If you have no sound on your Apple iPhone 3 / 3GS / 4 / 4S / 5 / 5S / 5C/ 6/ 6Plus/ iPhone 6s/ 6s Plus/ iPhone 7, 8, 8Plus and the iPhone X, iPhone Xs volume bar, it is unbelievably frustrating as you most probably already know.
I have been looking for cures over the web as there are many out there. Below you will find a list of all these including the one that worked for me. Also, this list is in chronological order of what seems to be most successful. It is a process of elimination but it has to be done.
The symptoms of iPhone no sound Problem/ Issues include:
– iPhone will ring but speaker will not work for anything else.
– iPhone no sound at all for calls, apps, music, etc
– iPhone no sound as stuck in headphone mode
Follow these steps and hopefully, your iPhone will be back to its prior glory.
iPhone No Sound – How To Fix & Tutorials 2020
Step 1 – Check Silent Mode Switch
Loud/ Silent switch on the exterior of the iPhone is switched to the silent mode which is orange. If so, flick the other way to loud mode. This is a step that so many people miss, but it is the simplest! Also once you have flicked the silent mode off, ensure your volume is turned up by pressing the volume buttons on the side.
Step 2 – Restart Your iPhone
To restart the iPhone, hold the power switch and home button together for 10 seconds. This will restart your iPhone, you will not lose any media, contacts, data, etc. If there is a temporary glitch on the iPhone this will eliminate that glitch. Also if there is a glitch this may help terminate a temporary glitch.
If you have an iPhone X or newer, you can simply restart the device by pressing and holding both the side button and one of the volume buttons. Once done, you’ll then be promoted to restart the iPhone. When off, click the side button to turn on again.
Step 3 – Reset iPhone Settings
Reset iPhone. Go to Settings> General> Reset> Reset all settings. Make sure to backup your iPhone to the cloud / iTunes as this will wipe your media, music, and apps although photos will be left on the iPhone. This is a follow on to step 2 and another way you will be able to eliminate the glitch on the iPhone.
Step 4 – Press Corner Of iPhone
This one is a bit weird but it worked for me for a while and has worked successfully for other people. Squeeze the bottom right hand corner of the phone above where the speaker is.
The left Side is a mic, not a speaker, so don’t worry about that side. Hold that grip for about 20 seconds. This is done as the connector may be loose and had to be repositioned correctly. Yes, strange but most of these solutions are!
Step 5 – Clean Your iPhone
Use a tooth brush to clean the docking area where you charge your iPhone. With dirt, dust, grime, and so on it, may block the connectors working correctly and makes the phone think it is on a music dock. When you do this do it gently and get the bristles into there good.
Also if you use rubbing alcohol or acetone it will help get all the extra dirt out. As these products evaporate it will not do damage to the connectors. Do not use mineral terps when cleaning as it is oil based and will not dry!! This seems to be one of the most successful solutions. To avoid this happening in the future, its best to have a case that avoids dust and grime getting in.
Step 6 – Insert Headphones
Get your headphones and insert them into the headphone jack and then quickly pull them out. Continue this for a couple of minutes as sometimes it gets stuck in headphone mode so this normally undoes that. Also this may remove any dust or grime that may have been lodged in there.
You can also watch this video below which has a full list of fixes listed in this tutorial plus a few more that will restore sound to your iPhone!
Step 7 – Restore Your iPhone
Restore your iPhone on iTunes. Click on your iPhone icon when plugged into iTunes and go to restore. If you do this make sure your iPhone is backed up as YOU will loose all data, media, contacts, pics, and so on. This puts your iPhone back to factory settings.
This is similar to step 3 as it is a full reset of the device, this should help eliminate any glitch that have have come out in a recent update such as iOS7 or iOS8. Also when doing this step check for updates.
Step 8 – Jailbreak iPhone
Jailbreak your iPhone to find the file directories that are causing the fault. By doing this you are deleting the file that is making the iPhone think it is on a dock. You will still be able to use a music docking station etc. If you have a jail broken iPhone or willing to do it then this will be the best option for you. Very simple video and easy to follow, to jailbreak follow my simple tutorial.
Step 9 – Dry iPhone
This worked for me!! The squeezing step worked for me for a small amount of time. Not much else worked so thought I would try my own cure…. An old hair dryer!! Turn on low heat and hover over the speaker outlet for about 5 minutes.
