Need to troubleshoot your iPhone or iPad because it fell in water? Find Out How to Get Wet iPhone Off Headphones Mode ASAP and save from water damage with these easy steps I did at home! May contain commissioned links.
How to Get Wet iPhone Off Headphones Mode
I did a serious blunder this summer. I brought my new iPhone to a water theme park, used it, and forgot to protect it.
So there my son was, going down his first big water slide, and whoosh! Big splash of water all over my phone. Luckily, the phone still functioned and I quickly dried it off with my towel.
But the one thing I could not do was get the phone out of headphones mode. My wet iPhone was stuck in headphones mode (even without something plugged into the jack) and I could not receive any phone calls or listen to anything via my speakers. Insert a bunch of explicit words.
So in my infinite wisdom (aka complete stupidity) I am sharing today how to get wet iPhone off headphones mode from home, without calling in the tech guys. This easy how to fix a water damaged iPhone or iPad may help save you time and money! This may also work for iPhones with headphone malfunctions. I thought this fitting with the iPhone 6 buzz 🙂
And now there’s iPhone 7 and iPhone X and iPhone 11 and iPhone 12? I can’t keep up.
Let me start with this disclaimer that I am NOT a tech guru or a wise person in all things iPhone, iPad or iPad mini. This is just something that I personally did to fix my water damaged iPhone from the comfort of home, and it worked.
Many years later, I have had NO problems with my phone since the water immersion accident. I do not guarantee results, just wanted to give folks a simple, easy, and frugal option before calling in the experts to possibly repair their water damaged iPhone.
How to Get Wet iPhone Off Headphones Mode at Home Step by Step Tutorial
Persistence, patience, and humility. It’s not easy to accept the fact that a little elbow grease may be needed to get your iPhone back to top condition. But how exactly do you get your water damaged iPhone back to normal?
With a few materials that you already own at home and a few deep breaths, you can have your phone back in no time without paying a professional or spending a ton of money. Ready to fix your own water damaged phone? Here are the easy steps I completed to get water out of the headphone jack:
What You Will Need:
-
- A Q-Tip
- A Toothpick
- Your iPhone Headphones or your iPhone charger cable (NOT Air Pods)
- Your humility
Need a cheap waterproof case for next time? I highly recommend grabbing one:
Directions:
An iPhone can get stuck in headphones mode for multiple reasons. Most commonly, because of trapped dirt/dust/water in the headphone jack. Have some patience!
1. Start by taking your Q-Tip, and tightly wrapping the fibers around the Q-Tip stick. (This step is important, to make sure the fibers you are placing into the phone jack do NOT get stuck as well.) GENTLY place into headphones jack and twirl a few times to try and remove the water/dirt. You may have to remove some of the Q-Tip swab and re-wrap to get the swab tip to fit.
2. Take your iPhone headphones and push the cord end into headphones jack. (Alternatively if you only have iPhone air pods, you can use your iPhone charger cord.) Pull the headphones cord back out. Push and pull a few times to check if the phone is now on speaker mode. If your phone is still stuck in headphones mode, move on to step 3.
3. Using a toothpick, gently dig into the headphones jack to loosen an more debris still stuck in there. Reinsert the Q-Tip to grab and remove any excess debris from the jack.
4. Repeat step 2.
5. Repeat steps 1-3 if necessary. If still stuck in headphones mode after a few attempts, you unfortunately will need a professional.
I have heard this also works for those who possibly have water damaged iPads and iPad minis. Again, I do not guarantee results – but I’m so happy to hear how this post has helped many from purchasing new electronics. Reminder to never insert anything METAL into your iPhone or iPad. This could permanently damage your device.
I would bookmark, pin and save this site for future reference. You never know when you need to save your phone from your child throwing it in the toilet or something. I really, really, really hope this works for you guys and saves you and your phone from utter catastrophic destruction.
Was this post helpful? Let me know in the comments below!
