Sweeping dust removal tones
Sweeping tones shake lint and dust loose from your speaker grille. Pair it with a soft brush for a complete clean.
Turn your volume all the way up, then press Start.
Which speaker plays?
How does each range sound?
Listen for rattling, crackling or a range that drops out. Many phones have a single loudspeaker, so left and right may both come from the same place.
Sound loosens what’s stuck in the mesh. A brush lifts what’s left on the surface.
Volume to 100%, Silent mode off, and hold the speaker grille facing the floor so loosened dust can fall out.
Press Start and let the 60 second sweep run. It moves from 150 Hz up to 2,500 Hz and back every 2.5 seconds.
Use a soft, dry toothbrush and brush across the holes at an angle, never straight into them.
A second pass clears particles the brush loosened but didn’t lift. Then check with the speaker test.
Water responds well to one strong low tone. Dust is different. Particles come in many sizes and weights, and each one rattles most at a different frequency. A sweep runs through the whole range, so every particle gets a turn at shaking loose.
Pocket lint is the stubborn case. It mats into a felt layer over the mesh, and sound alone may only loosen the edges. That’s why the brush step matters: the sweep breaks the grip, the brush lifts the layer off.
If the grille looks clean and the sound is still distorted after a few cycles, check for a case or screen protector edge covering the grille, a connected Bluetooth device, or software settings. The speaker test helps you tell a blocked speaker from a damaged one.
The mesh is thin, and the diaphragm behind it is thinner. Be gentle.
A clean toothbrush or makeup brush, brushed across the holes.
Low-tack cleaning putty, pressed lightly on the grille and lifted straight off.
Sweep first, brush second, sweep once more.
Pins, needles and toothpicks can puncture the mesh or push debris onto the diaphragm.
Compressed air at close range drives dust deeper and can stretch the mesh.
Alcohol or cleaner on the grille can seep through and damage the speaker.
It loosens dust and small debris caught in the mesh, which often makes a clear difference. Packed lint usually also needs a soft brush.
Whenever the sound gets dull or quieter than usual. If you keep your phone in a pocket every day, a quick sweep every few weeks keeps lint from building up.
Yes. Laptop grilles collect dust too. See the laptop speaker cleaner page for where the speakers sit and how to brush them.
Browsers play through the main loudspeaker, so the earpiece only gets the tone on phones that use it as a second stereo speaker. Otherwise, gently brush the earpiece mesh by hand.
Run the speaker test. If one range or one side stays distorted at every volume, the speaker may be damaged and needs a repair shop.
All cleaning modes in one tool: water eject, dust shake, deep clean and more.
165 Hz pulses that push water out of a wet speaker.
Check left and right channels and sweep 20 Hz to 20 kHz.
Steps and fixes for every iPhone with a bottom speaker.
Galaxy S, A, Z Fold and Flip, with vibration assist.
MacBook and Windows laptop speakers and grilles.
Rotating bass bursts for stubborn muffling.
Earpiece cleaning for quiet or muffled calls.
Any frequency from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, four waveforms.
Pixel, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Vivo and more.
Safe hand cleaning plus a gentle tone option.
JBL, Bose, Sony and other portable speakers.