s a lot like the game called Operation (by Milton Bradley). It’s very easy to damage the sides of the headphone jack if you shove tweezers in too far.
I Don’t Recommend This, But…
Some tech-savvy people (and secretly, some Apple Geniuses) have had success extracting debris from iPhone headphone jacks by disassembling the iPhone and poking the debris out from the underneath of the headphone jack. There are some excellent teardown guides of iPhones if you’d like to try, but I don’t recommend you do.
How Do I Get Junk Out Of My iPhone’s Lightning Port?
Just like a headphone jack, it can be difficult to remove gunk and debris from from a Lightning port. The safest way to remove debris from an iPhone Lightning port is to use an anti-static brush.
If you try to clean out the Lightning port with an object like a paperclip or a thumbtack, you can run the risk of causing an electrical charge within your iPhone, which could cause even more damage. Toothpicks are also risky, because they can splinter and get stuck inside your iPhone.
However, most people don’t own an anti-static brush, and that’s okay. A brand new, unused toothbrush makes a fine substitute if you don’t have an anti-static brush.
The Cocktail Straw Trick
This method could also be called the “coffee stirrer” trick, as either utensil can be used. Flatten out the tip of your cocktail straw or coffee stirrer so it can fit inside your iPhone’s Lightning port. Use the flat tip of the straw to scrape or scoop any gunk out of the Lightning port.
Compressed air and tweezers are also possible solutions if something is lodged in your in your iPhone’s Lightning port.
I’ve Tried Everything And My iPhone Is Still Stuck On Headphone Mode!
If your iPhone still isn’t working after you’ve tried everything above, there’s a good chance your iPhone needs to be repaired. Usually, the headphone jack or the Lightning port on an iPhone will stop working for one of two reasons:
Water Damage
A very common reason for iPhones getting stuck in headphones mode is water damage, and a lot of the time people don’t know how it could have happened. Here’s how the conversation went: I’d ask, “Are you an athlete?”, and they would say yes. I’d ask, “Do you listen to music when you run or work out?”, and they’d say yes again. Can you guess what happened?
A lot of the time, this is problem is caused when sweat runs down the cord of an athlete’s headphones. At some point, a small amount of sweat gets inside the headphone jack or Lightning port and causes their iPhone to get stuck in headphone mode.
Other types of water damage can cause this problem too — it doesn’t take much. The headphone jack on older iPhones and the Lightning port on newer iPhones are two of the only openings on the outside of the iPhone, and that makes them particularly susceptible to water damage. Even if the rest of an iPhone works perfectly after it gets wet, the headphone jack or Lightning port may not.
Physical Damage
If your iPhone is smashed into 1000 pieces, you probably know what’s wrong. If it’s still in one piece, there is another very common reason why iPhones get stuck on headphone mode: The headphone jack or Lightning port gets pulled away from the logic board.
“Wait a second. I keep my iPhone in great shape.”
Plugging headphones in and out of your iPhone should never cause this problem. I’ve never seen it occur from normal use. Here’s the question I’d ask: “Do you wrap your headphones around your iPhone when you’re not using it?” The customer would say yes. (Come to think of it, the same Genius who turned me on to the BIC pen trick told me this, too. I’d give him credit if I didn’t think he could get in trouble.) Can you guess what happened here?
After a while, the strain from the headphones wrapped around the iPhone on the end plugged into the headphone jack or Lightning port becomes so great that they entirely start to pull away from the logic board. It’s OK to wrap your headphones around your iPhone, as long as you unplug them when you do.
Unfortunately, if you’re reading this, there’s a good chance the damage is already done and you’ll need to repair your iPhone.
Repair Options: Apple vs. Puls
This problem is especially frustrating for people who go to the Apple Store because the only repair option Apple offers to fix a broken headphone jack is to replace the entire iPhone. A lot of people simply refuse, opting instead to use a Bluetooth headset or speaker dock to make and receive phone calls, but it’s a major inconvenience when the sound doesn’t work on your iPhone.
The case is similar for broken iPhone Lightning ports. Apple will typically just replace your iPhone if its Lightning port is broken. The replacement is covered by your AppleCare+ warranty.
To make matters worse, debris stuck inside your iPhone’s headphone jack or Lightning port isn’t covered under warranty, so repairing this simple problem can be very expensive.