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Ken says
Worked like a charm. I got caught in the rain and when I got back home I was stuck in headphone mode? Didn’t have a cotton swab so I used a cotton ball out a pill bottle ? wrapped a piece of it around the toothpick and viola success ??
joe says
how soon ater the damage occured did u do this? my phone has been saying its in headphone mode for maybe an hour or so and i just came across this. it isnt really working. did u have to try a few times?
Caitlyn says
OMG you just saved me from buying a new iPhone!! I tried everything from compressed air to toothpicks but the q-tip did the trick!!! Thank you!!
Jen says
I dropped my phone in the pool. Tried EVERYTHING. Q tip, compressed air, head phones in and out, rice, you name it…. Finally tried the tooth pick and it worked!!!!!!!!!!! Phew!!!! Thank you!!
Alex says
tried once, didn’t work. keep trying because it ends up working! Q tip and tooth pick. everything works great. thanks for the article
Joy Fetters says
Oh my gosh-thank you so much for this…you literally just saved my phone! I am a poor college student, and so have no money to fix my phone, but this perfectly fixed it! Thank you so so so much!
Bruce Wayne says
the tips are clear and straight forward. Worked like a charm! it just took me two Q tips to make it work again. Thank you for the tip. I removed some cotton on the q tip until its a good fit for the headphone jack and started rotating the tip slowly while playing a song. the second tip removed enough dirt to make the speaker work again.
thanks a lot man
Ferlisha says
None of this worked! I am so frustrated!?
Sam says
THANK YOU!!! It totally worked 🙂
Andrea says
Thank you so so much!! This worked perfectly. I was literally sick to my stomach about having to get a new phone. I thought I was going to throw up but this worked the first time and my phone is good as new!
Verity says
THANK YOU!!!
Freeworld66 says
Thanks a lot had to try maybe a dozen times but in the end it worked, if at first you don’t succeed, keep trying until you do….. 🙂
Julia says
This worked right away! Thank you so much
Diana says
My iPhone 6s Plus fell in the turtle tank, I was devastated! I powered it off immediately, placed in rice for 24 hours. Everything worked except it was stuck in headphone mode. I took it to Ubreakifix, and they told me I needed a new battery, new LCD screen, and the speaker was fried. There is a light water streak on the LCD but you can’t notice it unless you find a white background on an app or website, I could still use the phone but with headphones. I told him to replace the battery but nothing else. I am so glad I did not pay the 400 dollars to get everything else repaired. I was told to try a hard reset, erase everything and start new, I tried that tonight and WORKS PERFECT! I can make calls again, and hear everything perfectly without headphones and it is not stuck in that mode any longer. I did leave the headphones plugged in while I did the hard reset and did not remove them till I had everything restored, not sure if that made a difference or not. Hope this helps some who had the same disaster happen.
Amira says
Woah!! I love you so freaking much right now… thanks!
Katie D says
Thank you so so much! Being my dumb self, I decided to take my phone into the snow without even thinking about the fact that snow is water. Long story short, my phone was soaked, and got stuck in headphone mode for hours. I was panicked because I had read on Apple that the only solution was buying a new phone, and cannot express my gratitude for this!
Shanggavee Veloo says
OMG panicked that I’m going to be in trouble. And thank God this guideline helped me out. Thank you so much.
Lori says
Thank you!! My husband threw a water balloon at me today and my phone was in my back pocket. It appeared to be fine until later I realized it was stuck in headphone mode! I was frustrated thinking a new phone was the only fix. I googled and found your trick and it took two tries but now works!!!!
Nika says
Omg thank you so much I was literally in panic mode for the last few days and now it works again.
AmyL says
Okay so at first it did not work ! I was soo scared because my mom said she wouldn’t buy me a new phone if I messed iPhone 7 up . But after an hour Of trying I gave up . But then I sent a text message and it finally worked ? Not sure how but thanks !
Mary says
OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH IT WORKED!!!