I also did the headphone jack as well. There must of been some residual moisture build up which the hair dryer eliminated. The speaker was sputtering on and off during this time but finally came to life :). If you don’t have a hair dryer, you can also put your iPhone in dry rice while turned off. This can suck up all that unwanted moisture. Best to leave in rice for at lease 12 hours.
Step 10 – Hardware Problem
It may be a hardware problem and simply need to get a replacement through your provider who may offer insurance if chosen or apple support. This no sound and speaker is getting more known know by Apple there is a good chance you may get a replacement or a hardware fix.
Step 11 – Ultimate Destruction
If iPhone still has no sound there is always ultimate elimination… Not endorsed. See below….
**** UPDATE **** 18/03/20
Thank you everyone for such an overwhelming response! Also to those that have put up there own solutions that have worked for there iPhones. Initially when I created this website I did not envision the large response of people with the same issues. So here are some new solutions and steps that are popular on the comment feed.
iPhone No Sound Solution Step 12
As dirt and grime like to build up in the charging connectors of the iPhone it is necessary to clean it out. Similar to the step with cleaning it with a toothbrush you will be using compressed air instead. The best and easiest way you can do this is to blow air out your mouth with a good force into where the iPhone would get charged.
Do this for 1 minute to insure that it removes any dust or dirt particles. After that, plug and unplug your charger into the slot about 5-10 times.
iPhone No Sound Solution Step 13
This is similar to the step above but you will be cleaning out the headphone jack on the iPhone instead of the charging connectors. As above blow into the headphone jack for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, this should vanish any dust or dirt that is lodged in there.
Once that is done insert a ear bud/ q tip into the headphone jack and twist for about 30 seconds. Â That should dislodge any other dirt or grime that the blowing process may have missed.
If your iPhone X is not turning on, then you should check out my full guide here.
iPhone No Sound Solution Step 14
There have been more than a dozen comments saying that bluetooth may be interfering with the sound on the iPhone. One good method is to insure that your iPhone is not connected to any bluetooth device as it may be playing sound thru that device. Also another successful step that has been recommended is to turn off bluetooth and then turn on again.
iPhone Has No Sound Step 15
As a continuation to step 5, there have also been several reports of people who have also cleaned their iPhone with a wooden toothpick.
While a toothbrush works quite well, there is typically quite a lot of dirt still stuck in the charing port which can only be gotten out with a pointy object. Just be careful not todo any damage to your iPhone charge port. This seems to work well with older iPhone 4 and also the new iPhone 8 and iPhone X.
These are just some of the steps I have found and come up with which have shown success for iPhones with no sound.
Rob says
My Ipod Touch simply thought it was docked. I plugged it in to the computer and unplugged it. Sound came right back. Thanks for the tips!
Havarna says
You are amazing! The toothbrush step worked for me! This is the best support page ever! 🙂
Belle says
I tried all of the above. I still have no sound out the bottom speaker. My vibration is weak too. How do I do a diagnostic test to find out if it is the speaker that needs replaced?
Kevin says
Sometimes a media app will be turned all the way down, and cause every volume to turn down as well. I’ve had this problem a few times, all turn out to be some kind of software glitch. First time, my music was turned all the way down (even though i hadnt touched the music app in a while). Second time, it was my YouTube. Keep this method in mind, it might help you lol
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George Jones says
My I 5 is about a week old . The key board does no click as of last night .can barely hear beep when dialing a#.speaker very soft as well please advice
Mark says
You are the man, the toothbrush step worked for me! thanks for the help
Steph says
None of these work for my phone, and I don’t want to replace it yet but I do really want my sound back, are there any other things I could try?
Sarah says
Thank you for this most helpful step number 2 worked for me. For what it’s worth my no sound problem happened shortly after dropping the phone in its otter case very briefly in water
Valeria says
Hello. I have a question i hope someone can answer. I don’t have my Iphone jail broken, but I will do it because none of the other methods worked for me. So if I jailbreak it, delete that file and then restore the settings because I don’t want to have my iPhone jailbroken, do you know if the file will come back when restoring or not? Thank you.
Victoria says
Amazing! #5 with alcohol with #9 for 30 seconds did the trick!! Thanks Tips!
