iPhone Owner's Guide

3 Tricks for Cleaning an iPhone's Headphone Jack

If you're having connection trouble with your headphones, it may be because there is something stuck in the headphone jack, or it just needs to be cleaned. It's easy to clean out the dirty jack so that you can get a proper, clean connection to the headphones.

Here are a few different methods you can try to clean out that stubborn headset jack with everyday tools. Always power off your device before performing any of the cleaning steps below:

Tool needed: Air can.

It's simple: use an air can to blow out dust and lint that may have accumulated in the hole of the headset jack.

Tool needed: Q-tip.

Carefully insert a dry Q-tip in the headset jack to clean it out. Be sure to do this gently so you don't cause damage to your device.

Tools needed: Tape and a paperclip.

We call this last option "The Homemade Lint Roller Technique". First, open a paperclip into a straight line. Next, take a small piece of regular office style tape and wrap it around the paperclip with the sticky side up. Make sure the tape is firmly in place. You have just made a micro lint brush. Very gently insert the sticky taped paperclip end into the headset jack and pull out any lint or debris.