Puls
If you’d like to repair your iPhone today for a lot less than Apple, Puls will meet you at home or a location of your choice in less than an hour, and they offer a lifetime warranty on parts and labor.
Get A New Cell Phone
You may want to consider getting a new phone instead of having your current one repaired. iPhone repairs can get expensive quickly. If more than one component is damaged — which isn’t uncommon if you dropped your iPhone or exposed it to water — the repair company typically has to replace every part, not just the headphone jack. Check out the UpPhone cell phone comparison tool to review your options!
Wrapping It Up
It’s frustrating when an iPhone gets stuck in headphones mode, because it seems like a simple problem should have a simple solution. It’s unfortunate that a tiny piece of debris or a little drop of water can have such a detrimental effect on your iPhone. I sincerely hope that your iPhone is no longer stuck on headphone mode, but if it is, at least you know what to do next. Feel free to leave a comment below. I’d like to hear about any creative ways you’ve found to remove debris from the headphone jack or Lightning port of your iPhone.
godammit i fixed it ! Thanks
Cotton swab cut in half did it for my I-pad air with the same problem. Of course, it might also have been the ceremonial sacrifice of said cue-tip to the Apple god since I didn’t see anything come out 😉
Awsome
Awsome
Thank you sooo much
BIC pen, compressed air, plastic toothpick, compressed air
You saved my phone
Thank you again for this great info
I swear it really worked with the BIC pen trick thing… i love it God bless you with more ideas
Thank you!!! Did the q-tip several times last night leaving it in the jack for a little while. It didnt correct it immediately but this morning its working again. I think it was sweat but I did drop my phone in the cat water dish a couple of weeks ago. Since the jack only stopped working correctly yesterday I think that might not have been the issue. Last night during my quest for information I learned that my SIM card wont pop out! I heard there is a water damage sensor on the chip in my newish IPhone SE. Now… Read more »
Use the Qtip it worked from me. Thanks a lot.
Q tip worked, pullled the cotton swap straight out away from stick & twisted till I got about a 1-1 1/2 long tip that I inserted into headphone jack as I twisted down to stick & twisted back out. Phone volume controls went back to earpiece/speaker, no longer says headphone. Thank you to all that gave me advice & courage to fix myself! Hope I can do the same for others.
Thanks for the advice
Brilliant–I didn’t get a fix, but this explained what was really going on after I spent an hour on the phone with Apple Support. It’s stuck in Headphones mode. Also comment below about putting it on speaker mode to bypass holding it to your head. Cotton swab and pen did not work for me. Now the trek to the apple store.
Man! I can’t tell you, I was so panic. Pen method worked for me. I tried to put it in and out 2 -3 times it did not work then I did it bit hard and the switch got released from inside. I think the micro switch got stucked due to moisture or something. Thanks a lot.
Youre a real life saver! Thank you so much!
I found a BETTER way! Take a piece of scotch tape about an inch long and roll it in on itself just skinny enough to fit in jack. Gently push down into hole until it reaches bottom and gently put your finger on the end sticking out and push it around in a circular motion and then extract that dust ball that was stuck in there!! Do this a few times until it comes out clean. Reboot your phone and voila! Ringer on! Your welcome!
You wonderful person, you!!! The canned air worked! I was beginning to think my phone was toast. Thank you thank you thank you!
Thank you and my dad says “thank you, you saved our booty!” We used the compressed air technique to get rice out!
Thank you.
wow coolio, was panicking a little and your shot of compressed air did it….what can i say more than much obliged…
A hard reset worked for me. Held down the home and power button at the same time until the apple logo appeared and when it finished i put in my password and now it’s working fine.
Thank you so much for making this article! My speaker is functioning well now.
I had this problem too. None of above helped. Problem was somewhere else – I used to play music and videos thru my JBL GO pretty much. When I turned speaker on and off my phone was still I headphones mode but was able to play sound thru jbl. When jbl battery got down my phone instantly started playing sounds and turned off headphone mode. It didnt happen when I turned jbl off, just when it went completely off the battery.
Mine was stuck on headphone mode and none of the obvious solutions did anything. I then took a Q-tip and used my fingers to roll the tip out long and thin (to match the size of a jack). It fits in quite well, and after I ‘spun it round’ in the port for a while it managed to release headphone mode.
