I was having some issues with chargers and CarPlay so I decided to use a toothpick to clean the port. In my haste to see if that would fix the issue I forgot to turn the phone off. Most tutorials advise turning it off before cleaning. Wondering if that’s just an abundance of caution or if something can be damaged while the phone is on. I can’t imagine the internals would react strongly to a wooden toothpick in the port but wanted to check with the experts.
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iPhone 14 Pro Cleaning Lightning Port While Phone is On
- Thread starter jcorbin
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macrumors 603
I cleaned my relative’s 11 Pro port with Apple’s SIM-ejection tool while the iPhone stayed on - and no issues whatsoever! 🖐️
It’s charging fine now. I figured there had to be a reason every video says to turn it off but yeah seems fine. I normally don’t keep a phone long enough for the lint buildup to become an issue lol. It was interesting to finally run into this issue.
jb310
macrumors 6502
I've cleaned a lightning port with a toothpick with the phone on with no ill effects on several occasions; it's not a big deal at all.
Canned air and an old toothbrush once a month for me to keep it clean.
Some will say "no" to the canned air as it introduces moisture, but I have never had a Lightning port fail doing this (or fail ever tbh).
iFixit endorses cotton swab with alcohol as well.
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+to+Clean+your+iPhone's+Lightning+Port/164631
Oh and: never have powered off while cleaning.
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I've cleaned the port numerous times on 2 or 3 different phones using an straightened paper clip while the phone is switched on and never had an issue. I doubt a wooden toothpick is going to cause any issues.
And I got recently when I drove at 47kmph at a 40kmph area. So, anything can happen like you said.