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Fourth generation iPhone. Repair is straightforward, but the front glass and LCD must be replaced as a unit. GSM / 8, 16, or 32 GB capacity / Model A1332 / Black and White. This page aims to help users troubleshoot, fix, and seek help for the iPhone 4.

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Why aren't my volume buttons or ringer working?

For two weeks now, my side volume buttons haven't worked. When I try to change the volume, the little speaker picture doesn't even show up. I can't hear any of my incoming calls or text messages. But if I play music on my iPhone, I can hear it. So my speaker does work. I can't find any information about what I have to do. My phone is updated to iOS 5.1.1, and it isn't jailbroken.

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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26 Comments

I need someone who has experienced the ringer not working on Sam3 to please help me!

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my side button is controling headphones rather then ringer or silent . what should i do? please help

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I did as the instructions said but my iPhone 4 which is running at iOS 7.1.2 my volume doesn't work unless I am using headphones my wireless headset doesn't even play media i don't have the slightest idea what's wrong help please

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can someone help out there I too have a iphone 4 and I can't hear the phone rinning or my txt messages but when I turn my music works fine how do I turnthe volume on????

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Just clean charger jack below home button with old tooth brushp, it really works as removing dust getting iphone out of docking mode

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49 Answers

Chosen Solution

Your device may be on silent.

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If none of these options work....go to Settings > Sounds.....right below Ringer and Alerts is "Change with Buttons". If that is turned off....your volume buttons on the side of your phone are inactive and the reason why it doesn't show on screen or work.

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Didn't help. I get phone ringing and alert sounds, but no sounds in Pitch Pipe, or in Music.

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Awesome... this is the only thing that has worked. I have tried an extensive list of things. Rest settings/software, do not disturb settings etc. My settings weren't actually turned off, but when I did turn it off, it miraculously started working again... hence I turned the setting back on and my text tones and volume buttons worked again. Thank you for your great tip :)

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If the ringer is working but not music go to the settings and than go to music the sound check bouton should be green.

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just clean the jacks and it works!!! tech savy Arash

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Most Helpful Answer

I had exactly the same problem with my iPhone. I tried everything—an air compressor, the "Change with Buttons" setting, cotton bud cleaning, dropping it on a carpeted floor—and nothing worked. Basically, my side buttons are broken. One way around this is to go to Settings, General, Accessibility, AssistiveTouch, and turn AssistiveTouch on. This brings a little white dot onto the main screen, which can be used to change various settings. Tap on the white dot, then go to Device and make sure the Mute/Unmute toggle says "Mute" (as in, you have to press it to mute the phone). If it says "Unmute," that means your phone is muted. You can also adjust the volume settings from here. I hope this helps someone!

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iThanks! I was going to change the phone because its volume/silent buttons don't work anymore. With your workaround I can keep this phone for now. Vito

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That was the trick, thank you so much!!

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Thnx bro...Same prob works now..

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This exact thing worked for us too! Would never have got there without your tip, so thanks for that!

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many thanks for your assistance. great tips

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I have had the same and I put my mouth over the charging port and blew warm air into it. Fixed it straight away hope it's the same for you

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THANK YOU I just blew really hard into the charging port (making sure I didn't spit into it, ha!) as well as cleaning it with a toothpick a bit. I would have moved on to the compressed air and hairdryer but thought I'd try the easiest method first. Mine started when it got a tiny bit wet and the ringer block would pop up without the dots to show the strength. In addition I could not get sound on videos.

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This was the fix for me. The sound still isn't quite up to its former volume, but it is at least audible.

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Tried AFTER i tried the Hair Dryer solution which did not help.

This solution is so much simpler and it's working.

The problem returns several times in few days till completely solved,

but the fact i just need my mouth helped a lot :-)

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My phone has been messing up like this and i looked through tons of solutions but none of them worked, besides this one. You are a life saver.

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THANK YOU SO MUCH ! My phone was out when it was raining and I didn't even know and I was freaking out! This was really helpful if you put water on your phone by accident

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Hey Danielle,

First, make sure that the ring/silent toggle on the top of the left edge of the phone is flipped to ring (not displaying a red dot). Then, go into your settings and click on Sounds. Under the "Ringer and Alerts" option, make sure that the "Change with Buttons" option is toggled to on. Try using the volume buttons again.

