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JBL speakers come in all forms and sizes, with the more popular ones being the little portables that pack a lot of explosive sound in a small format. For example, the JBL Flip 5, the JBL Charge 3, or the JBL Link Portable, the latter being an Amazon Studio clone competitor.
These also happen to be some of the most popular speakers on the portable market. Since they have powerful batteries, you can take them everywhere you go. Some of them even come with clips or third-party cases that allow you to hang them up. Because the world would not be complete if we couldn’t listen to bone-cracking bass while in the shower.
However, despite the pros of having one of these portable speakers, there are a few cons as well. One of the more common complaints is that the speaker will sometimes keep playing, even when you have tried to turn it off by the normal means. Of course, we can’t have that, can we? Here are a few ways to get your JBL speaker to turn off.
Table of Contents
5 Fixes To JBL Speaker Not Turning Off
1. Reset the Speaker
One of the most immediate and natural responses to a speaker that’s gone rogue, is to try to reset it. This is an instinctive measure when your electronics turn against you and rage against the machine. It’s highly encouraged to follow this instinct and reset your JBL Speaker, forcing it to behave itself in public.
Now, there are several types of JBL speakers out there, and all of them reset a little different from the others. With that being said, we’ll cover the basic reset feature for each and every one of them with some organized bullet points.
- JBL Charge: Locate the volume down and power buttons and hold them down
- JBL Xtreme: Press and hold the Play/Pause and volume up buttons
- JBL Link View: Press and hold the volume up and volume down buttons and wait for the digital counter to count down to zero
- JBL Link 10: Find the mute button and hold it for 15 seconds
- JBL Link Portable: Press and hold mute button for 10 seconds
- JBL Flip 1-6: Press and hold both the volume up and play buttons for 10-20 seconds
- JBL Go: Press and hold the volume up and Bluetooth buttons for about 10 seconds
- JBL Clip: Press and hold the play/pause and volume up buttons for about half a minute
As you can see, there are a bunch of JBL speakers to choose from and hopefully, all of them aren’t suffering from chronic failure to turn off syndrome. If any of the above happen to do so, now you know how to turn them off—by resetting them.
Now, keep in mind, some of the reset processes listed above will effectively factory reset your JBL. If you don’t want to conduct a factory reset on your JBL device, your best bet is to turn the volume down and just let the battery drain out until it’s dead.
2. Service Mode
So-called “Service Mode” is a feature on some JBL speakers that kind of flies under the radar. In other words, you might have a JBL speaker for years without realizing this feature is present and that you can use it anytime you want.
It’s especially great for those who have kids that like to mess with things or want to listen to their type of music versus whatever it is you’re listening to. All the feature does is lock the JBL speaker so no one can do anything with it.
While it’s locked, you can’t skip tracks, turn it off, or mess with the volume. Activating service mode is not something you can do easily, but it is something that might happen if the speaker is crammed in your bag. For most, you have to press and hold a button or two (most often the Bluetooth button) for a set timeframe.
Exiting service mode is more complex than entering it, and it’s best if you open your manual or look up your JBL model online to access the online manual. For most, you have to plug the speaker into a power source, whether that’s a power bank or a wall outlet is irrelevant.
Press the power button rapidly, three or four times, holding it on the fourth or fifth press. This should get around Service Mode and turn the speaker off. However, each JBL model is different and may turn off differently based on the model.
3. Clean Up Your Buttons
As a portable speaker, the JBLs are far more likely to pick up dust and debris than speakers that sit inside the house. Preventative maintenance goes a long way with just about any device, but that’s especially true when you’re trying to avoid weird little glitches like this one.
All it takes is for one button to get stuck in the “pressed” position to render all of the other buttons completely useless. That’s because the JBL speaker thinks that button is being pressed first, while all the other buttons simply mean nothing.
You can use a toothpick in a pinch. You can work it around the button edges, trying to force it to lift or clean out any dirt and debris caught between the button and the chassis of the speaker. As a preventative maintenance tool, you can use a microfiber cloth that’s slightly damp with isopropyl alcohol or a Q-tip.
4. Let the Battery Drain Out
We mentioned this above simply because it’s actually a viable option. If the speaker doesn’t turn off, simply allow the thing to drain until the speakers die. That will effectively turn off the speakers for certain.
Most of the JBL speakers last between 8 and 12 hours on a full charge. Hopefully, yours is far from being at a full charge. If you did fully charge it, you may as well leave the room and come back later.
Turning it down may or may not expedite the process. Either way, it’s up to you if you want to turn the volume up to try to drain the battery faster.
5. Faulty Power Supply
Oftentimes, we have about a hundred different chargers lying around the house at any given time. It’s not difficult to end up plugging a JBL speaker in with a charger that didn’t come with it.
Unfortunately, this is one of the most common causes behind making a JBL speaker unresponsive. The problem is, you’re not getting the right amount of power to the JBL speaker, so some of the speaker’s capabilities cease to function. One of those capabilities may be the one you want to operate the most, which is turning it off.
You should always make sure you are using the correct charger or power cable that comes with your consumer electronics. Not only can the wrong ones cause problems, but they can also cause damage.
Final Thoughts
There you have it, five different ways to get your JBL speakers to turn off when they just don’t want to cooperate with you. While the failure to turn off is a common complaint, it’s not a common problem with JBL speakers.
Hopefully, you never experience any problems with yours, which is the experience of the vast majority of JBL consumers.