iPhone is stuck in headphone mode

so I read through this forum on all the solutions and none of them worked. However the ONE that did was SETTINGS>GENERAL>RESET>RESET NETOWRK SETTINGS. This only removes any passwords you have for wireless networks and does not reset any personal things such as pics, contacts, etc. After the the phone came back on work right away!

Saw a bunch of posts on this and some of the answers are pretty stupid. In fact, some are malicious. There is no software reset, reboot, network reset steps to do this. The headphone jack is DIRTY and/or got wet. That simple. Phone thinks there is a jack in there so its stuck in headphone mode. One suggestion was to stick a paperclip in the jack. That will potentially damage your jack and phone!!! How stupid can one be?

Heres a fix that is SAFE and works. Use a cotton swab to rub alcohol or contact cleaner on the head phone cable jack and insert it a few times. Each time you pull it out, wipe the jack clean and insert it again. keep doing it until you see your ringer volume pop back up. Don't stuff a cotton swab up in there. I ended up using a toothpick with a tiny lens cleaner cloth wrapped around it and was able to insert it into the jack and rotate as I pulled it out. Lens cloth came out very dirty. Phone works now.

For me i just got a q tip, and took of some of the cotton to make it small.Enough to fit in the headphonw jack.Then when i took it out the was a small ring of black stuff then my phone worked fine again

I just got the same problem with my Ipad. It got stuck in earphone mode. And i didn't do anything!.

I cleaned it with air, tried to remove things that could be stuck and so on.

I put in earphones- and i heard a sound. Unjacked - still in earphone mode.

then i read about one guy that took a rolled tissue in the jack since moist can cause this.

Since nothing else worked - i tried that. Took a small bit of tissue - rolled it thin and rotated it in the earphone-jack.

When i took it out - the tip had a bit moist!!

Then i tried the volume - and now it wasn't in headphone mode anymore!!

Hope this helps

I had this problem and tried a bunch of fixes that didn't work like:

1. un-plug and re-plug headphones repeatedly
2. re-start phone
3. clear out the jack of debris (there was none but I tried anyway)

90% of the time this is a hardware problem and not a software problem, as the main reason your phone thinks earbuds are in is because there is some sort of debris, rust, or other obstruction tricking your phone into thinking that earbuds are plugged in.

I read on other forums that it could be water damage in the headphone jack (but wait, I take amazing care of my expensive phone, how could this be?! Well if you are an athlete and train with your phone, it is likely that sweat trailed down your headphone cable and seeped into the jack over time. This is likely what happened in my case, and could be your problem too.

Not to fear. Go pick up a can of this stuff Quick Dry Electronic Clnr 11oz Can 12Pk - Walmart.com

CRC QD electronics contact cleaner is probably one of the most useful cleansers I've ever purchased. This $5 can has repaired hundreds, if not thousands of dollars worth of sensitive music, computer and tech equipment. It is non-conducting, quick drying and just all around awesome.

Put a half second spray of this stuff into your jack (phone can be on or off, doesn't matter because the solution is non-conductive as said before) and then put your earbuds in and out, and twist the plug in the jack. Do this for about 30 seconds.

This stuff should dissolve any rust on the contacts that could be shorting the circuit and tricking your phone into thinking that the earbuds are plugged in, and put a protective coating on the contacts as it dries to prevent more rust from forming.

This method should work immediately - as soon as the cleanser is dried, which should be seconds. If it doesn't work immediately, fear not. Go to bed. It should work in the morning, sometimes the cleanser just takes a little extra time (what happened in my case).

In the case that this does not work, you might need to replace your headphone jack as you can only repair rusted equipment so much, but I would only recommend doing this if your phone is no longer under warranty.

Hope this Helped.

I had the same problem with an iPhone 6s. The problem stemmed from lint being jammed in the headphone jack. I solved it by dislodging the lint in the headphone jack with a toothpick, and vacuuming it out. To vacuum the lint out I used a cleaning accessory with a small hose that attaches to a standard house vacuum cleaner hose, which is made for cleaning computer, cameras, and other delicate equipment like phones: https://www.amazon.com/Schneider-Industries-Micro-Vacuum-Attachment/dp/B000BSJCL Y. I couldn't retrieve the dust and lint by just using a toothpick - I needed to vacuum it out. A can of compressed air might work but could drive the dust deeper into the phone. The other tool that's helpful is a hearing aid cleaning kit that is available at pharmacies for a few dollars https://www.amazon.com/Acu-Life-Hearing-Aid-Cleaning-Kit/dp/B0013I08SM. That tool includes a collection of tiny plastic probes and brushes that shouldn't harm delicate equipment. Before you start this, turn your phone off!

This happened to me yesterday and I was confused for a minute since it has never happened to me before either. I tried numerous methods and tricks to get it fixed and finally I did manage to fix it. I've also written a quick step-by-step guide on how to fix an iPhone from being stuck on Headphones mode to help others who face such similar situation.

Here's an excerpt from the guide:

13 Simple Ways to Fix iPhone Stuck in Headphones Mode - Saint

1. Try removing your iPhone’s case

Make sure that you remove your iPhone's case and check if that does the trick.

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

Try plugging in your headphones and out a few more times, as sometimes your iOS can forget that your headphones were disconnected. 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. Try Another Pair of Headphones.

Different headphones have different configurations.

