My iPhone is stuck on headphone mode

Been there, done that.

I know it can be really annoying when you can't hear anything, even when your calls are coming through, music, watching videos on YouTube or whatever.

I can't remember how many times my iPhone got stuck in Headphones mode but it was a lot.

All those times I have relied on this quick and simple ways to help me get my iPhone fixed. 🙂

13 Simple Ways to Fix iPhone Stuck in Headphones Mode

1. Try removing your iPhone’s case

Most of the time, it could just be that your iPhone’s case could be blocking the pathway to the audio jack, which then causes your iPhone to remain stuck in Headphones mode.

2. Turn your iPhone off and back on again

Even if you find that you remove your iPhone’s case and it still remains stuck in Headphones mode, then what you can do is turn your iPhone off and back on again to make sure that the problem does not lie in your software.

3. Plug in and out your headphones a few times

One thing you should make sure when you plug in, is you should be able to hear the audio clearly on your headphones.

Once you are pretty sure it works all great, only then should you slowly stop the audio, clear your history (by double tapping your home button and make sure no background apps are running) and then firmly plug out your headphones.

4. Go AirPlane Mode

Step 1: Go onto your iPhone and then swipe up from the bottom of your Home screen to open your Control Center.

Step 2: Then tap Airplane Mode

You can also go to your iPhone’ settings and turn it on there as well

5. Use a Bluetooth speaker

When you connect your iPhone to a Bluetooth speaker or headphones, your iPhone will recognize the Bluetooth device and will also know when you disconnect it (since you’re not unplugging it manually which can sometimes be confusing to your iPhone).

6. Change your iPhone’s Settings

7. Clean inside your iPhone’s Headphone jack

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Thank you so much!!! I was trying everything I was reading in this thread but the your toothpick experience is what solved it! I had the sound go out in my iPhone 5c but it was because I dropped it. I've been so careful and was worried about having to go through that ordeal again but now I know I won't! Thanks again for posting about what worked for you so that it could help me, too!

I had this happen to me as well and solved it with the tissue method. What worked best for me was to clean out the speaker part twice with the tissue. After that, turn the phone completely off and restart. As soon as I did that, everything went back to normal.

Take the cans out of your ears, life will begin to return to a semblance of normality within 2 - 3 days. Prolonged exposure to headphones can lead to an annoying dislocation from society that can manifest itself in a very loud and obnoxious voice, if treatment is not sought, blindness will ensue shortly thereafter.

There may be debris blocking the headphone sensor. Blow on the headphone jack on your phone and try inserting and removing the your headphones multiple times.

reboot the phone by holding both the sleep?wake button and hte home button until the apple logo appears and then let them go

It's likely a hardware issue. Take it to the Apple store for evaluation.

Same problem for me. I upgraded the iPhone 3GS to 5.1.1 and it stays in headphone mode. Phone is less than a year old so off to Apple to sort this out.

Same issue for me. I have tried several hard reboots, plugging and unplugging the headphones probably 50 times, reset to default settings, so far no luck. This just happened out of the blue. Earlier today I was getting text tones then this evening I noticed I was not getting text notification tones and when the volume buttons are pressed it displays the normal volume bar with (headphones). Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Rapidly plug and unplug a heaset 10-15 times to free up the stuck headset switch inside the jack.

Blow on the headphone jack on your phone and try inserting and removing the your headphones multiple times.

NEVER do this by mouth - moisture can get to the water sensor at the base of the jack, tripping it and voiding the warranty. ALWAYS use canned compressed gas.

This happened to me several times over the past few years and with 3 different iphones.

I found that I was using the iphone to lisyten to iHeartradio without the speaker and/or was using the speaker phone to get work done while I was waiting for my turn in a phone que.

Depending on whjat you did immediately after using speaker for sound or as speakerphone there is a glitch that puts you into headphone mode and locks you in.

Make a phone call to time and weather. Place in speakerphone and listen for 5 secs. Hang up and the problem is fixed. If not fixed repeat, but toggle speaker on & off a couple times and hang up with speakerphone off.

I got the same problem. It seems that software is out of synch with the hardware. To resolve the issue...I plugged my headphone (the one with volume control), adjust the volume with my headphone then unplugged the headphone. After that, it goes out from the Headphone mode.

I woke up to the same issue this morning. It was on my bedside table where I always keep it so I know moisture did not get to it. I tried all the tips, nothing worked. Still covered under apple care so I called and talked with them and I was told to do a hard reset, hold the on/off button down and the home button down at the same time and switch off, turn back on the same way. Problem solved. I felt dumb. :)