So, you call up one of your friends on your iPhone and they answer. When you speak to them, they just keep saying “hello” “hello” “hello” because they can’t hear you respond. Even when they do hear you, it’s very faint and they can barely hear you.
Why Can’t People Hear Me On My iPhone?
If people can’t hear you on iPhone or FaceTime calls, it’s likely that your microphones are filled with lint and dirt particles that have been clogged up in the grills. If these microphones are blocked, the sound can’t get through the mic so people can’t hear you on calls. Therefore, you’ll need to clean them in order for people to hear you.
Microphone Is Damaged
If your iPhone microphone is damaged, this can also affect how well someone can hear you on the other end. If the person on the other end can still hear you but it isn’t entirely clear, this can still be down to a problem with your iPhones microphone. Your mic not working properly can be the product of too much wear over the months and years of you using your iPhone. Usually, there’s no way to fix this, however, you can take this to the Apple repair store and see what they can do for you.
Some people conduct calls on devices like AirPods or the Apple Earpods and sometimes there’s a problem with the microphone on these headphones. If people can’t hear you only when you’re using earphones, then it could be a problem with the earphone’s mic. Try to conduct calls using your iPhone’s mic and if people can hear you, then it looks like your earphones need replacing.
Dirty Mic
The most common reason for someone not hearing you during a call on your iPhone is the lint and the dirt particles that get clogged in the mic at the bottom of your iPhone. With that being said, you need to clean it up in an appropriate way to get people to hear you again. You can do this by using an anti-static brush and lightly brushing the mic at the bottom left to get the lint off.
Audio Is Being Routed Somewhere Else
If your audio is being routed somewhere else, this can cause someone not to hear you when you’re on a call with them. The audio could be diverted through your headphones, or through a speakers mic, you need to make sure of this. For you to know that the audio isn’t being routed through somewhere else, you simply need to check if headphones are plugged in or there’s a Bluetooth device connected. If there is a device connected, then the mic on your iPhone might not be enabled and may not be received the sound you’re providing it. If this is the first time it’s happened to you, then chances are that your audio was being routed somewhere else without your realizing it.
Software Glitch
Another reason why your iPhone microphone isn’t working is because of a glitch. If it’s a rare situation that the caller can’t hear you, then it might be down to a software problem going on within your iPhone. If normally, people can hear you, then it’s safe to say that you can put it down to this. Software problems happen all the time on your iPhone so it’s nothing you should be worrying about.
Software Problem (it Might Have Happened After An Update)
You may have noticed that people are unable to hear you after a software update. If you’re experiencing problems with your mic and people hearing you when you’re on calls after an update, chances are that the problem is bug-related and you’ll just need to perform some troubleshooting steps to get rid of it. In this case, if this doesn’t work, then you’ll just need to wait for a future software update to be rolled out so that your mic can be fixed. There could also just be a generic glitch on your iPhone that’s causing the failure of people not to hear you.
Their Speaker Is Broken
Surprisingly, this problem might be occurring simply because the people you’re talking to on the phone have broken speakers and are unable to hear the sound properly. The sound may be muffled coming out of the speaker which is causing them not to hear them properly through – simply because their speaker is broken. if you’ve experienced this problem numerous amount of times, then it’s safe to say that it’s probably their ear speaker having issues. But if this has happened a handful of times and the other times people can hear you perfectly, then the problem is down to the people that you’re speaking to. When you’re on a call with them, you should ask them if they can hear you properly to ensure that there isn’t a problem with your mic.
How To Test If Your iPhone Microphone Is Not Working
If people can’t hear you on phone or FaceTime calls, you can test if your microphone is working by opening the Voice Memo app > tap the record button > speak to the bottom mic > stop the recording > playback the recording and see if you can hear yourself. If you couldn’t hear yourself, then callers won’t be able to hear you due to your microphone being broken. In this case, you need to contact Apple Support.
They Can’t Hear You During Calls
The first thing that you’ll notice when your iPhone mic isn’t working is that the person on the other end isn’t able to hear you at all. This means that you’re routinely unable to conduct calls because your voice isn’t being heard on the other end.
