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.
Thank you!! I stuck a thinned- down ear swab in and cleaned my headphone jack and it works now!! Thank you so much!! You saved me some money and time 🙂
I used the cotton bud and guess wat it worked…nothing else worked then i inserted the cotton bud pulled it out and nothing…re inserted the other end of the cotton bud then pow it worked 🙂 thankyou so much !!!!
Well done!!
Thank you for sharing… I was already picturing the hassle and the spending…
Thanks for getting me out of this problem.
WELL PLAYED!
I tried both tricks, the BIC pen first with no luck but the Cotton swab did the jobTHANKS!
Brilliant advise….worked for me too! Lifesaver. Thank you
Used the end of a cotton bud and it worked!! Brilliant thank you.
See, when I adjust the ringer-in settings- it makes noise, so I can hear tones and rings and stuff, but not videos or songs, I don’t know if this is a common problem or what, I tried the pen, didn’t work, time to wait for my birthday!!!
It worked! I had to trim down the q tip but it worked! Thanks!
YUP, cotton swab worked for me. I tore off enough so it would fit snugly and twisted a few times. After 1st attempt I saw a little dirt on the swab but it didn’t work. Fortunately, I tried 2 more times with about 5 twists each. That did the trick. COOL! Guessin’ this is the best solution for most cases where phone is stuck in headphone mode.
My iphone is not coming out from headphone mode please do help me i have tried all above mentioned ways..please help me as soon as possible
omg the BIC Pen trick worked for me! Thank you so much. 🙂
Thank you so much for this article !
Okay this happened to me this morning. I NEVER use headphones, and so this was a real weird thing when it went to “headphone mode only!” I read all of the comments below, and hubby Dave got a Q-tip – it was too big, but we “pulled off” some of the cotton until the cotton “left” was small enough. Dave used a magnifying glass to look in – – – – swabbed in and out for maybe 2 minutes back and forth – and then asked Siri if she could talk! SHE DID! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
There is one thing you didn’t add to the water damage you can slso use a hairdryer i live in ireland and my headphone jack got wet cause it was raining as per usual and water got in and then i used a hairdryer so i recommend a hair dryer
Thank you! Your advice worked
Cotton swab worked for me too! I cut it in half and used the cotton stick (not the cotton end, I was afraide to leave even more debri inside) and clean up the headphone jack gently. Thank you all! 🙂
Omg thanks
Bick Pen trick worked like a charm! Thanks for posting!
Thank you, the Bic trick worked.
YESSSSSSSS THE COTTON SWAB!!!!! Thank you so much
YAY!!!! Q-tip worked like a charm!!!! THanks everyone!!!
Thank you very much. Had already tried about 10 different software type remedies with no luck. I’m out of town with no tweezers, Bic pens or cotton swabs, and so I took a chance blowing it out, and it worked. Thanks again.
Thanks for the advise. Cotton buds didnt work for me but air compressor did!
Thanks a lot! It worked on my phone. I used a cotton bud too!
Qtips bro
I dropped my phone in the pool and after I shut it down and stuck it in rice for a few hours, it was fine, except for the headphone issue. i tried your hairdryer trick and it worked! Thanks!
Thank you all of you! Qtip didn’t work at first after trying several times. I was getting frustrated, but as I read on I realized I needed to leave it in longer and voila it worked! Thank you!
Worked!! Thank you!!
THE COTTON BUD TRICK WORKS!!JUST PULL OFF SOME COTTON UNTIL THE COTTON BUD IS THE SIZE OF THE HEADPHONE JACK:-) LEAVE IT IN FOR AWHILE AND TAKE IT OUT AND KEEP DOING IT UNTIL UR PHONE SHOWS “iphone” instead of “headphones”
Tried the compressed air and worked like a charm… Lucky. Thank you!!
Wow..Great. I do normally wrap the phone with head phone. Changed the head phone and it is working now.
The cotton swab worked great.
rastafari!!! cotton swab worked…gotta leave it in for a few! Thanks ya’ll
You my hero.. I got so upset and was almost in tears.. you’re simple great and genius.. thank you for the great advice.. I can finally breathe.. my phone is back to normal
I connected the iphone to a JBL speaker, put spotify on, turned the speaker off and it magically started working again.
Awesome! Worked like a charm! Thank you!!!!
and this is why Apple did away with the headphone jack, it all makes sense now
Thanks for the know why! I figured the best thing to do is get a q tip and pull most of the cotton of the end. Gives full surface coverage and a slight brush to help loosen debris. Just stuck in to the bottom and gently twist. Fixes like a charm.
great explanation, thanks for assistance.
Omg this was a life’s savor! Literally my phone is two days old and I dropped it in the toilet I was using all the tricks here and none worked. Then I put a qtip in twisting it, putting it in and out . Literally did this for almost an hour and was about to give up. I sticked the qtip in and just left it while pandora was playing so I would know when it worked and boom, five minutes later I hear the music It can take you 3 minutes or even 3 hours, but it works! Be… Read more »
In my case, I had A LOT of fuzzies that had accumilated in my headphone jack over the years. My solution, which worked for me, was to use a needle and stick it in there so I could dislodge the debris. Afterward I pulled most of the cotton off of a Q-tip so that only a thin layer of cotton remainded, and I gave the inside of my headphone jack a good scrub. The abrasive texture of the cotton allowed any extra particulate to be removed. Finally, a good blast of compressed air got the job done in the end.
The box pen trick worked instantly! Thanks so much for the tip 🙂
My phone was stuck in headphones use to water damage. None of the other steps worked for me. I held the hair drier a couple inches from my phone and blew it toward headphone jack for less than 10 seconds. It fixed the problem. I had the drier on low.
Oooooohhhh I don’t know what to say thank u thank u thank u, I lost hope really!!!!
It’s so helpful teekkr ederim
I put my hair dryer on warm and pointed it toward the headphone opening and a few seconds later it worked!
Thank you for the information
The BIC Pen Trick did work for me, but I used the empty one insert to headphone in suck the air/dust out by mouth.
Just used the Qtip method and it worked. My phone was in. Lifeproof case and fell in water.
THE BIC PEN TRICK WORKED!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! <3
Thanks for the excellent info