If this doesn't fix the problem, use the slider under the "Ringer and Alerts" to turn the volume all the way up. See if this allows it to make noises.

  • If the buttons work after toggling the "Change with Buttons" option to on, your device is fixed!
  • If the buttons still don't work but the screen's slider allows you to turn the volume up, you will probably need to replace the volume control cable.
  • If after all of this, you still do not hear the ringer or alerts, let us know and we can troubleshoot further.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

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Hey Jake, so everything is on, when I change the volume on the ringer with the slider I do hear like full blast ringtone I just don't hear the calls or texts or even the click sounds when I text. Other then that nothing is working still:/

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It's not:/ I looked at all settings

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Hmm, and you have all of those settings turned on, as well?

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Yeah everything is on

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My sound and everything is on and I have also tried EVERYTHING. When I slide my tool bar up at the bottom of the screen the sound bar isn't even there, it completely disappeared. Then when I turn the ringer on and use the volume bars it shows zero for ringer and wint show the volume on there either. No sound on anything except FaceTime and when I change my ring tone. Can't make calls or listen to music or videos.

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if u go to setting slide it onto airplane mode for a minute then slide it off. ur volume buttons n txt alert n ringer shud work now. mine does it all the time its so annoyn.

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Thanks man. Your two year old comment fixed my old iPhone 4 running iOS 7.1.2

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This works for me!!! Thank you so much! :)

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Didn't work for me.

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thanks for the help

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I can't. Even callmetro. That's. &&^&. Up

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My problem was when my headphones were disconnected, there's no sound when playing music on my iPod. There's also no clicking/typing sounds. My phone still rings when someone calls me though. However, it doesn't ring when I receive text messages. No sound at all. When I press the volume buttons with the headphones disconnected, it shows the sign 'Ringer' but without the full volume bar (I hope you guys know what I'm talking about).

My solution:

The hair dryer. I did everything else, hard reset, toothpick cleaning of charging port and headphone jack, blowing into the headphone jack, sucking out air from the jack and nothing worked. I was skeptical about the hair dryer at first because I was afraid that the warm air might melt my internal phone components but I tried it and it worked. I put my hair dryer on the lowest speed, and held it about 10cm away from my charging port and then to my headphone jack. 3 seconds was all it took. I'm not exaggerating. I literally just held it at the charging port for 1 second and then at the headphone jack for 2 seconds. I switched off my hairdryer, double tap the home button and the iPod control shows up WITH the volume slider. Worked like a charm.

To prevent this from happening in the future, do not disconnect your headphones while music is still playing. I find that this problem creeps up everytime I do that. Pause the music first and then unplug your headphones.

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7 Comments:

thank yo this literally worked

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Buddy my problem is exactly similar like you, but I am not lucky like you. I am frustrated now, let me try hair dryer. Today either it will work or melt off!!

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OMG You are a lifesaver, man. I thought my phone was done because it fell into water for half a second yesterday at a ComiCon. Hairdryer worked like a charm!

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I was skeptical but tried it for a few seconds on both spots and now it works. Amazing.

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Okay, at my wit's end trying all the usual fixes, but the solution was the HAIR-DRYER. Yes, the hair-dryer. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

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Believe it or not, I used a little isopropryl alcohol rubbing pad... the kind that the nurse rubs on your arm before a shot. I slid it as best i could into the bottom connector, both sides. And voila. the volume buttons started working again. (previously, i would hit them and the ringer icon would appear, but the little dots below were missing.)

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Thank YOU!!! I tried everything and I am amazed that this actually worked!!!

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Glad too, I scrolled this far.. EUREKA!! Thanks for this solution , I am also, truly amazed!!

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I get Iphones with these symptoms all the time, the first thing I do is clean lint or any debris out of the charge-data port with a dental pic, then I clean the charge-data port with an alcohol soaked toothbrush while holding the phone upright so the excess alcohol cant find its way deeper inside the phone, if that doesn't fix it the charge data port gets replaced and takes care of it.

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Ok so, I was determined that the port did not need replacing (slipping it in and out of the dock port, i could see I was getting a few more milliseconds of the speaker...and after two more replies about cleaning, i have made another attempt!

