How To Fix Headphone’s Microphone That Doesn’t Work

Why My Headphone’s Mic Is Not Working?

There are several factors why your headphone’s mic doesn’t work, such as:

• Headphone Jack Issue (Male Jack).
• Lint/Dust/Debris On Mic Mesh Screen.
• Dust Or Dirt On Device Player Socket (Female Jack)
• Cable Or Cord Issue.
• Loose Connectivity.
• Audio Jack Mismatching.
• Cheap Headphones.

Let me describe in details those factors then afterward I will show you how to fix them:

• Headphone Jack (Male Jack) Issue: This is a common reason why sometimes your headphone’s mic doesn’t work, the audio jack (male plug) might have defected and this is normally happening because of miss using it in the proper way.
• Lint/Dust/Debris On Mic Mesh Screen: Because of the daily usage of your earbuds or headphones, chances are there to get them dirty or having dust in it especially on the Mic mesh screen, so in this case, your voice will be blocked from your Microphone.
• Dust Or Dirt On Device Player Socket (Female Jack): This is also a common cause of why your Mic is not working, the female jack socket of your media player device or mobile phone which you are using and connecting your headphone with, dirt or lint might be there in the socket which prevents a clear physical connection to accomplish between your headphone’s jack plug and the device socket.
• Cable Or Cord Issue: A cable damage or internal damage to its internal cords might also cause the issue of your mic not be working, you should consider checking your headphone’s cord accurately.
• Loose Connectivity: Another factor for this issue is when you have a loose connection between your headphone’s audio jack (male plug) with your media device player socket (female jack).
• Audio Jack Mismatching: Your headphone male jack is consist of 4 rings (3 black rings) which might be incompatible with your media device, some media devices or players have audio-only stereo audio sockets (female jacks) in them, hence they will not sens the 4th ring (the mic connector in the jack).
• Cheap Headphones: I was shocked one day when I purchased a cheap headphone just for the sake of modifications and testing when I opened the headphone caps and disassembled the whole headphone piece when I found that there is no actual connection for the mic with the socket and the speakers !!! lool this is funny that they made only the physical appearance of the mic but without any actual presence of it inside of the headphone.

10 Hacks On How To Fix The Microphone On My Headphone?

To fix the issues of your headphone mic and make it work like before, simply follow and apply one or more of the below hacks:

Hack 1 – Check & Fix The Headphone Male Jack

Headphones male jacks might cause your mic not to work properly, this is a common reason behind this issue and caused either by misusing it or it happens overtime for a daily usage routine.

So if you found that the issue is because of a damaged audio jack of your headphone, you can fix it yourself at home very easily by cutting the cable near the jack plug

If this mechanism has an issue or the spring is falling or damaged, there will be not good connectivity with your headphone’s audio jack, so inspect and check when you insert your headphone’s jack into the socket does it feel loose or easily pulled off when you pull it… if so, then you need to replace your media device socket.

Hack 6 – Check The Jack To Socket Mismatch

This is a very important point that it could happen to you, some media players have a stereo socket which basically consists of 3 connectivity to a stereo audio jack (of 3 rings and 2 black stripes like in the below image), so having a headphone or earbuds with a mic makes its audio jack consists of 4 rings instead of 3 and here where the mismatch comes.

When you plug in a stereo audio jack plug with a mic into a stereo socket, the mic will not work because there isn’t any connection provided to it.

Hack 7 – If You Have Apple Airpods Mic Issues

In case you are using Apple’s Airpods and facing issues with their mics while trying to use Siri or would like to make a phone call, you could follow the below tips:

• Siri Settings Issue: If your Airpods mics don’t work while you trying to call Siri, then you might need to check the Access option in your iPhone setting as below:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Go To Siri.
3. Make sure “Access When Locked” is set to “On”.

• Automatic Selection Issue: Another solution is by changing the settings of your Airpods Mics in your iPhone settings from Automatic to Right and Left, then back to Automatic, you should be able to change the settings while your Airpods are connected to your iPhone:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Go to Bluetooth.
3. Tap on the information icon beside your AirPods name.
4. Go down and tap on Microphone.
5. Tap on Always Left AirPod & Always Right AirPod.
6. Tap back on Automatically Switch AirPods.

• Removing And Adding Your AirPods: This is also a common troubleshooting step that many are trying and mostly solves any issues related to your AirPods:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Go to Bluetooth.
3. Tap on the information icon beside your AirPods name.
4. Tap on Forget This Device.
5. Pair your AirPods again with your iPhone by enabling the Bluetooth in your mobile, then pressing the Setup button on the AirPods case.