iPad says headphones are plugged in - but they aren't

Two solutions in the past were -

1. Plugging in headphones, playing music, pausing play, unplugging the headphones and resuming play successfully!

2. Plugging in the power and the headphones, unplugging the headphones, using the volume control on the side to adjust the volume, and then unplugging the power!

I tried the hair dryer, cleaning the headphone plug in with a cotton tip, plugging headphones in and out many times, turning my iPad off and on, holding the lock and home button in for 10 seconds and none of those worked until....

I got a wooden skewer, you could also try a tooth pick, and I'll put it in the head phone plug in and cleaned out the dust at the bottom and wiggled it around a little bit and it worked!!!

I also have an iPad 2 with the same issue. No sound through external speaker, plugged in headphones work fine. I have done everything from verify side switch settings, wiped and restored as a new iPad. Used canned air to blow out any possible debri inside the headphone jack. Problem began with intermittent sound cut-offs, and now it's completely gone. When I adjust the volume, it will also display (headphones) when none are plugged in. I have visited two different Genius Bars and they basically say that it could be a logic error within the main pcb board. And to make things worse, I've passed my warranty by about 38 days. So I'll have to pay $240 for repairs, (which I'm still considering). I should have gone at the first sign of trouble, but unfortunetly, I was always under the impression that it was a software/app/ glitch.... Oh woes is me....... :-(

I Had the same exact problem, and it was very easy for me to solve mine. All i did was get some tissue roll it up into. A cylinder that can fit into the headphone jack, push it iN there and give it a good clean. Just keep on twisting it in there for about two minutes. Hopefully that works.

Ive figured it out, this work for me:

1. Shut off iPad

2. When off, plug in the headphones you were using

3. Turn on and play music

4. Unplug headphones, music will pause. Then play and should work.

Best of luck

Connect to Bluetooth, play some music, pause the music, push the square with the arrow pointing up then choose iPad.

I tried many things such as hair dryers blowing in the head phone receiver cotton buds and even a tiny bit of water! But I turns out just switch you I pad of leave it for 10 seconds turn it on again and mute an dun mute it a few times turn the volume up and down and then play a song

Try to delete the latest apps you downloaded. it worked for me just now

Its working again for some reason... I just reset the iPad again, plug it in to charge it and setted my alarm for the next morning. Alarm had ringed and after that I could listen to music WITHOUT "headphones". maybe the alarm has switched the headphone thing.

Use a bluetooth player, play some music, pause the music. Tap the box that has the arrow pointing up, choose iPad. Good luck.

I have tried that numerous times as well as at least 4-5 hard resets to no avail.

Thanks for the suggestions. I did attempt those workarounds, and still no luck. Looks like this iPad has a hardware problem indeed....

Brilliant. Your first solution just worked for me when I though all was lost. Thank you