I carefully took cotton from swab and nail tool to clean the long edges of the port pin inside the dock connector on the phone. Several gentle yet firm passes along this edge did the trick. It took determination (30 mins) but was successful!

Thank you for your support and tips!

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Glad to help Mico, funny how easy it was, I see this problem daily !

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Hi all

I tried all of the above but the thing that worked was very simple. I brought a can of compressed air from my local computer shop, I turned the phone off and blow out both the headset jack and the charging connection, turned the phone back on and all working again :-)

I did drop my phone in the snow which started my problems with the volume buttons but the symptoms were as described above.

Hope this helps

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It's basically dirt built up. If its driving you crazy and you don't have ear buds present or the alcohol. Then follow Sally's advice it worked for me.

" go into Settings, General, Accessibility, AssistiveTouch, and turn it to ON. This brings a little white dot onto the main screen which can be used instead. Then tap on the white dot, go into Device, then make sure the Mute/Unmute says Mute (as in, you have to press it to Mute it - if it says Unmute it means it is muted!!). You can also adjust the volume settings from this spot. I hope this helps someone!"

Great advice. Easy and WILL work :)

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Thanks Leah and Sally, the Assistive Touch/Unmute thing worked for me. I recently changed the battery on by IPhone 5 and everything has been working fine (3 weeks at least) but last night I watched an Amazon movie on my phone and this morning could not get it to ring. It is as if the mute button doesn't do anything. I tried blowing out ports, resetting, airplane mode on and off and misc. other things from above and so far this is it. I will clean the ports with some contact cleaner next but for the time being my phone is ringing and I think I may just have a bad contact on the volume/mute power cable -- probably from me moving everything around while changing the battery.

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Try cleaning the iphone connector at bottom of phone. Use cardboard and insert into connector. If you look inside you can see a little divider, clean on both sides of this carefully and gently by sliding the cardboard back and forth. Gently tap phone and see if some dirt falls out. You may have to do this a few times. Also, check iPHONE : SETTINGS/SOUNDS - once in SOUNDS, scroll down to bottom to LOCK SOUNDS and KEYBOARD CLICKS make sure both are ON (green showing) if you are missing the camera click sounds and keyboard sounds while typing. Worked for me and I got close to chucking phone in the bin!

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Try this. Hope this helps.

How To Fix The Ringer On An iPhone Quick And Easy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iYSnMMkR...

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Sounds very stupid but I found via google & Itunes help that if you try sucking (without getting wet) the headphone jack it will clear the fault. I tried this (looking silly at the same time), guess what - IT WORKS. Not sure if you will get the same results by using a hoover instead of sucking if you don't want to look silly.

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I had no sound when receiving a imessage, text or email.

Here's how I got it fixed. I went into itunes. The volume was all the way down. I turened it up and all is right with the world again. If you think about it all these sounds are sync'ed in iTunes so...I think it's a bit of a needed fix by Apple, but you know-Apple will do what Apple wants- when Apple wants. Until then---------

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Try cleaning the headphone socket with a cotton bud and some surgical spirit, as well as cleaning the charging socket with a toothbrush. This worked for me.

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Wao, its worked for me, Thanks alot

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I agree with Cathie, I tried everything, restarting it, wiping it, the lot. My phone would not show the volume bars and I would hear no sound when playing something.

From what I can gather the phone is thinking it is docked i.e. to a speaker of some kind and is getting confused. There is a sensor in the bottom of the dock which is supposed to sense if anything is connected. However if dust allows to gather at the bottom then this is where the issue starts to creep in. I had used a toothbrush before to clean the gap but when I used a toothpick I found there were large clumps of dust and fluff that came out, and hey presto it worked. This type of stuff isn't just you're loose fluff that blows around, this is stuff that might have been in there a long time and started clumping so when you clean it, make sure something comes out.

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i left the phone on silent for about an hour and then the phone started working again. hope this helps

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I have had 2 separate occasions when the side volume controls in the iPhone 4S do not function and can not get audio from the speakers when playing music, or receiving alerts, or calls.

When pressing the up or down volume buttons on the side of the phone a window with the speaker icon in the center would appear in the middle of the display screen. The bars beneath the speaker icon were missing and pressing the up or down volume buttons did NOT initiate the sound level bars beneath the speaker icon to appear.

