Q: iphone thinks headphones are plugged in even when not - how to fix

There might be something in the headphone jack, maybe lint, dirt, or something else in there.

You might be able to get it out by connecting the headphones 5-10x or spraying compressed air into the jack.

If that doesn't do it, try resetting or restoring the iPhone.

Take a look at this article

iPhone: Can't hear through the reciever or speakers TS1630

Thanks for the link.  It worked!  

I got a bit of rain in mine and it said (headphones)

fixed it by rolling up a thin bit of toilet paper that is quite long and inserting it in, then with a small screwdriver (or a paper clip) pushing it in gently so as much of the paper folded round itself as possible in layers. Left it for a few minutes and removed!

This happened to me. I read on another site that if you suck really hard on the headphone port it would fix it. I tried it, and it worked instantly!

What I did was I took a Q-tip and got it a little wet ten took off the cotton, pushed the stick end into the jack to the bottom and this worked.

I also used a q-tip removing the majority of the cotton just to make the end fuzzy. After inserting it in the headphone port and a small turn, I got a fairly large grey Lint matching my pockets lint... The headphones must have compacted it up in its sensors. I used it dry, no moisture and it worked perfectly... Resetting the phone just made a mess of my set preferences. :-( it was a physical problem than a software reset issue for me.

I have had this problem for more than a week. I tried sticking things inside the headphone jack, blowing compressed air, blow drier, etc. But understanding the problem, helped me find a solution. The iPhone headphone jack has these small metal balls that stick out, inside of the jack. When you put your headphones in, the iPhone goes into headphone mode. I assume that something got out of line and one of these small balls was unable to push out when I removed my headphones. For this reason, sticking a pin into the jack or a soft paper towel, will not dislodge the small ball. My solution? A paper clip with 2 sides pressed closely together. I jammed the paperclip into the jack and turned it around several times to dislodge the ball. It sounds worse than it is and the headphone jack can take some abuse. This worked immediately, even after all of the other solutions failed.

Let me know if this helps.

Similar for me. I just cut a cue tip in half, used the pointy bit to poke around the headphone socket and think I heard a click. Tested the volume and it had returned to ringer.

Paper clip guy wins hands down, all other methods will not work. Thank you so much for the help!

Had the same problem.  Couldn't hear incoming calls, Siri, or music through the phone speaker, though speakerphone worked fine.  When using airplay, "Headphones" was an option, even though nothing was plugged in.

I tried restart, hard reset, and cleaning the headphone jack.  I was just about convinced I had a hardware problem - a short of some kind. 

This is what finally worked (found via google in a thread from 2008):

1) Turn off bluetooth

2)  Hard reset

3) Turn on bluetooth

Saved me a trip to the Genius Bar.

I just now fixed it with the tip of a q-tip.  I removed most of the fuzzy stuff and stuck the tip in the head phone jack, moving it up and down (farily forcefully) a few times.  Bingo!  Thanks for the tips!

This worked for me too! I dropped my iphone in a puddle, though it didn't appear to have gotten that wet. The tissue down the headphone jack worked great.  FYI -  it was about 3 hours between when the phone got wet and when I attempted to dry the jack.  Thanks.

Q-tip with stripped end worked for me on an iPhone 5. Something must have been blocking the mechanical sensor at the bottom of the headphone jack. Nice tip!