Thanks my iPhone is back to normal
Thanks a mil! Piece of lint stuck in my headphone jack was the issue the entire time – appreciate the help!
I pulled almost all the cotton off of a Q tip and pushed it in and twisted a few times, it worked like a charm. Thanks for all the info!
Canned air for the win! Thank you
Thank you so much
Compressed air did the trick with it stuck in headphone mode
Your a star.
Thank you!!!!!!!
Took paper clip to loosen, Qtip to clean, and air to blow to get it to work. Thank you for the air idea. That was what worked for me finally. THANK YOU!!!!!!!
I have an old cracked phone that was stuck on headphone mode. I tried all your hints and nothing worked until I read that the headphone jack can get pulled away from the logic board. I just applied pressure to the bottom of my phone and it was fixed. Thanks.
I fixed mine with a Q tip
I took off most of the cotton to get it in
Tried reboot of phone first, twice without success.
Thanks for the tip of possible foreign debris in the socket.
Used my loop to view small particles that I couldn’t see without magnification
Used WD 40 with spray nozzle to flush out the debris while phone was turned off.
Next used canned air to evacuate WD 40.
Turned phone back on and it worked fine
True story using WD40 …… if it happens again I will try rolling duct tape inside out to see if it grabs the debris Laughing!!!
Q-tip worked. Im so glad theres people like U writing stuff like this. Appreciate all the comments too!
Perfect! The compressed air did the trick… Thank you for the help!
I got a cotton swab and turn it a few times, then left it in for about 2-3mins and it started working again. Thank you 🙂
Thank you! I used a pen per hour instructions, and it worked.
Connect your phone to a Bluetooth for a minute. You should then be able to change to listening through the iPhone. This worked for me
My I phone is stuck in headphone mode I got caught in heavy rain today so I think that is whats caused the damage. How can I fix the problem.
The BIC pen trick worked for me , but I had to do it several times! Now I can hear again. I noticed before I fixed it that when I pushed the volume up and down it keep saying headphone above the volume amount. That clued me in that something had gotten into the headphone jack
I did not have that type of pen so I used a plastic cotton bud/ Qtip took the cotton off the ends exposing it to be a hollow tube then I sucked through it and it worked, good tip Jody, thank you.
I used the pen trick with a little bit of cotton on the end. Pretty sure it was water damage, but my phone works just as good as before now!
Found this and I want to add that I found the Qtip method as well as the suck on the headphone jack opening may have done the trick. My steps from it hitting the water were to take it straight to a bag of rice and let it sit for a few hours. I then tried canned air for all the opening. I used a folded up pipe cleaner a few times. None of that had much effect. I did note that if I went to the sound menu and tested a ringtone it played fine. I took out the… Read more »
Thank you very much. I used a toothpick to remove a bit of gunk. Then I restarted my iPhone and the sound works !!
Awesome fix. Cotton swab works wonders!!!
Tried everything – got a lot of lint and what looked like bellybutton fluff out gently with a sharp stylus but phone would not behave.. Finally a got cotton swab with some cotton removed – rotated it a few times and voila – ringer instead of headphones… Yay! Thank you!
just did the toilet paper wound up tight and it worked. LOL…toilet paper to get the toilet water out…yes dropped it in the pee pot
Thanks a lot 4 your info! Good vibes bro!
I tried the pen trick, didnt do it for me, I found some matches in the drawer and used the wooden end, a small amount of black gooey stuff came out and fluff and it was back to normal, thanks for the help, you gave me the idea !
Thanks a lot.!
I WAS ABT TO DIE PHONES BARLEY A WEEK OLD IT WAS STUCK IN HEADPHONE MODE… used a piece of a paper towel rolled it up abt the size of a qtip attempted it abt 6 times to make sure all the moisture was out and BOOM it worked. Thanks so much… Im giving U a BIG KISS an hug internet style lol! Ty
My phone’s ringtone is not working. But if the headphones are plugged in, it’s working. And when i pulled it out its not working again. What should i do?
This was a waste of time but it could
work for other people
Often times is I have debris in my headphone jack or charger port I use a wooden toothpick to loosen it. (worked 9/10 times)