So if you do have the original Apple's EarPods (and I really mean the originals, not the fakes) then go ahead and give that a go. Whichever brand of headphones you're using, certain types or brands may not go well with your iPhone.

It's completely fine if you do not have the original Apple EarPods, any of the headphones would do, however, as long as it is compatible.

5. 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.

5. Use a Bluetooth speaker

You see, if you're stuck on headphones mode as a result of your plug in headphones or ear pods then you can easily undo it if you use a Bluetooth speaker or headphones as they work without the need to plug in them (in short, they're wireless)

So 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).

This is a pretty neat trick you can do and all you will only need is either a Bluetooth speaker or Bluetooth headphones that you have lying around.

6. Look inside your iPhone

Go ahead and grab your torchlight.

Then use it to take a look inside your headphone jack, and look for whether if there is any dirt stuck inside it, as this might be what's causing your iPhone to be stuck in headphones mode. 🙂

If there is dirt then …

7. Clean inside your iPhone’s Headphone jack

Cotton Buds

You have cotton buds lying around right? I'm sure you do.

Grab one and use it to clean inside your headphone jack gently.

Since they're soft you don't really have to worry about it being harmful.

The BIC Pen

Ahh the BIC Pen..

This is a pretty neat trick and it works well to grab all that debris that might be found in your Headphone jack.

Here’s how you can use a BIC pen to remove debris from inside your iPhone’s headphone jack.

Step 1: Grab any standard BIC pens that you have lying around, and remove the cap.

Step 2: Now try and pull the pen tip from its plastic casing. It will be much easier if you use pliers to pull it.

The tip is the one that you use to write with, attached to a circular plastic cartridge that contains the ink.

Step 3: You're doing great! Now all you will need is the opposite end of the cartridge as it is the perfect size to remove all the annoying debris from inside your iPhone's headphone jack.

Step 4: Just go ahead and insert the end into your iPhone's headphone jack and gently twist it to loosen the debris, then once you're done just shake it out of your iPhone.

That's it! 🙂

8. Update your iOS

9. Change your iPhone's Settings

Step 1: Head over to your Settings, and then General.

Step 2: Next select Accessibility

Step 3: Scroll down until you see Interaction

Step 4: Keep Scrolling, until you see Call Audio Routing

Step 5: Sweet! Now all you have to do is just make sure it is set to Automatic, if yours is not then choose Automatic from the list.

Now if you already find that it is already set to Automatic and it is still not working, then try and test by setting it to Speaker.

To check if this did the trick, all you have to do is just place a call or a Facetime audio call, and then see for yourself if your speaker works.

If it does, then just go back to this same setting and change it back to Automatic. 🙂

10. Put your iPhone in DFU mode

This is the deepest type of restore that you can do on an iPhone.

When you DFU restore your iPhone, there's always the potential for something to go wrong because it is not like your regular restore method where you just tap one button to have it reset back to how it was when you first got it.

It restores the very code that makes up the software of your iPhone. It's complicated to explain but that's the most simplest way to put it.

Read more at Saint

Try this: go to settings, general, accessibility. Turn voiceover on. Then go to the homepage and activate siri and ask her to turn voiceover off. This worked for me--nothing else did.

I don't know how well this will work for everyone but it has worked well for me twice now.

What you will need:

- Paper Clip.

- A little bit of time.

1. Open up music or a music app. I used Spotify because you can see when the music plays and pauses. If you see the music pause, then that's how you know that you are back in ringer mode.

2. Get the paper clip and move around the inside of the headphone jack. You would do it much like as if you were washing a cup.

3. Look for the music to pause. When the music pauses, it would be like you unplugged the headphones.

This method works really nice for me because I don't always have headphones to use and I'm sure you can use any type of object like a paper clip.

If nothing works, such as q-tip trick, un-plug in and plug in of the headphone, bluetooth speaker trick, the Setting/General/Accessibility/incoming calls (audio routing for newer software)/set speaker, then headset, turning on shazam, activiate siri...etc. TRY THIS, 1) have someone call you, 2) turn on to speaker mode, 3)turn off the speaker, 4) plug in your headphone, 5) un-plug headphone. This should work!

After trying every suggestion on this forum, the only thing that worked was the paper clip method. Open Spotify etc am disappointed play music, start scraping the inside of the headphone jack until you see the music pausing, this means the device thinks you have unplugged the headphones. Play about with the volume buttons and if it worked it will say 'ringer' instead of 'headphones'.

This didn’t work for my same problem but something similar worked. I called someone and had it on speaker for the whole call and hung up while speaker was still on. I pressed the volume keys after hanging up and my phone was no longer on headphone mode. It went back to headphone mode shortly after but I turned the phone off and then on and it’s back to working properly

My iPhone 6 Plus did the same thing and I tried all the fixes and tried them a few times. nothing worked ... in desperation, I aimed a hair drier into the headphone jack for a few minutes.. like a miricle , it worked normally again . I believe some water may have gotten in there . Keeping my fingers crossed it continues to work normally.

home and power

Restart your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

I had the same problem with my iPhone 6 S. I had not used my headphones and my phone was stuck in headphone mode. After reading several postand trying different suggestions, I remembered that I had my charger plugged into my phone earlier . I simply plugged my charger back into my phone and unplugged it ,and it worked.

Hope this helps.