Level 2

212 points

iPhone stuck in "headphones" mode

Earlier I accidentally grabbed my iPod headphones instead of my iPhone headphones and I think I may have jammed them in there too far. Because now I can't hear any of the keyboard clicks or sounds and when I receive a text message there's no sound either. And when I receive a call it won't allow me to hear the person on the other line unless I put my headphones in or use the speaker function. And when I turn the ringer volume up/down it says "headphones" in parentheses as if it's been set to "headphones" mode or something! Is it possible that I jammed them in so far that my iPhone thinks my headphones are still plugged in? Did I just totally ruin my iPhone? What do I do? Anyone know how I can fix this? Thanks!

Windows XP Pro

Posted on Jan 15, 2008 9:14 PM

Top-ranking reply

ima747

Level 1

5 points

Posted on Aug 29, 2008 9:43 AM

I've had this problem perviously and the unplug-replug 7-8 times worked for me the last 2 times it glitched but not this time. I cut the end off a Q tip and went rooting around in the headphone jack and dug out a little lint which didn't solve it but atleast there's no lint in there now... I did a software restore, tried all the other tricks I could find but here's how I finally got it working again.

Headphones out, ipod stoped
Called my phone from another phone
the ringer rang out the speaker but when I tried to talk and listen I got nothing (obviously trying to use the headphones which weren't there)
turned on speaker phone, could now talk and listen.
turned off speaker phone and it went back to working properly
hang up, enjoy working speaker again.

My suspicion is that it's a combination of hardware and software issues that cause the hangup. The most likely cause is a sticky switch in the jack causing the iphone not to properly recognize when headphones are removed. However once you unstick the jack (dig out lint, jiggle it with a bunch of insert-removes etc.) the software may still glitch and apparently asking it to go to speakerphone then back to regular mode (which should CHECK for headphones in theory, and not just trust the jack switch) may just do the trick...

If it rings out the main speaker it has to know on some level that the headphones arn't there...

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928 replies

K_fav85

Level 1

4 points

Nov 13, 2016 7:26 PM in response to Britbrat06

I'm going to share with you guys what literally just worked for me. After trying resetting, plug and unplug trial, Bluetooth tricks, nothing worked. I realized that the hole was clogged with dust. I tried using a q-tip but that didn't completely work either. Dust can be stubborn! I couldn't find any toothpicks to mate with the cotton tip so I used a skinny paintbrush and wiggled it around in the hole several times and watched how the dust broke up and came out on the end of the brush. Problem solved!

Jan 22, 2008 3:05 AM in response to JKG99

I had this problem too, but solved it by only removing the headphones whilst the iPhone is unlocked. I had previously just unplugged the headphones once i had stopped the iPod.

ie you have to have to turn on the iPhone and remove the headphones whilst the screen is active and unlocked.

Jan 22, 2008 2:26 PM in response to SoCalSkippy

My phone was in the state as well for the past few days and it was bugging me to no end! I finally figured out that it was just some lint in the headphone receptacle. Blowing into the receptacle dislodged it and the problem was solved!

ATribone

Level 1

15 points

Jan 23, 2008 9:10 PM in response to SoCalSkippy

This happened to me, too. I took my phone to the store and the genius said that it happens because the phone doesn't recognize that the headphones have come out and it sends the electrical signals to the headphone jack, but there aren't any headphones there. All you have to do is plug them in and then unplug them.

cshamis

Level 1

13 points

Jan 24, 2008 5:19 PM in response to ATribone

Right. If the headphones are unplugged from the iPhone while it was in standby mode it will still think the headphones are plugged in when it resumes.

Just plug and unplug the headphones or reboot the phone.

d-d-g

Level 1

0 points

Dec 11, 2008 9:27 AM in response to KJB1985

I had this happen a few times before and inserting the headphone jack worked those times, but this time it didn't.

What I did to fix it after trying everything above a number of times was to take an air duster (like this one: http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/329576/Office-Depot-Brand-Duster-10-Oz/), inserted it all the way into the headphone jack and sprayed all around for about 10-15 seconds.

After that was done, I inserted the headphones and pulled them out one time and it was fixed.

Blairmcn

Level 1

5 points

Apr 14, 2009 5:19 PM in response to SoCalSkippy

After about an hour of fiddling with headphone jacks, blowing and cleaning with cotton buds, playing music then unplugging etc. what finally worked was simply calling the iPhone from another phone. The ringtone sounded, I answered and could hear through the earpiece again.

Jul 15, 2009 2:23 PM in response to SoCalSkippy

I -at least temporarily- fixed the problem by spraying a little 'Kontakt Chemie 60', then using a can of compressed air (also called 'Duster') and inserting/removing the headphones repeatedly. Would recommend holding your iPhone upside down to not leak

The first minute or so after spraying Kontakt 60 the iPhone did not even detect when the headphones were plugged in. Which is to be expected when putting a liquid with a reductant in there. Cleaned off leaking drops Kontakt 60 with tissue, cleaned of the headphone plug after each removal.