Dianne says
A brush and blowing in connectors did the trick!! Thank you so much! I was not looking forward to spending my Sunday afternoon at the Apple store. 🙂
Jozef says
Thanks for article. I can not believe it myself hovering did the trick!
jhr says
The hairdryer trick did the job! Thank you so much! I was in panic mode until I came across this site 😀
Raj says
The black moveable control panel has disssapeard on my iphone can’t adjust voulume now could some plz tell me how to get it back…..many thanks
Rabin ghimire says
It does not help me what can I do
Mark Ellis says
For me, it was plugging in the headset and leaving it for several minutes, and then pulling the plug while playing. I did try almost all the other suggestions first…except, of course, the “iBlender”.
Thanks a million. Guys like you the are the salt of the internet.
Robin says
Thanks a lot man! Toothbrush step worked perfectly for me! You’re the man!
Krystal says
My sound problem was mainly key sounds and message tones wouldn’t go off but would just vibrate and remain silent. Phone was never on silent I I cleaned the speaker with a pin but this seemed more like a software issue then a physical one. Phone calls were fine. Alarm sound was fine. But playing videos and music and message tones there wouldn’t be any sound at all.
Go to settings > Facebook > delete account > re-enter account username and password > only sync calendar and Facebook app > don’t sync contacts. Next open up the calendar app in the main screen and leave this open.
I found that removing and deleting my Facebook settings and stopping my contacts from syncing with Facebook seemed to work. Calendar sync was left on and I also left calendar app open. This seemed to fix my sound problem permanently and I no longer have intermittent problems with the sound like I did before. Now I can play videos and receive messages as normal. I have iPhone 4s and didn’t want to reset my phone so I found that this worked for me and provided a permanent fix. Hope this helps 🙂
Cindy says
I dropped my phone in water in case for brief second. It won’t let me talk on phone except with speaker. Any suggestions
Tony says
Toothbrush to clean the dock and hair dryer fixed my phone in 5 minutes! Thank you!
chris says
toothbrush worked 4 me. thx!!!
Marcus says
Option 4 worked for me. It’s the only one I tried
Fariba says
Hi my phone some time have sound and some time doesn’t have sound what should I do can you advice me please thanks.
krishna says
when i pressed the right side ( bottom) the sound came back..
simply superb ,…
as i had restarted the phone about 10 times still nothing happened…
now its fine..
cath says
thank you ever so much, can now hear, also cleaned speaker grill as you said tis was teh grill on teh right
suman says
no 4 worked for me although its weird one 🙂 thanks man
Margie says
Thanks for all the great tips. Very, very helpful sight.
Hermoine says
This is funny. I had no sound for apps, but headphones worked. Found your site and spent ages trying the various suggestions. It was when I had the cover off I realised that though the phone sound was turned on, I had inadvertently turned DOWN the volume with the plus and minus buttons next to the sound switch and all I needed to do was increase the sound! Maybe this will help someone who’s pulling their hair out.
Haven says
I have an iPhone 5s and My speakers are working with less sound and couldn’t hear songs and also ringtone if anybody trying to call me but it is working good with headphone and it is just two weeks old and last night it just fell into an ice cream cup.Please help me I am annoyed.
Winkie says
Thank you so so much!!!!!
Irish riordo says
This worked for me after I received water damage!! I had no speaker sound just try this today and it worked . Put your phone in the fridge for about an hour !! Speaker sound is back perfect 🙂
CRW says
iphone 5s updated to ios8 lost sound on incoming test. changing text tone will allow it to work on first few messages but then quits.
Frank says
Hairdryer worked! My 5c was stuck in headphone mode and I blasted it with my dryer on a low heat for only 2-3 mins and the problem was resolved! Thanks a lot!!
Fran warren says
Lost my sounds after ios8 update . Can hear the sounds in settings, but not when people text or ring me!
Saad says
your step 5 SQUEEZE the right side of phone worked for me 😀 u are amazing and from now iam the biggest follower of your page ..
thank You
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Marcos says
The q-tip helped me it was stuck on headphone mode thank you so much
faye says
thanks Krystal! Who’d have thought uninstalling and reinstalling Facebook was the key! Worked for me!
M says
I just tried a number of the suggestions. I used the earphone jack for a short time and once I removed it, the sound returned. Thanks a lot.