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.
Rila says
Number 4 worked thank you
Noman says
I have no sound issue i tried by changing the mic strip and speaker strip but still no sound and the shopkeeper told me to replace the ic az there is issue with ic im confused plz guide me on this
Dave james says
Any help with this one. My Speaker works for everything apart from an incoming call or outgoing. A what’s app call will work fine but not a normal call. The call goes through to other person but they can’t hear me not them. And the phone slows down when I hit the number to call a person. Loudspeaker button fades also so it can’t be used.
April says
Wow- #1 worked. Not sure how that button got switched with my case on it, but I now have a ringer again and can hear texts. Thanks!
Mouna says
Thanks a lot for this tutorial. I had a no speaker sound problem in my iPhone 6. I followed all the steps until the problem was finally solved in step 6 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Mouna says
Step 6 worked for me! Thanks a lot for sharing!
Courtney says
None of these had worked for me .. I had gotten water in my speakers then I put it in rice to clear out the water but when I did it had gotten stuck on the whole headphones problem
manjunath bannur says
Connect your headphones to iPhone.
Play any Music
Start increasing the volume on the headphone. It starts increasing from mute to high volume.
This worked for me
Lorenda says
I’m having problems with playing videos and music….the won’t show to turn the volume up…I’m not having problems with my phone ringing and talking! I need help!!!
Lorenda Robinson says
I’m have problem with videos and music…the bar where you can turn it up and down has disappeared…I have NO problem withy phone ringing and I’m able to talk and hear….I NEED HELP Please!!!
Sherry says
Thank you so much. Number 4 worked for me
Adrian S. says
No. 6 worked perfectly.
Many thanks for this article.
Jackie Oakes says
Everyone kept telling me I never answered my mobile, yet I checked it out and everything appeared normal. Them my husband tried to ring me 4 times within 4 min as he needed me to pick him up and I didn’t answer. I called him in the end as I saw he had rang. Got very frustrated with the phone but watched the video, hey presto the tiny switch on the top left of my iPhone had somehow got switched off. Problem solved and thank you
James says
Thanks a lot! The hair dryer solution did the trick for me 🙂
Potatoe says
The sane thing happened to my iPhone 4s
Bill says
Number 2 – restarting work marvelously!
Michelle Umar says
Number 6 did the job! I’m so glad I don’t have to take my phone to get fixed. I could not hear anything.
Gilbert says
After going through most of the steps above, still there was no sound from the speaker of my iphone 5c but the headphones would work. I solved the problem by applying a slight pressure at the top back of the phone where the speaker is located. Voila, the sound came on. It must be a a loose contact between circuit board and speaker. This is a manufacturing defect that Apple should fix.
Dennis Lagman says
Great!!! The Alchohol method works on my Iphone4… Guys try rubbing the connector and with a small amount of alchohol.. Be sure to turn off your phone… It works for me… I swear it… Im not fooling around here.. Im just trying to help…
Maggie says
I was stressing oh so much and I thank you for this info. Number 1 worked for me.
April says
Number 4 worked for me!! Thank you so much for your help!
Jomel says
The hair dryer works for me!!! Initially I tried all steps except the hairdryer. After which I decided I should give the hairdryer a try as I was out in Super cold weather today. Thanks for the info!!!
Ranjit says
The Loud/Silent switch on the side was orange and switching it to loud solved the problem. Such a simple thing!Thanks
Susan Whaley says
None of the steps worked for me. Finally I saw a post saying to plug it into your car jack and that fixed it. Weird I know but it had sound as soon as I plugged it in and continues to have sound when it is disconnected from the car.
Dhanna says
Number 2 works. Im so glad 😀
Leah says
The last one at the very bottom worked for me
Susie says
Step 8 worked for me. Thanks so much for the post! My phone has sound again!!! YAY!!! lol
Robbie LeMore says
Thanks so much for being generous. Step 2 fixed the mic that I use to send texts.
dr.matur says
thank you so much. really worked nicely
Sangam says
My iphone 4 phone calls sond not work and battery full charge 100% after 50% my mobile turn of. Plz help me
Lorenda Howell says
Number 1 worked for my iphone 6s. Thank you
Tayla-Jane Smith says
A tried both step 4 and 5 but I’m pretty sure it’s 5 that worked. I’ve never been so relieved. Thank you!
Gloria P says
Wow your first suggestions worked! Thank you. I would have been trying for days.
Has shergill says
Thanks a lot 4 work for me
Abiral says
No 4 worked thanks
AlainaBullock says
I’ve had the same issue where all sounds worked except for videos or music on my 6s – esp. if I had been listening through my car or a wireless speaker. This has worked for me – not sure if it will for you. If you go into the Music icon, and start playing one of your songs, on the right hand side of the volume bar (max volume) is a tiny rectangular icon with a solid black triangle icon (looks like a TV sort of). Tap that and a small menu will come up from the bottom of the screen. There will be 2 selections both with a speaker icon. The top one has the word iPhone next to it, the bottom one has a Bluetooth symbol next to it. Select the iPhone one and it makes mine start playing through my phone again. It’s odd, because I tried cutting my Bluetooth on and off via the Settings, but that wouldn’t work. Doing it this way did. Go figure.
Jo says
My phone is only a few weeks old, I tried all of the above fixes with no luck. Sometimes I have sound sometimes I don’t. It was not much of an issue until my alarm did not wake me for work. My alarm was silent!!!! My boyfriend took it out of the otter box and messed with it a little. It seems the otter box is too tight and puts pressure on the right bottom side and prevents the sound from working, now it’s out of the case it’s fine😀😀😀
Renz says
i cleaned the charger port and the headset jack hole and restarted 1 time and it worked! thanks a lot!
Annie says
I tried absolutely EVERYTHING and nothing worked. I then had a miraculous fix – in Settings / Sounds / Ringers and Alerts I switched off the “Change with Buttons” swiper and the sounds returned. You can set the volume in this spot in settings, so it doesn’t impact listening too much to not have use of the buttons (and at least there IS sound again). I had not seen this “fix” – so sharing it here now … Thanks for all the other tips.
Jon French says
Thank you so much!!! Instead of buying a new phone you solved my issue. Last night my phone fell from about 4 ft and when I picked it up NO SOUND from anywhere. Tried all the solutions in order until I got to the one saying to hold bottom right part of iPhone for 20 sec and boom it worked. Thank you again and for everyone try this before restoring ur phones 🙂