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.
Gabby says
Thank you so much the squeeze fixed it! WOW!
CuteHipHop says
MY HOME SCREEN IS STUCK ON HEAPHONES AND NONE OF THESE WORK. I AM GONNA CRY😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Jason lee says
Qtip! Thank you! Watch the video above!
Jason says
I really didn’t want to do the reset so I skipped down and the Qtip worked
Joeana says
thanks for the help. I squeezed the bottom right part, it was magic!
Bird Bridgette S says
Orange button was the problem. Thanks for the help !
Sthe says
No sound for music and videos on my iphone 4 but sound comes out when using earphones. Please help
Haji Giovi says
1/17/2015 – same problem, sounds only play with audio jack or with docking cable inserted. Noticed it after charging my phone earlier in the day while away from home.
This worked for me – http://www.cnet.com/how-to/use-a-toothpick-to-clean-out-your-iphone/
It was worth a try since I had eliminated all phone software options for lack of sound.
I tried blowing out dust, that was not enough, tooth pick is wood and non conductive — ended up dipping toothpick in alcohol — what I think I had was really built up though, I couldn’t see anything in there but toothpick was black when I got done cleaning.
Try this first before taking phone apart and buying a new docking part.
Markus says
:-DDDD
Tori Rhynold says
Number 4 worked! Thank you so much!
Ritesh Roshan says
when ever i am calling sound is to going from my iphone 5s
Jiggy J Jason says
The ear phone trick worked
Thanks
MeL says
Pull up your flashlight screen. Check that volume isn’t muted there. Mine is not in sync with regular volume buttons on side of phone. i think it got messed up when I got a car with bluetooth capabilities
Tarek says
Many thanks, Step 5 is already fix the sound but with Using cotton sticks for ear to clean the docks with alcohol
Munmun says
Thankyou so much. This website help me to fixed my iPhone 6s sound problem.
Sameer says
I have a serious problem with my iphon5 and that is when a person call me it doesn’t ring i mean i can’t hear sound and it’s being showed busy. if someone can help me
Jo says
Here’s another FIX perhaps not considered. I used a HAIRDRYER on a warm setting in the headphone JACK. A little SNOW had collected on the bottom end of my iphone 6 plus. I had shaken it out but I guess that wasn’t enough. The only sound was through the headphones. And when I pressed the hardware volume buttons, “Headphones” displayed on the screen even when headphones were not connected. After using the hairdryer, screen showed “Volume” once again. Hooray. There’s sound! I would not have thought of the headphone jack as being a problem if I hadn’t read the tips above. In fact I had to unbox the headphones. I had never used them before. LOL. So thank you!
Jo says
If a little snow gets into the bottom of your iPhone, which is what happened to my iPhone 6s Plus, a warm hair dryer pointed at the headphone jack worked for me. Sound again, without the headphones!
Jo says
Didn’t see my earlier comment. Sorry to repeat
BELL says
After I updated my iPhone 5 a few days ago, I lost the sound on my keyboard, messages and videos. The volume control was stuck on headset. I went through all eight steps without any change last night. I finally gave up thinking I would call Apple this morning. I turned off the phone and turned it on this morning. Everything works as it should. Th volume control was on ringer and I got my sound back on my keyboard, messages, and videos. Thank you very, very much!
Behnam says
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Thx setup 4 fixed my 6splus
Mohd says
Hi my iPhone have same problem all ready re set but no volume for in comming cal no ring tone
Renee says
My wasted water in I my iPhone 6, I have tried everything except resetting my phone. I have it in some rice now. Any other options? Please help, I do not want to go to the Apple Store.😔
Chris says
I had fitted a waterproof cover and this had flipped the Silent / Loud slider. I took the case off and made sure the case fitted over the slider correctly. Many thanks for your tips
Ella says
Hello I need some help!
I have an iphone 5c which is farely new that i recieved for christmas and about a week ago the volume started playing up. I thought it was the case I had on it checked the settings but still nothing has worked! When I use earphones (beats) and a little portable speaker the volume goes back to normal but as soon as I take it out it goes back to not working. When I recieve a text it vibrates but again no noise. Also some days the volume works and then others it doesnt which is super annoying :/
I tried restarting and holding the bottom right corner but it wasn’t successful. If anyone knows how I might be able to fix it please let me know!
Thankyou 🙂
Dave says
This was immensely helpful!! The Loud/Silent switch was orange. The moment I flipped the switch I had sound. Thank you so much
jj says
Thanks.
Pixie says
you saved me so much thank you
Gagan Deep Singh says
Yess it worked.ThankYou
mightydickster says
had no volume, restarting iphone fixed it!!!
NJ Catolico says
Step #4 really works!!! It was like magic.. Thanks for the help
Terry says
Hey this was really helpful! Thank you.
Bennie says
Have you already solved this problem?
I have the same problem.
Sheekia says
Omg step 4 worked for me too 😩!! Thanks for this article I was ready to go buy a new phone !
Kiyana says
What phone do u have?
Ion says
Folks, just restart your phone.
Tinkles says
Hells yeah! Number 4 worked for me. I squeezed that little devil until a small pooh flew out from my behind! Now she works like a charm, but now I have a small mess to clean up
notmyemail@yahoo.com says
Found another fix today. settings -> General -> accessibility -> Mono Audio. Flip it on, speaker works again. Flip it off, continues to work in regular mode. Settings reset did not work for me, but this did.
Grace Gaffud says
thank you so much:) i pour a little bit of alcohol on a bud and i inserted it in the headphone jack,.thank you for the tips it works for me.:)))
Eddie says
Tried pressing both buttons, tried turning on and off tried squeezing R hand corner etc. Got fed up and gave the R hand corner a sharp knock with my knuckle and presto, sound came on immediately. So now there is a variation on the squeeze.