Your Headphone Jack is not working, and you want to get it fixed? Get it fixed with the information in this article with ease.
When Apple decided to phase out the headphone jack, the company said the technology was too old to be useful. All the big Android forces made fun of Apple’s decision back then, but now almost all of the headphone jacks have been scrapped, especially flagship or high-end devices. However, there is no lack of love for the 3.5 mm slot, especially among customers who are more familiar with budget or mid-range devices.
Usually, headphone jacks are as reliable as they come. Like all other technologies, the 3.5 mm jack is occasionally prone to errors. Today we’re going to discuss the rare headphone jack mistakes and help you get them up and running as soon as possible.
How to Fix your Phone’s Headphone jack
As a connector designed for multiple inputs for thousands of uses, you wouldn’t expect your phone’s headphone jack to fail easily. However, there are times when you may not hear any sound from the headphones connected to the headphone jack, or that static electricity may interrupt your listening experience.
In all of these cases, there could be several simple reasons why the headphone jack is not working. We took a look at the user-supported forums to find out what issues users are facing and how to quickly fix those headphone jack issues using the tips below.
Solution No.1: Check the headphones
This may seem like a no-brainer to most, but the fact that so many people overlook this basic solution to the headphone jack problem requires an explicit mention. There may not be a problem with the headphone jack on your smartphone. However, the real problem may be the 3.5mm port that plugs into the headphone jack, also known as headphones.
The easiest way to find out if headphones are the real culprit is to plug them into another smartphone or media device and hear the sound. If you still can’t hear any sound, the problem may be with the headphones. However, if the headphones seem to be working fine, move on to real ways to fix the headphone jack.
Solution 2: Check the Device’s Settings
If your headphones are working just fine on other devices, it’s time to check your device settings and see if everything is fine. Since there aren’t many settings to check, this process should be reasonably straightforward. Just press any volume key and expand the control panel to review the media sound.
If the tone increases, move on to the next solution.
Solution 3: Restart the device
This is another no-brainer, something that you must have tried before. However, we want to make sure we have all of the basics. If the first two solutions don’t work for you, give your phone a good slap in the face and restart it. To restart, press and hold the power button until the power menu appears. Then press “Restart” to complete the process.
For some mysterious reason, many “serious” problems resolve on their own after a reboot. So see if you are lucky with a simple reboot.
Solution 4: Physically Clean the Port
Your smartphone is theoretically the most used and abused technology that you use every day. Whether you’re commuting or going to the park, you can take your phone anywhere, just as dirt, sand, and grime can build up in the headphone jack 3.5. mm.
- A can of compressed air allows you to quickly squeeze the headphone jack and remove the particles blocking the passage.
- Tilt your Android device sideways for easy cleaning.
- Insert the straw from the compressed airbox into the hole itself.
- Blow out any dust and lint that may have accumulated afterward and repeat this process a few times.
- Cleaning the alcohol with a cotton swab can also help clear the headphone jack clog, which doesn’t necessarily come with compressed air.
- Turn off your device before proceeding to ensure that the circuit is not damaged while cleaning.
- Take a cotton swab and wooden toothpick with just a drop of rubbing alcohol.
- Clean the inside of the 3.5mm slot with the cotton swab and let it dry for a few minutes.
These two methods listed above are designed to help you remove any lint or dirt that has gotten into the small slot in the helmet. However, if you can’t find a physical entity blocking the headphone jack, move on to the next solution.
Solution 5: Turn off Secondary Audio Connections
As the audio world evolves to make Bluetooth the wireless alternative to music, the headphone jack is becoming less important. With devices that work with Bluetooth and the 3.5 mm audio jack, there may be interference between the two, which can affect the headphone jack’s function.
You can first make sure that the Bluetooth module is disabled on your Android device. This is to ensure that the smartphone does not automatically establish a connection to a paired Bluetooth device that could interrupt the connection via the headphone jack.
- Go to Settings on your Android device’s home screen
- Depending on your Android device, you might immediately see the Bluetooth tab or under Connections
- You can temporarily turn off Bluetooth or unpair Bluetooth audio devices that are already connected to your phone.
- Plug in the headphone jack and listen to the audio to see if the problem is resolved.
Solution 6: Use the Soundabout App
The headphone jack problem can sometimes be a software problem rather than a hardware problem directly. Whether it’s an app that can’t detect the headphones connected to the device or Bluetooth interference, there is an app called SoundAbout that can help you resolve these issues with ease.
- Download and install the SoundAbout app on your Android device.
- Use the first tab to set the status of the SoundAbout services to ON.
- Tap the Multimedia Audio tab, select Wired headset or Wired headset (with microphone) and save it.
- You can set the same setting for the audio tab of the phone call and record it too.
Once you exit the SoundAbout app, it will continue to run in the background and manually redirect audio to the headphone jack. This should remove any app-related audio interference that could cause the headphone jack to stop working.
Conclusion
All of the above solutions have been proven to resolve the most common issues affecting the headphone jack from working. However, it cannot be ruled out that the 3.5mm port on your smartphone is physically damaged, and even with all of the above solutions, it will not be repaired.
In such circumstances, the only solution is to take your phone out for repair and find a professional technician to replace the headphone jack. If your phone is still under warranty, it can be repaired at no additional cost. Either way, however, the headphone jack is cheap enough to be swapped out on most devices, although this requires professional soldering skills.