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

Jul 13, 2017 9:40 PM in response to SoCalSkippy

So i dropped my iphone in my toilet on accident today. I was very quick to pulling it out and drying it off with a towel that was near me. Knowing that there was water making its way inside my headphone jack, charger and speaker outlet, i began to blow the water out of them as fast as i could. As i was Freaking out i went to ft my boyfriend but could not hear it ring nor could i hear him. My phone was stuck in "headphone" mode. I searched this up and began to read the comments. To my surprise and laughter the sucking at the headphone jack really worked!!! For me i had to suck at the headphone jack a fee times yet it still did not work but then i tried to suck on the charger part and it finally switched to ringer. I HIGHLY recommend you try this before taking it to any professionals.

Jul 22, 2017 10:14 PM in response to SoCalSkippy

This is going to sound strange...but no stranger than putting your phone in the fridge for 20 seconds. I had same problem. I ripped a small piece of a paper towel off, then twisted it like an arrow/pin...and twisted it inside of my my headset plug/insert. At first the paper towel was black when i pulled it out. Then some black rubber stuck to the paper towel and came out, twice. Restarted..now it works fine.

Jul 26, 2017 9:50 AM in response to SoCalSkippy

Hey Bro.

I recently had this problem also. I watched a YouTube video and tried the method.

The method is that

Go to Setting>General>Accessibility>Voice Over and turn voice over on. After That close settings and return to main screen. Now hold home button and say to siri "Turn the voice over off". Hope this will solve the problem if the problem is regarding the Software.

It worked for me.....

Jul 28, 2017 1:23 PM in response to SoCalSkippy

iphone 5s. stuck in headphones mode. i was playing a podcast on the speaker, then dropped it onto the shower floor while getting out, so very little water got on the phone (especially considering that i've dropped it into an actual bucket of water before and got it right out with no problem whatsoever). Sound played out loud for a brief moment as I picked the phone up, and then it suddenly went silent, so it didn't seem like it was hardware damage.

Anyway...IT WAS A SIMPLE FIX...I just twisted the corner of a napkin into a pokey shape and twisted it into the headphone jack a few times and like magic everything was back to normal. So yeah, must have been a drop of water in there fooling the contacts. Technically, I risked getting a bit of paper stuck in there, so...use your best judgement in cleaning out the port.

LKMY

Level 1

4 points

Jul 29, 2017 12:42 AM in response to Bridgette65

I tried everything for the last 4.5 hours. EVERYTHING. And I'm an Asian chick. This worked like a charm. Thank you B65 for your suggestion of putting the phone in the fridge for 20 seconds. That's all it took!

Riozuu

Level 1

4 points

Aug 9, 2017 1:08 PM in response to CAPbacK

As I'm about to yell to my brother to call me, I just hear my music playing again after trying cotton swabs, toothpicks, sucking, compressed air, the freezer, and it was just while I was reading your post so thank you! Also my headphones used to not work but now the headphone jack and the speakers work 😀 partially thankful I dropped my phone in the pool.... 😝

Oct 30, 2017 6:11 PM in response to SoCalSkippy

I had this problem today. I fixed it by putting the iPhone in silent mode, then I plugged in the headphones, switched off silent mode, turned up the volume a little and removed the headphones. The speakers worked again.

Sameet K

Level 1

4 points

Jan 8, 2017 12:33 AM in response to HopeHelpSafe

If that does not work then go to settings > Sounds > Then play with The Ringer and Alert sound panel

Sameet K

Level 1

4 points

Jan 14, 2017 10:29 PM in response to Fairlylocaldreaamer02

If you are afraid of being shocked. Then let me just give you a method that worked for my iPhone 5s. All I did was go into Settings > Sounds and then played with that bar that says ringer on it

Jun 5, 2017 11:06 AM in response to SoCalSkippy

Dec 19, 2017 1:03 PM in response to xo.carly

I tried the Q tip . Headphones in and out , speaker on and off but nothing worked . In the end I blasted the jack with the hairdryer and bingo it worked . So relieved. I had answered the phone with my hair wet so it was only a minute drops of water

Apr 6, 2009 8:56 PM in response to SoCalSkippy

So After reading all this "fixes" none of them worked.

What I did was get someone to call you turn speaker mode on and off a couple of times, leave speaker mode on, and hang up. this worked for me.

Hope it all goes well.

Jan 2, 2017 5:25 PM in response to carmenc23

This really worked ! I did it carefully and rotated it and it did dry it out. Thanks for this !

Jan 7, 2017 12:12 PM in response to bigdalla

As if this worked after 20 minutes of faffing, I'm acc crying.

Jan 8, 2017 8:50 PM in response to cshamis

I tried this and still nothing works after I put it in rice and put headphones in and out

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iPhone stuck in "headphones" mode