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

DasherNY

Level 1

4 points

Jun 22, 2018 7:01 PM in response to marthafromsaugus

ha! they should put that into the manual 🙂

Jul 27, 2018 9:43 PM in response to bigdalla

Can’t believe this actually worked I’m dead 💀😂

Aug 2, 2018 6:34 PM in response to bigdalla

Thank you so much for this! It actually worked!! However did you think this up?

Aug 10, 2018 2:46 PM in response to GozeBoy

How did you turn the phone and ringer off simultaneously?

Sep 1, 2018 9:31 PM in response to SoCalSkippy

Thank you sir! It worked.. me and my room mates laughed our a** out

kaylee29

Level 1

4 points

Oct 30, 2018 4:48 PM in response to Glenn Kelly1

What is iPod mode?

buraknl

Level 1

4 points

Nov 1, 2018 1:49 PM in response to bigdalla

This is the funniest suggestion ever. And it freaking works!!! Ahahahahhaha

eril72

Level 1

4 points

Nov 23, 2018 5:29 PM in response to Camomama

Worked for me too....still laughing😂😂

cheri243

Level 1

4 points

Jan 12, 2019 2:02 PM in response to bigdalla

Oh my goodness! I read this and thought "no way", but I was totally frustrated and thought why not....It worked like a charm! Thank you!!!!!

Jan 12, 2017 6:37 PM in response to th3_r3n3g4d3

I tried plugging the headphones in and out several times while reading these posts... no luck. I shut the phone off and plugged the headphones in and took them out a couple more times and that worked! Not sure if there was a correlation, but I'm happy with the results.

I also tried powering down, blowing in and sucking the headphone jack, turning off Bluetooth, and a few other unsuccessful manouvers prior to the headphone trick.

Thank you all!

Jan 12, 2017 8:01 PM in response to SoCalSkippy

Spent about 25 mins on live chat to an advisor he was taking me through all the steps to try and fix it none of them would work. He then asked me to backup my phone and restore it, was a bit skeptical of it working but it actually worked and now my phone is working fine. Still not sure why it was thinking the headphones were plugged in.

wildekat

Level 1

8 points

Jan 19, 2017 11:34 AM in response to SoCalSkippy

I have iphone 6S Plus, IOS 10.2. I have digital hearing aids that allow me to stream my music from my phone, through a Bluetooth remote into the receivers in my ear. If I just turn off the remote the phone will stay in headset mode. I have to change it back to music directly from iphone before turning off.

Jan 24, 2017 2:01 PM in response to SoCalSkippy

Might sound a bit weird, but I stuck one of those sticks that you get in diffusers into the headphone jack a few times and got some dust out (idek how that got in there) and inserted n removed headphones once, and then it worked :)

ebenroel

Level 1

4 points

Feb 14, 2017 8:50 AM in response to bigdalla

I was like no way is sucking my headphone jack going to work, but i was desperate and out of options. I guess the first few tries i wasn't sucking hard enough, but i kept trying and it worked. you are a genius! 😎

Feb 15, 2017 1:00 PM in response to SoCalSkippy

Has happened to me twice.

Both times it was related to being out in the rain and the headphone jack getting wet. Can't remember how I fixed it first time but this time tried everything suggested here: Qtip, sucking on the headphone jack, playing with volume, calling from another phone and then shutting down call while in speaker mode, pressing on speaker area exteriors, using a toothpick to pick out debris from phone jack....!!! Nothing worked. Was getting a headphone jack plugin notification and there was no audio on calls/texts/tweets.. With the rain association in mind decided to use hairdryer on cool mode to send air into headphone jack. Bingo!

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iPhone stuck in "headphones" mode