Tried many suggestions from several forums and ONLY when I reseated the iPhone in a DOCK did the problem disappear. Apparently the connector pins at the bottom of the iPhone collect debrie over time and can cause electrical grounding that will cause this problem to occur.

Take note that using an iPhone USB cable to simulate the receiving end of a DOCK connector will not work. It must physically be reset into an actual DOCKING STATION.

To help eliminate this problem in the future clean the connector pins on your iPhone periodically.

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Try charging it an play music an then try to change the volume an see if that works

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people don't Go crazy, i fond the real problem, its a dirty headphone jack, clean it with the phone is OFF, use a wet cotton ( alcohol) , clean it few times till it works, worked for me , thanks god good look!! !!Please Vote so other users can find this quickly

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Check for dirt in the dock connector by software :)

Here is how:

  • Double tap the home button
  • Move bottom menu all the way to the left (sound slider)
  • Look for the Sound Selector (round button next to volume slider)
  • Tap on Sound Selector
    • The choices should include "iPhone"
    • If you do see "Dock Connector" that's where the problem stems from

Solution:

Take a soft bristle toothbrush and clean the dock connector thoroughly.

Do not use any liquids or the liquid might shorten out signal and you might

have even more problems (a possibly dead iPhone).

Make sure you insert the soft bristles gently (no forcing!) and move it side to side

gently. Use some computer grade compressed air to clean out the now loose debris.

Repeat once and blow it out again.

By tapping on the round button as described above you should now see an 'iPhone'

choice. Tap on it, increase your volume in case it's all the way down and enjoy your

iPhone once again. 5 minutes well spent.

--Kai

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i had the same problem.....sucking and cleaning worked

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I go to clock > set alarm > choose sound and then it's work for me. Also, the left up/down settings sound is working now.

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I had the same issues with my phone. though it was in a life proof case, somehow the coke I spilled made it into the phone. Cleaning with the brush and the dust removed worked perfectly......Thank you so much, you guys rock!

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After trying to clean it with a tooth brush and some pointless research I realized it was playing music when I had pressure on the home button, actually it turned out pressure period on the bottom so I squeezed it back together and she works perfect this probably due to me dropping it on its intena :( so if u have dropped ur iPhone and u aren't getting sound this might be a solution

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I had the same problem. The solution to fixing this is to plug in ear phones and what a video hold the volume button up and just keep holding the click the home button and unplug the earphones/headphones finally let go off the volume up button and test if worked.

I Hope this worked

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Juan, this list is long with many (good) solution to the problem. But you rock...your tip worked for me. Thanks a lot!

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i just blew down the dock connector and headphone socket a few times and it started working. Must have been dust.

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here is a simple fix guys the problem caused bcoz of the silent button. first keep ur phone in silent mode dragging the button down and while switching back to the normal mode again drag the button up hard. I guess the problem caused due to the misplacement of the switch so drag up hard.

it worked for me!!!!

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Mine did the same. It was driving me mad first it was intermittent so wasn't sure weather it was just me. Then I realised I was missing calls and texts when I had my phone right with me.

I cleaned the charger port with a needle and cotton wool. W O W!! What a load of dirt was in there blocking it up. It worked perfectly after that. Try it, it may also work for you.

Julie.

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I was experiencing no ringer or text sounds, buttons and music volume were all working. The answer to my puzzle was the mute switch on the side, no idea how that got switched over. On the bright side my ports got a good cleaning.

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I tried a CO2 canister (for bicycle tyres) but that didn't really work. Then I tried a blow drier on its cool setting. That worked like a dream.

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Same here with the volume buttons not working. I followed suggestions here and cleaned out the docking port hole. Apparently there was something in it since the buttons are working now. Yay!

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just clean ur iphone mbl charging slot, coz of dust, volume control option is not working.

cheeeeeerrrrssssssss

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Hey i just had that problem today.. i just plugged the cord in the usb port through the PC then plugged it in my phone.. while it was charging i played music and the sound was working perfectly.. and the sound on Vine and Youtube worked as well along with text alerts and ringtones.. After you checked everything just take it out and you're good to go.. its a possible solution but I hope it works out for anyone.

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Hey Guys and Gals! What I did was clean out the head phone jack and PRAY and guess what! it works! PRAISE THE LORD!

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This us what I've just done:

Settings, general, reset, reset all settings.