Bonus: Now I don't hear any crackle when I turn the headphone in the jack 🙂

Previously had just tried with compressed air, and well that didn't help. I'll how this works out. Else I'll have to replace the headphone jack á €49 and a couple of days (or in warranty and a couple of weeks). Reading on electronics fora I really ought to now put a little 'Kontakt 61' (I don't have that here) sealant in the jack to stop corrosion, but -there's always a negative- that would make dust stick in there even more.. Don't think that is advised.

gjucker

Level 1

0 points

Jun 18, 2010 8:45 AM in response to SoCalSkippy

I have had the "indicates headphones are connected when none are" issue for some time and have missed many calls, I tried all suggested remedies to no avail. I then inspected the jack and internal surface appeared grey inside the barrel. Suspecting enough continuity from this (probably conductive) residue to give a false 'headphone installed' reading between contacts I took a non-fiber 'tech' q-tip lightly moistened with ethanol and cleaned the interior surfaces. The q-tip came out pretty grey and the barrel pristine. For good measure I also cleaned the headphone plug. I don't know if that was the result of the cleaning or exercising the spring-loaded contacts, but since then I have had no reoccurrence of the issue.

mnbsbl

Level 1

0 points

Sep 29, 2011 6:03 PM in response to SoCalSkippy

I literally just read through 17 pages of fixes on this forum and nothing worked! As a last ditch effort I set my hair dryer to "cool" and directed the air straight into the headphone jack for a few minutes- didn't work. I tried it again, this time for over 5 minutes, and it finally got it working! It's beyond ridiculous that this has been a known issue for 3 years and hasn't been addressed yet. C'mon Apple, we expect better than this!

Oct 11, 2011 5:51 AM in response to SoCalSkippy

ok so this was driving me crazy. iphone 4 no problems up until 2 weeks ago and it got progressively worse til it was unusable. 'this phone is not optimized......etc" as soon as it booted up. no sound out the speaker except for - occassional receive call ring, if i went to settings/sounds and went through the rings they would work but the txt msg alerts would not, no ipod through speakers, could not adjust volume via buttons without phones plugged in. i tried everything including the funny sucking on the headphone jack, restoring/resetting, headphone jack in and out heaps of times.....

my girlfriend just got a new phone and i used the sim pin tool and scrapped the dock connecter part of the phone and even though it looked clean, ended up digging out a heap of flint/crud. i was really surprised but the tool is a perfect size to really dig deep. anyways.... a bunch came out and the phone worked instantly. thanks for everyone elses comments. good luck

Nov 14, 2011 7:31 PM in response to SoCalSkippy

I know this post is kind of old, but I have the Iphone 4 and just had this problem a second time. On the first time having the problem I thought my phone was messed up so I took it to the Apple store where they replaced my phone. This time I just thought it was kind of strange me having the same problem again after I used my aux jack plug in my car. So I googled to see if anyone else had the same problem and to my surprise I see many others have. Well I tried the "jack sex" option with the headphones as well as the aux cord, but it didn't work. So I finally used a q-tip my breaking off one of the ends and it actually worked. After a few sticks of going in deep it worked my phone got out of headphone mode and back to regular mode. Apple needs to really get this fixed. Hopes this helps anyone else that has this problem.

Reno81

Level 1

0 points

Dec 14, 2011 7:05 PM in response to SoCalSkippy

I've had this problem a few times. I've been able to fix it previously with the plugging/unplugging method but last time it didn't help at all. I was able to fix it by using the hose attachment for my Hoover, putting my hand over the end so that only a small gap remained and giving my headphone socket a thorough hoovering for about 10 seconds. Fixed the problem immediately. This suggests to me an excessive lint build up. Hope this may help somebody fix this highly frustrating problem.

Zylyph

Level 1

0 points

Feb 13, 2012 11:23 AM in response to SoCalSkippy

Hey giys i tried EVERYTHING you guys mentioned but none of them work. Sadly the simplest thing fixed it for me. If youve ever noticed that volume levels change based on if the headphones are plugged in or not (ex. - if the headphones are plugged in you could have it set at half volume, but unplugged, you could have it set to max). What i did was bring up the ipod and play music with the headphones plugged in. I changed the volume level some and unplugged the headphones (the volume level went to a different setting because it still recognizes the different volume levels, its just STUCK in headphone mode), and changed the volume level again. The music stopped playing just like when you unplug headphones. I hit the play button and it was fixed. Sorry for the length, i just wanted to give all the steps

DJ67

Level 1

5 points

Jul 20, 2012 4:32 PM in response to SoCalSkippy

I put earphones in and while taking earphones out I slowly wiggled jack fromside to side.

Out of all the other possible "fixes" the above worked.

Sucking did not.

Fridge did not.

In and out did not - unless you add the wiggle.

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iPhone stuck in "headphones" mode