iPhone is stuck in headphone mode

I thought I had this problem - even replaced the headphone socket with no joy.

Then I just had a brainwave - I checked my bluetooth settings and discovered that my phone was connected to my soundbar via bluetooth. I disconnected and the headphone symbol went away.

This has been annoying me for ages !!

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'.

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

After an hour trying to solve this, there's a solution that finally worked for me.

Water from the rain entered my iphone's earjack which i didn't know at first. Opened spotify and play a music. Tried to put a tiny rolled tissue on it then I noticed that it's wet. Tried to put it in again with a force. The music was paused, then I clicked play and it starts to sound loud and right.

Even I water damaged my iPhone 6s...using qtip worked for me but I m afraid to plug my headphones back again as I think I had water damaged the jack...should I wait for few days to plug headphones back or I won't?

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!

more details visit this website.

Tried all the other stuff including the calling and turning speaker on and off. That did not work. But this one did . Thanks Tom. Btw the one other thing that happened after the reset was my battery ran out. But whatever it was it work so I am happy

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!

Hello y’all! I have been trying to remove headphone-mode from my IPhone 6s for like 2 hours. Nothing worked! I turned my phone off and on several times, I plugged and unplugged the headphones likee 20times, nothing!

I read somewhere that If u put the phone in Aeroplane-mode for 15minutes the headphones wouldn’t appear.

I set it on Aeroplane mode while still using wi-fi connection to search for other ways.

I went to Settings-General - accessibility- voiceover( nothing happened) / Accessibility- call audio routing- automatic, speaker than automatic again ( still nothing)

While taking a screenshot of one of the other solutions through the browser, I heard the screenshot sound.

AEROPLANE MODE SOLVED IT!! 😄😄

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.

I've tried ALL the other methods suggested on the internet, and NONE worked, except one: the airplane mode one. I tried leaving my phone in airplane mode for 15 minutes, and nothing happened, so I just assumed it didn't work. However, after looking at the replies on these threads, I tried again, but I left it overnight. IT WORKED! Try this, it might work for you too 🙂

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

At first, I too had got a little frustated. More because of the fact that these are premium devices on which people trust but since machines are machines.

So first of all, do not get dejected. You’ll yourself fix this up. Just the time may vary. Its not as complicated as it seems. My personal device has got appreciable amount of debris inside the jack which is normal but then too I tried this simple procedure.

Step 1: Turning on airplane mode wont help all the time so plugg-in the same headphones that causesd this issue and play a song.

Step 2: Listen for 20 seconds.

Step 3: While listening double tap the home button to check if it says headphones connected.

Step 4: Simply pull-off the headphones.

Step 5: Magic! You start to hear the speakers and realise your heart beat is normal. Enjoy...

I have an iPhone 5 that was saying I had headphones in, even though it was just some water. I turned on airplane mode. Then, I set it so it was standing up against my wall (so the water could maybe drip out). I shut my phone all the way off and let it sit overnight. The next morning it was working just fine! Back to normal!