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.
Shimriya Hillel says
Also if I plug in my headphone the sound works but when I take it out all I hear it static sounds and it’s really stressing me out
Nancy McBride says
I have a friend who has to reset
the volume when her video is playing each time!
Thank you! says
I can’t believe it actually worked but squeezing the bottom right corner did the trick for me. Thanks so much! Was starting to panic and think I had to buy a new phone haha
Laura Eggen says
slammed my fist on my phone on the right lower corner, and it worked instantly….laughed about it for hours though
g8 says
step 5 works!
Ryan says
Neither of me and my caller can hear during phone call. The speaker and headphone do not work as well. But everything is working fine if I call through FaceTime or apps ( viber, tango,…) I thought it would be software issue so I reset, restore, and even update to newest iOS but still doesn’t work. Mic and speaker are still working except in PHONE CALL. Can you guys help me out?? Thanks !!!!
Phred says
Step 5a worked for me. I swiped up to get the basic controls screen, then over to the music controls screen. (Sorry–don’t know proper terms for them. ) Bar at the bottom showed that it was connected to a docking station. I changed it to plain iPhone, sound was back! Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!
Joseph Imoowo says
Why my iPhone 4 not responding and keeps hanging
Zac says
Step 5 and a good whack fixed the problem. For now.
Tarot Dancing says
Holy moly! I never even knew there was a “silent” switch on the side of my phone. Voila. Working like a charm.
Ankit says
some time no sound after restart its working how can fix this issue anyone can help me out
Charlotte says
I pressed just underneath the middle right of the phone and I worked but as soon as I let go it stopped. I continued to do this but it just kept happening. I then put a bottle on top of it and the speaker clicked back in place. It works for now 🙂
Mary Lou Chamberlain says
Sound was working on my phone but not through the earbuds. Tried another pair and still not working.
Did the 10 sec restart and they’re working perfectly.
Thanks for the info!
Becky says
Holding the corner of the phone worked for me. I find that amazing! Apple obviously has a design flaw they need to fix. I wonder how long that fix will continue to work. I guess we’ll see :). Doing a reboot works for a while for me, but then the phone always goes silent again with no notice. It did that today when I was using my GPS in an unfamiliar area. I got lost due to that – very annoying to say the least. Please Apple, give us a permanent fix for this!
manny says
Here are two more ideas: 1. Drop the phone from a fifth floor. 2. Get an Android! That should fix the problem.
Sheela PIMPARE says
Thanks a ton. Step 2 and 3 worked for me.
Kelly Rainwater says
iPhone 6 Plus. I just spent an hour playing with the setting, plugging in, unplugging, Bluetooth on/off….I finally just whacked it hard on my steering wheel in the car and the volume is working. I guess I should have paid more attention when my dad would whack the side of the TV to get the picture to stop rolling! 😂 Thanks for the tip!
Simonack says
I was septic about these 7 steps to fix the sound issue on my Iphone 5, as it was only with the calls app, the rest such as video, music, voice message, etc. were working fine.
I tried the steps #2, 4, 5, and 6. It works !!!
Thanks
Kenex says
The very first step worked for me. Thank you so much. Was so frustrated. I didn’t even know what the button was for.
XApple15 says
Man , you are the best ! The step with squishing the speaker worked . First it won’t work after squishing , but after few minutes , started to work! YOU ARE THE BEST !! #RESPECT
TC says
None of these steps worked for my iPhone 5s.
Symptoms:
1) Sound through headphones jack is fine. Sound via internal speaker at top of phone (for phone calls) works fine. Sound through internal loudspeaker (i.e. speaker on bottom of phone) does NOT work.
2) Additional problem that may help someone troubleshoot it: phone charges normally most of the time but occasionally decides not to charge (especially when plugged into USB charger wall adapter rather than computer USB port, but with same lightning to USB cable). When this charging problem happens, turning phone off then back on solves the charging problem, but not the internal loudspeaker problem.
Any suggestions?
Susie Krahn says
I have a brand new only a day old, iphone 6S, it has no sound and won’t play any music at all
Johannes says
Wow…squeezing the right bottom corner actually worked. Thanks a lot😀
Joe Merlino says
In Paris and videotaped some wonderfully street music only to find there was no sound on playback.
I tried all of the suggestions to no avail yesterday.
Woke up this morning to church bell and playing around with phone again and noticed music App.
I switched on and found that volume was on zero. You will find this on edit. With fingers crossed took volume up, when back onto video and voila perfect playback with full sound after hours of trying all the hints.
So here is another.
Andrea says
i tried almost everything i even restored my phone and it a little better but nowhere near where it was before but i don’t have the money for a new one HELP THIS IS DRIVING ME CRAZY
John Mccollough says
Due to my first iPhone 6s getting wet and the replacement having a short battery life, I’m on my third 6s in a month. ALL THREE have had, and have the same no volume problem. The problem seems to relate to using earbuds but not every time. The problem has been random with all three phones. Turning off all open apps will sometimes let me have volume on the next call but not always. Rebooting always works but I never know for how long.
It sure is curious that all 3 are afflicted & its EVEN MORE CURIOUS that the problem began when the iPhone 7 came out.
Signed,
Suspicious
Rosslene says
i TRIED ALL BUT NO RESULT..theres no sound if there’s call, play music sound and all .but there’s a sound if i put my headset
Rosslene says
step number 4.Amazing 🙂
steph says
I did the blowing in the dock for 1 min then putting the plug in and out 5 times-sorted! thank you
RAVIKUMAR_RAJESH says
same problem as my iphone…
Nana2017 says
Hi tried all steps for the sound problem. Hey ho success with step 9, the hairdryer…which was the last thing I tried because most of the others I had already tried. Thank you.
Robbie says
Squeezing above the speaker worked
Przemek says
O my! Step 4 really works! My friend went yestarday to Apple Store and they charged her 70PLN. After that ‘it’ was working. Today morning it stopped working. Now, thanks to this page, it is working again… Thank you very much!
TC says
Update on iPhone 5s loudspeaker problem after opening it up is that the flexible circuit connector beneath the loudspeaker module (which connects it to the audio processor) was misaligned and the contacts were not touching the loudspeaker contacts. I can see how pressing the phone could help on some phones, but it this case the little connector strip needed to be realigned since no amount of pressing would have helped it make contact. Hope that helps someone.
Germeil Mario says
When I plug in my headphone the sound works, when i connect it to my bluetooth too, it works but when I take it out i can’t hear nothing and it’s really stressing me out 🙁
KarenM. says
Thank you, I tried step two and it worked. Thanks again, Karen
Christina says
Oh man I pressed the right side for 20 sec and it didn’t work so I hit it with my palm really hard a couple times and it’s back!!
Edward Flaherty says
The ol’ whack a phone on the bottom right worked for me. Thanks so much for this site and information! it just sucks that these expensive devices have the most basic of problems – one expects a phone to have sound, n’est-ce pas?
Penny Lennon says
On my iPhone 6s plus, I get sound and can record sound with everything but the camera video function. I have rebooted, cleaned and everything I can think of and still no sound on the video.
Alan Atkins says
Hi gripping the right hand side of the speaker worked first time
Amazing