Jump On The Phone To Multiple People
One way to test if there’s genuinely a problem with your mic since people are unable to hear you is to hop on the phone to many people in one sitting. When you do this, you’re testing to see if this is a permanent problem that happens to everyone and not just something temporary that could be down to that person and not down to your mic not working properly. To make sure of this, you need to call people you know will pick up.
Use Another iPhone and Test The Mic
If you have another iPhone, you can make a call to someone and compare that quality of sound that they’re able to hear. This will determine if there’s a large difference between the mics on both mics. If you find a large difference, then it’s safe to say that your iPhone mic is broken and they’ll need to be fixed. It’s best if this is done with the same model iPhone but if they’re close in terms of the year they were made, then you should be good.
How To Fix People Can’t Hear Me iPhone Calls
Blow Compressed Air in the Microphones
To find where the microphones are on your iPhone, you need to look for a small hole at the bottom of your iPhone, the grill at the top on the front screen, and the one behind the mic. There are 3 mics located around your iPhone and all 3 of them are probably filled with lint and dirt. The best way to get rid of this is to blow compressed air into all three microphones. This is going to push out the dirt stuck in there.
To remove the dirt in the microphone:
- Open some compressed air
- Blow it at the grill on the top
- Blow into the bottom left microphone
- Blow into the mic at back on the right of the camera
- Most of the dirt should be gone so people should hear you
If you notice after doing this that people are still struggling to hear you, or you want to make sure the problem is solved, go to the next step.
How to Turn On Your iPhone’s Microphone In Settings
If you’re using different apps to conduct calls and people are not hearing you at all, then it might be down to your mic not being enabled for this specific app. Before you can use an app for a call, it needs to have permission to use your iPhone’s microphone. If people outright can’t hear you during calls on other apps, not FaceTime or normal calls, then you’ll need to check the app’s permissions.
To turn on your iPhone’s microphone, go to Settings > Privacy > Microphone > make sure the app you’re using for calls if toggled on. If your mic wasn’t turned on, this was why people weren’t able to hear you. For example, if you used WhatsApp or Messenger, make sure they’re toggled on.
Another reason why your mic may not be working is that an app that has access to your mic has crashed or the microphone is still active within that app. This can stop the microphone from working properly. To fix this, you’ll need to turn off all of the microphone permissions for all the apps on your iPhone. Once you’ve done this, you need to close all of the apps. After you’ve followed all of the steps, you can turn on microphone access for the apps you were conducting calls with, and from there, test if people can’t hear you during the call.
Locate And Speak Into The Microphone Below Your iPhone
Since there are 3 different mics, locate the one on the bottom left microphone near the lightning port because it’s the biggest mic and it’s less likely to be filled with dirt. This is the microphone that is activated when you speak to people during calls.
This means that people are more likely to hear you when you use this speaker.
- The bottom mic on the left of the lightning port is meant for calls.
- The earpiece at the top is used for voice memos and facetime calls
- The one on the back on the right of the camera records audio for videos
After knowing which mic you should use, people should be able to hear you without you putting it on speaker all the time.
Give Apps Microphone Access
If you use an app like WhatsApp, FaceTime, or Skype, make sure the app has permission to access the microphone unless they’re going to be unable to process sound whenever you speak into the mic. To do this, go to the iPhone Settings, select the app to view its settings, then make sure the Microphone is toggled On.
Remove The Screen Protector Or Case
One thing to check is if a case or a screen protector is blocking your mic. Usually, cases are engineered to make sure that audio can enter the mic. Even if your screen protector or case isn’t blocking any microphone openings, it can still cause problems with audio coming into the mic. To stop this from being the case, then you need to remove the case. To then test this, call the person that complains about not hearing you and sees if they can hear you.
Use Your Headphone Instead
A good fix for this is to use an external mic with a great one being the one on the Apple Earpods. Using an external mic means that the problem can no longer be related to your native iPhone mic. If there is a problem with this mic, then doing this can fix it.
