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. 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.
Holly says
sliding between rings and alerts worked for me- see Vinny’s comment above.
Hardy says
None of those worked for me!! Lost my fuckn patience and my actions now lead me tomorrow to a store for another !!! Eeeeerrr pissed right off future sees me purchasing a new laptop as well !! It any other fuckn. Electronic thing that may be in my way
Kamar says
My I phone 5 internal speake no working.
Nic says
Ok so I have a jail broken 4s and it is running on 7.1.2 and the sound only works when I use Siri or call someone or use Bluetooth or use headphones. when I use the volume buttons it shows the ringer bell but no bar to tell me how loud it is.it isn’t on vibrate and I did every step and couldn’t find what is wrong someone please help
Tim says
Holy crap, holding down the corner actually worked. well it didn’t work the first time but I was fooling around the the headphone jack and tried pressing down the corner again but closer to the edge and it just started working. Crazy! Thanks!
Alisha says
I had this problem if none of them work swipe up the thing from the bottom of the screen and then put a song or something on and turn the volume up and down from that and it should come on
abubakar says
my phone has iphone 5 there is no work on loud speaker how should i do please help me
Bo says
I had somebody call me and that did the job for me.
Kendy Sanchez says
My Volume is not working it says that it is on earphones but I have no earphones plugged in ? What should I do ? I tried to do step 6 but it does not work . 😢
Paul says
Thank you for the post. Rebooting appears to have worked for me. Should have tried that first!
Ryan says
I tried everything n the unplug the head phones loads of times worked a treat thank you very much 🙂 buzzing
saif says
Thank you soooo much …… step 4 worked for me .
Noemi says
Step 4 works for me but only if i put pressure onto the right hand corner and when I stop, there’s no sound comig out
Jason says
Or…iPhone Step No. 9: As we just found out, the BLUETOOTH could be enabled to an earpiece, etc., and the sound would then come through the bluetooth device and not the phone. That worked for us. WHEW!
Howard says
My problem is a bit more strange. iPhone 5 with all current updates . Started before some updates about 4 months ago. I get sound on YouTube videos ( any video) only when in my home and connected to wi fi. As soon as I go out or in car and wi fi is not connected: no audio. I go back home; audio works…. Tried most things. It used to be ok… Then outside I noticed no audio on videos. I shut phone off completely: put back on and sound reappeared. That was then; now no sound at all outside of MY wifi connection. It worked inside verizon store even a meter outside… Any further and sound does. What could this be about??
Rick says
Toothbrush in charge socket … Nice 1 cheers
Kennedy says
Try shutting down ur phone/iPod it worked for me?
!!
Kamal Pandey says
Step 4 worked for me,thank u very much
Daniel says
One of LAST things to try is RESET ALL settings, so dumb to do just a few steps down when the other easier things should be tried first. Don’t be hasty like me and try this just third down line, try cleaning connecting points first. Having to set the phone back up was pain,THANKYOU SO MUCH
George Margeotis says
Step four is the golden ticket
Marilyn says
Tried the steps. Sound works through headphones but not otherwise. Any other suggestions?
Mac says
Step four did it for me and is the golden ticket. Thanks
Susan says
Alisha!!!!! you saved me, nothing else worked but i did what you said and THERE was my problem!!! THANK YOU for commenting!!!
Olive says
Still working through the steps. Notification sounds etc are intermittent – phone got doused by a wave and lower part submerged. I did all the usual drying steps. I am pretty sure it’s the charging port. I noticed one comment on not getting sound when making video. If that is the only problem, you need to clean the tiny microphone hole next to the headphone jack.
Dede says
Based in the comment that step four was “the golden ticket” I tried it, and it worked!
ben says
Phone has lost the sound for 3 months and have tried everything. Pushing the corner worked.
Nikhil says
pushung right corner worked .. You are awesome… Cheers!!!
Tom says
This worked for me. is the text message preceded by a ‘half moon’?
you may have ‘Do Not Disturb” on. I didn’t but when I pressed “Details” for that caller, (upper right hand corner of the text screen) I found that I had the ‘Do Not Disturb’ button turned on.
Jerry Leyland says
Squeeze the bottom right corner????? Yep, it worked. Go figure. Many, many thanks
Jolitha says
I did these steps in this order: 1,2,4,6,5
5 seems to be the one that worked for me! Thanks!
riazul islam says
Step 8 worked for me
thank u very very much………………… 🙂
Jill says
#2 worked for me!
Carmie says
Step No. 4 is kind of magic!!! It worked for me!!! Yey!
nasir says
My apple i phone 4s is not sounds working
Ginger says
WOW! I lost the comment above, but to whomever said this, it worked for me! Swipe from the bottom up and you have those options for flashlight, etc. Play a song from there and there is a volume bar. It worked! All the other above options were not the solution to this specific issue. How in the world did that bar get turned all the way down in the first place? Thanks again! Happy girl now!
Doug says
Fabulous…nothing worked on my iPhone 4s until I cleaned the docking connector gently with a toothbrush and rubbing alcohol…instant fix…thanks!!!!!
Nada says
Thank uuuu sooo muchhh .. Step 5 worked for me
David says
Check you Bluetooth settings. If you automatically connect to a Bluetooth device, all external sound EXCEPT sounds relating to the phone – ringer, etc. – will not work. I got a new Logitech Bluetooth device for my home stereo, paired my phone so I could stream it, and every time I got in range, it would auto-sync and the external speaker became disabled. When I got out of range, the speaker would work fine. If you manually turn Bluetooth OFF, external sounds become available again. Automatic pairing seems to be the culprit.
Sian jones says
Thanks – it was the automatic Bluetooth connection for me
rocketbotmom says
My volume is working part of the time,but, not always. When it does work, the volume is not very loud even with the volume at its highest. Help!