I have my volume now !!

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As awkward as this is i had the exact same problem and went through most of the solutions everyone has posted. The one that worked; connecting it to a dock. I don't know what kind of Voodoo this docking station performed but it gave me back control of my volume settings and now it also shows the sound display :) Thanks guys!

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Was having same problem with my iPhone 4S. All setting were on the correct way and slider button on side was on (covering red dot), phone would not ring when someone called, wouldn't ring when someone would text, music wouldn't play and volume for videos wouldn't play either. When pressing the volume button on side to make it go up or down, it would show the speaker but no volume control line. After trying everything under the sun. I googled it and guess what a simple fix and sounded kinda crazy but was willing to try anything. Press the right side of the corner of the phone by the home button a few times. Did this and finally started working. Hope this helps someone else out.

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I found the solution to this recurring volume ringer problem.

There is a button on left hand side of the phone device, this button if switched off, it will set your volume ringer to MUTE. and regardless of you trying to raise the ringer volune or lower it from any where in your i Phone device, it will not change it! Even resetting your i phone software will not overcome the off position button.

switch it back and walla!

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Make sure you check to make sure you hAve Bluetooth off. That was my problem and shut off Bluetooth and everything was back

to normal. Good luck !

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The only thing i did was just blow in both the borts and then i checked the vloume and it started working again so there you go

Hopefully i helped somebody!

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1. In settings go to reset at the bottom 2.then click (Reset all settings) this will not get rid of any data but it may get rid of your passwords and contacts.

!!It work for me!!

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Hey I had the same problem but what

I did was 1)clean everything at the bottom of the iPhone like the speakers and charger slot also the earphone slot at the top with a cotton stick and alcohol 2) trun off phone 3)

Take a hair dryer and dry the parts you cleaned 4)leave phone off for 5-3 mins 5) put on your phone and open it and try the buttons

-this worked for me try it and see if it works for you

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Omg! It's been months that my volume buttons are not working.. At first i dont believe that cleaning my phone will solve my problem because what's the connection of earphone slot and charger slot with volume buttons.. Just a while ago i gave it a try.. I clean the earphone slot , charger slot and volume buttons.. I used cotton with a little bit of alcohol and i also used pin to get dirt around the buttons.. And viola! It worked like a charm!

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LOL I was literally freaking out when the volume bar under the ringer didn't show up and I couldn't hear any clicking sound when I was typing.. At first I found the hair dryer and cotton buds solution a lil bit riddiculous but I decided to give it a shot but with a lil bit different method, by using flat brush (usually used to draw the eyeline; you gotta admit girls make up tools sometimes come in handy) and boomm.... After a few swipes on the charger socket, the volume bar and all the 'missing' sounds came back to life. I suggest tiny paint brush as an alternative.

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Does anyone know how to fix this :

-When someone calls me I can still hear the ringtone

-Alarms can still be heard

-Keyboard typing sounds cannot be heard

-Any sound cannot be heard from apps

-Volume cannot be adjusted + or -

-When headphones are plugged in I can hear music,sounds,etc.

Please help me find a suitable solution for this

It's driving me crazy!!!

:(

by

never mind

Just got it fixed. :)

by

how did you fixed it? i had the same problem and i dont know what to do about it .. please help .. thanks ,

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Hi there,

my symptoms was :

-when I push volume buttons I could see bell but no increasing or decreasing volume

-no music can not hear without earphones

-no sound of buttons without earphones

-I could hear ringing but no (i)messages or emails

-I could hear ringing tones in settings->sounds->ringing or SMS sound ,ale I could there adjust volume

-turn off/on, push home and power button to restart, changing volume with buttons option, change mute/unmute at AssistiveTouch won´t be helpful

What works for me: clean with air in dust both earphone hole and charger hole, connect with PC, then I hear the sound of the connecting to PC and finally I could adjust volume with buttons and also I could play music without earphones :)

Device: iPhone 4 16GB with iOS 7.1.2

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It may be on silent, so turn the switch to change it, if that doesn't work, whenever you need to change the volume go in the music app and play a song, use the slider to change volume.

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I had this issue long time ago and I found this video that showed me that the charging port needed to be replaced. If this is what your talking about take a look https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3BAx8uZ...

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Danielle will be eternally grateful.
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