Check For Blocked Openings
All iPhones have at least three microphones as demonstrated above. Sometimes, your mics can get blocked and you need to check all of them to make sure that they’re not. To do this, check the bottom, front, and back microphone mic to ensure that they’re not covered or blocked in any way.
Reset Network Settings to Remove Software Problems
The next thing that I’ll recommend you do is to reset your network settings. With your network settings are your call settings. If there’s an issue in these settings that are stopping people from hearing you, wiping this may fix this issue.
This is only going to change network settings so don’t worry about your data and content.
To wipe network settings:
- From the home screen, tap Settings
- Scroll down to, then tap General
- Scroll down to, then tap Reset
- Tap Reset Network Settings
- Tap Reset Network Settings to confirm
After doing this, call someone and check if they can hear you properly.
If people are still struggling to hear you, follow the next step.
Restart your iPhone
Restarting your iPhone will refresh the software it’s running on. If there’s a bug or glitch that’s causing problems with your mic, then restarting your iPhone may get rid of it which could fix the problem you’re experiencing.
Force Restart
If you’re still not able to get the mic to work so that people can hear you, then you have the option to force restart your iPhone. When you force restart your iPhone, rather than the software being shutdown (like it does when you restart your iPhone,) the hardware gets shutdown. All it does is cut the power of your device and restart it again. Doing this could get rid of bugs and glitches that could be causing issues with the mics.
For iPhone 8 or Later:
Quickly press-release the volume up button, then press-release the volume down button in quick succession. Once done, press-hold the sleep/wake button until the Apple logo appears on the screen.
For iPhone 7 & 7 Plus:
Press-hold the sleep/wake button in tandem with the volume down button for at least 7-10 seconds. Do not release them until the Apple logo appears on the screen.
For iPhone 6 Plus & Previous Models:
Press-hold the home and side/top button (as per the model) for 10 seconds. Do not release them until the Apple logo appears on the screen.
Update Your Software
Apple iPhone is continually being improved and enhanced. The hardware is undoubtedly new on the latest iPhone models, but so are new features on the latest iOS versions as a result. When it comes to glitches or problems, it is always a good idea to upgrade your software to the most recent version available on the market. This has been known to fix mic-related problems.
Contact Apple Support
If you have tried all the steps and people are still unable to hear you during calls, then it looks like there’s a deeper issue that can’t be resolved with troubleshooting steps. In this case, you’ll need to contact Apple support to get this fixed. Problems with the mics on your iPhone are most likely to happen after having your iPhone for many years.
If your iPhone has a warranty or is with Apple care, then you should be able to get this problem fixed for free. If not, you’ll need to go to Apple Support and look at ways of getting the mic fixed.
Replace Your Microphone If It’s Not Working
If you notice that people are still struggling to hear you, you’ll need to replace your microphone. This means that the whole bottom section of your iPhone will be replaced.
If you want to fix this with Apple, you can schedule an appointment with your nearest branch which will take a few weeks because of the demand.
You Might Notice That Siri Can’t Hear You
If you’re trying to talk to Siri and it can’t understand what you’re trying to say, then it’s safe to say that there’s a problem with your mic. If you notice that people can’t hear you during calls, and Siri is also unable to hear you, the best thing to do is to contact Apple Support to get the problem checked out.
The only fix in this guide that worked was resetting network setting then made a call and it worked but then called someone else and they couldn’t hear me. Then called the person back that could hear me the first time and they couldn’t hear me then the second person called back and could hear me this time… very strange apple needs to fix this. Also all speakers are working.. did all the troubleshooting through apple to test the speakers and all worked fine just not on calls
This has been happening to me for a couple months now. I always use an ear piece too and it doesn’t work either if I switch to speaker phone or normal. I’m assuming it’s the network settings. I’ve reset them. I hope this helps. Thank you for providing
Same…same…same! Two times Genius Bar with no fix. Frustrating as Apple acts like I’m the only one this has happened to. Nobody can hear me!
I had same problem. I actually returned the phone to Apple they sent me a new one. Within days the same problem was occurring with the brand new phone. Model is 13Pro. I am going to return this one too and switch to Android. This started in October 2022. It is Jan 2023. I am done!