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.
Dhritiman says
I am 13 years old and after lots of struggle I got my new iPhone 6 , it was working fine then suddenly the speaker stopped working i was scared that my mo would kill me !!
But after pressing the bottom corner of my iPhone the speaker started working
Angel says
I have that same phone and i tried everything and it still didn’t work
5k says
I had the same issue after my iPhone 6 got a bit wet. The steps above didnt work. I removed the sim card and cleaned that slot a bit (didnt look dirty but gave it a try anyway). Inserted the simcard again and unlocked my Simcard. After that my iPhone was working normal again.
R says
Thanks so much the reset and the pinch technique worked. I also had privacy on which is the little moon. You can make sure that is not on too.
Melanie says
I used your headphones idea and your push the corner idea. My sound is working again. Thank you!
Richard Hayashi says
Toothbrush worked for me!!! Thanks for the tip … I can “hear” again!!!
katie says
OMG Step #4 / pushing on the speaker for 20 worked for me… Now I will try one extra step with the tooth brush. Thank You. :-),,,,, I did not want to wipe out my info.
Dhairya says
My iPhone is stuck on headphones mode because a cup water gone inside my iPhone I have tried all steps but didn’t work please help…
Anna says
Thank you, the dryer worked!!!
Manu, many thanks!
Kathleen says
Squeezing the speaker worked immediately! Glad I tried that before doing a hard reset. That should be #2 to try, since it is so quick & simple. If it doesn’t work, no harm done. Thanks so much!!!
420 says
I have the iPhone 6 Plus. I noticed a reduced level of sound to the point of not being able to hear my music but not being able to hear maps or phone calls really bothered me.
I found the fix. Play your music so you know how loud it is then pause it. Take a needle and poke it into the second hole from the right on the bottom right speaker. Wiggle it around some. Be careful not to poke to far or wiggle to hard (that’s what she said). Blow into the hole, restart music. You should notice an immediate volume increase. You’re welcome.
Thanks mate says
Wow this works thanks alot!!
Jordan scers says
OMG. Thank you so much this helped heaps. I was at the beach recently and dropped my new iPhone into the sand. Around two hours later the sound bar disappeared and the volume buttons wouldn’t work either. After reading the toothbrush trick I quickly tried it and found sand had gotten into my charger dock. Thank you so much for your help. It really does work
Jawad says
Lol.. Its a simplist way to improve your iphone sound. Just blow air from your mouth or from hairdryer. into the charging connecter of iphone. (Between speakers) and after dont forget to clean ur dock with brush.
It worked for me. I hope it will work for u too..! ☺
Jawad says
Lol.. Its a simplist way to improve your iphone sound. Just blow air from your mouth or from hairdryer. into the charging connecter of iphone. (Between speakers) and after that dont forget to clean ur dock with toothbrush.
It worked for me. I hope it will work for u too..! ☺
Jawad says
??
Venky says
Weird, but step #4 worked for me..
Sunil Choudhury says
Hats off to you!
My iphone 4 had the sound issues where a video plays with earphone and even the volume works fine however as soon as I remove the earphone, the volume came down itslef half way and it can’t increase the volume at all. The YouTube video where you suggested to delete the com.apple.iapd.plist file RESOLVED the issue.
Thank you so much. You shouldn’t be surprised if I tell you this was unresolved even by iphone support.
hester says
Thank you! The hairdryer worked for me!!
Roses says
I tried the blowing out pushing head plugs in and out few others none worked for me until I tried taking out the turning off the SIM card putting it back in back to hearing calls again
Ajay says
I worked for me.. after pressing the right bottom of my iPhone it worked.. Kudos!! Thanks for the help Guys #iPhone6
Mo Mo says
The pinch worked for my iphone 6!
Thank u, thank u 🙌
Lilly says
Thank you so much for all the tips. They did work. I thought i would have to throw my phone away.
Foods says
Thank you so much for all the tips. They did work. I thought i would have to throw my phone away..
David says
My hint about this was when I tried changing the volume it said “headphones” so I knew the phone thought it had headphones in. You said that sometimes cleaning up around the charging dock works so what I did is I took apart a paper clip and stuck one end in and moved it about to get any dust out, and it worked 🙂 Maybe something to mention here 🙂
Johnvuong says
Thank you so much!!!!! I have never expect the problem to be this simple. I would have taken my ip to the store just to turn off silent mode set by me with the ringing/silent button months ago !!!!
Faruk says
Thanks so much, step 2 nd step 4 worked perfectly 4 mi!
Faruk says
Thanx so much, step 2 nd step 4 worked 4 mi
gabyyy says
omggg thank yyou soooooooo sooo muchhh step 4 worked for meee and immm so happpy thank youu so muchhhhhhhh i recommend thissss try itt
oe loco says
step 4 did for me
Connie says
Thank you! I used a hairdryer and it worked. It’s been really humid and pouring rain for a bit.
Joanie says
The pinch near the speaker worked a treat thanks👍🏼
sam devan says
wow its works
Louise says
My iPhone 4 no sound with no he’d phons in
Louise says
My iPhone no sound wth no headphones in
Kellie says
Thanks so much the toothbrush cleaning one worked
Hanan says
Thank you for your tips,my was saying headphones on, I used hairdryer method as I was on a very humid beach, followed by cleaning dock with toothbrush and cotton bud, this worked for me. Oops and I also used the insertion and withdrawing of headphones few times too. You saved my day thanks again.
Lynn P says
You are the best! Used the squeeze right corner technique and blowing in the place where the charger goes. My I phone is ringing again. Thank you!
Dan says
In some cases you had your iPhone set on mute mode. Go to your device and unmute the phone(best way is to go to your assistive touch addaptive button and click device) Hope this will help too
Mahmood says
Tnx ever so much, I used step 6, inserted a headphone, and called from other phone to my iPhone 4s, now all the alarting and app sound work properly, appreciate you awesome steps.