We know how frustrating it can be when you’re mid-call and your audio drops out, or worse, the person on the other end can’t hear you at all – especially if you frequently take phone calls for work. Audio issues come in all shapes and sizes, but one that we hear regularly is no sound on iPhone incoming calls.

If this is something you’re experiencing, you’ve come to the right place. Our trained fix2U Repair Heroes are ready to help with all sound issues, but there are a few things you can do at home to try and fix an iPhone with no sound on calls too.

What are the reasons behind iPhone ‘no sound’ issues?

From software to hardware issues, understanding that every case is different is essential. Some of the more common issues we see are caused by:

  1. Glitches and errors in the iOS system
  2. Incorrect settings
  3. Hardware problems with the iPhone

Quick tips to resolve no sound on iPhone incoming calls yourself

Before you book in with one of our Repair Heroes, here are some common troubleshooting methods you should try.

1.      Restart Your iPhone

When you encounter a sound problem with your iPhone, the first thing you can do is simply restart it. Restarting your device can often nuetralise any software bugs that may be causing issues such as losing sound on calls.

To do this, go to Settings > General > Shut Down to turn it off.

Then, hold down your power button to turn your device on again.

iphone off

2.     Try a Hard Reset

Depending on the iPhone model, there are various ways to instigate a hard reset on your device. Don’t worry, this won’t delete any of your data, and can glean better results than a simple reboot.

For a rundown on how to hard reset your particular iPhone head here.

3.      Check the Silent Switch and Adjust Ring Volume

If your iPhone is ringing but there’s no incoming ringtone sound, make sure to check the Ring/Silent switch. It may sound silly, but many of us mistakenly turn on this mute feature and forget to turn it off.

First, ensure your iPhone isn’t on silent mode by moving the switch toward the device’s display so that the orange indicator is no longer visible. Then, after turning off the silent switch, use the volume buttons or slider in Control Center to adjust the volume.

To adjust the ringer volume, head to Settings > Sounds and Haptics and adjust the slider under Ringer and Alerts. Notice here you can also choose whether or not the ringer volume is adjustable via the volume buttons. You may want to switch this off and never run the risk of Turing your ringer volume down inadvertently.

Also, check if you’re using a custom ringtone. In some instances a custom ringtone can cause issues following an iOS update. Test it using the default ringtone.

Iphone Volume settings

4.      Make Sure the Volume is Turned All the Way Up

As simple as it may sound, make sure you check your iPhone volume level. This easy fix is often overlooked. Check the volume isn’t turned down, then turn the volume up while on the call. This way, you can rule out a simple solution.

5.      Turn Off Do Not Disturb Mode

Sometimes we want to be uncontactable to attend meetings, concentrate on work, or simply watch a movie. ‘Do Not Disturb‘ mode comes in handy in these situations. But if you’ve turned this on by accident or even forgotten it’s on, you’ll be wondering how to get your iPhone sound back to normal.

When ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode is enabled, you’ll see a small moon symbol in the top right bar of your iPhone, and no sound for notifications will be heard. Switch it off again in your settings or control centre.

6.      Is Your iPhone Connected to a Headset or Bluetooth?

If your iPhone is connected to a headset or even through Bluetooth to another device, you won’t be able to hear anything through the iPhone receiver or speaker phone. This is because when you connect your phone to a Bluetooth device, the device receives the audio signal rather than your iPhone’s speaker.

Make sure there’s no headset connected via your iPhone’s headphone jack, dock connector or wireless Bluetooth. To turn off your iPhone’s Bluetooth, go to Settings > Bluetooth. If the button is green, turn the toggle switch off. You can also turn off your phone’s Bluetooth functionality via the Control Centre.

7.      Check and Disable Call Forwarding

When You Enable Call Forwarding, All Incoming Calls Are diverted to another number so you won’t receive a notification or even hear a ringtone. Here’s how to disable call forwarding so you can continue to receive calls:

  1. Open Settings and then select Phone
  2. Allow a few seconds for Call Forwarding to load
  3. If it’s enabled, toggle the Call Forwarding toggle to the off position

8.      Update Your iPhone

Some of us avoid updating our iPhone due to the downtime, but keeping it up to date is the best way to resolve minor software issues, including sound issues. Go to Settings > General > Software Update to update your iPhone.

9.     Low Ear Speaker Volume

Over time you may notice the volume of your iPhone’s ear speaker suffers audio quality issues. The audio quality seems to have degraded over time and becomes quieter, resulting in having to make all your calls on speakerphone. That volume up button just doesn’t go far enough for an audible level! The reason is simple. There’s a fine mesh grille set into the screen to protect the ear speaker. This can get clogged and blocked by small dirt particles and grime, effectively lowering the audio level by blocking sound from emanating from the ear speaker inside. Using a soft, lint-free cloth with the slightest hint of alcohol, gently give the grille a clean to remove some of the dirt particles and grime. You can also try dabbing the grille with a small piece of Blu-tac to remove some of the gunk.

Another possible cause could be if you’ve recently installed a screen protector and slightly misaligned the protector and covered the ear speaker.

10.     Wi-Fi Calling

For quite a while now, iOS has offered the call feature of shunting your phone calles via your local Wi-Fi network. This can be useful if you’re at home without great mobile coverage, but can cause issues if your home or work Wi-Fi networks are experiencing dropouts. Audio quality will suffer.

To test this, go to Settings > SIMS > Select your number (you can have both Primary and Secondary on recent iPhone models) > Wi-Fi Calling > toggle off Wi-Fi Calling on This iPhone.

11.      Resetting iPhone Settings

Perhaps your iPhone has had some unidentified settings that has changed, resulting in no sound on incoming calls. Completing a reset on your phone will revert it back to its default settings and should revert any unwanted changes.

Don’t worry, this method won’t erase any data from your iPhone, but will reset network, sound, and privacy settings back to default.

Simply follow these steps:

First, go to iPhone Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone. Ensure that you select ‘Reset’ and not ‘Erase All Content and Settings’.

When prompted, click ‘Reset All Settings’, and enter your passcode.

Still no sound on incoming calls?

We know that no sound on incoming calls can be incredibly frustrating. So if you’ve tried the methods mentioned above and are still experiencing audio issues, it’s time to reach out to one of our mobile Repair Heroes.

fix2U will travel to you same-day and take a look at your audio issues to get you back up and running in no time.

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