Siri not responding (Doesn't recognize commands)

Unfortunately, Siri is still not able to recognize everything we ask her to do. Therefore, our intent needs to be as clear as possible. If your instructions aren't clear, Siri won't be able to execute your command. Give brief instructions to Siri, and be as close as possible to the device's microphone.

If Siri doesn't recognise commands it's possible that the microphone is damaged. To test this, try calling someone else. If the other person can't hear you at all, the microphone should be replaced.

If you have a disassembly kit, you can disassemble the device and replace the microphone with a new one, by yourself. If you are not sure how, type [device model] microphone replacement.
For example, if you use iPhone 6, type iPhone 6 microphone replacement and the video shown below is one of the tutorial videos you will get:

Siri won't work properly if the Dictation feature is disabled.

To enable the Dictation feature:

1. Go to Settings and select General.
   
   

     
   
   

2. Tap on Keyboard, scroll down to Enable Dictation and move the slider next to it to the right.
   
   

     

If the microphone hole of the headphones is clogged, Siri won't be able to understand you and what you ask it to do. To clean the microphone hole, you can use a toothpick or a needle, but you have to be extremely careful not to damage the microphone.

Siri is more than a (wo)man in a box. It's a group of complex processes working with one another. Maybe Siri does work, but it is frozen, or one of its processes. The simplest way to unfreeze it is to restart Siri via Settings. To restart it, follow the below-mentioned steps:

1. Go to Settings and tap on General.
   
   

    
   
   

2. Tap on Siri and move the slider next to Siri to the left.
   
   

    
   
   

3. Move the slider next to Siri to the right.
   
   

   

If the microphone grid (hole) is clogged, the microphone won't be able to recognize your commands, therefore, Siri won't work. "Hey Siri" will not be working too.  Put a small amount of isopropyl alcohol on a piece of cotton and wipe the microphone grid. You can also use a needle to clean the grid (hole), but you need to be very gentle and you should not press the needle too hard into the device.

Note: On iPhones and iPods the microphone is located in the lower part of the device (on the left side of the charging connector). On iPads, the microphone is located on the upper part of device.

Siri won't work ("Hey Siri" too) if your device is not connected to the Internet. In order to be able to use Siri, you need to enable the Wi-Fi or Cellular data. Maybe your Wi-Fi or Cellular data is turned off, or, if they are turned on, you don't have Internet access. Ensure you have Internet access and try again.

See the how to enable the Wi-Fi guide or how to enable Cellular data guide if you are not sure how to enable them.

If the Wi-Fi or Cellular data is enabled and you are connected to the Internet and you still can't use Siri, i.e. you see the "Siri not available - Connect to the Internet"  message, it's possible that there is an issue with your Internet connection.

If disconnecting from and reconnecting to Internet didn't work, check out the No Internet Connection guide, which will help you deal with Internet connection issues.

Siri supports many languages. Maybe this is the exact reason why "Hey Siri" is not working - you are not using the correct language. If you speak English and Siri's language is set to German, Siri won't be able to recognize your commands. To resolve this, you need to change the language in Siri's language settings, into the language you speak.

You can change Siri's language by following the steps below:

1. Go to Settings and tap on General.
   
   

    
   
   

2. Tap on Siri and tap on Language.
   
   

    
   
   

3. Tap on the Language you want to set and tap the back button.
   
   

   

Maybe your device doesn't fully recognise the headphones, because the port is dirty. Sip some isopropyl alcohol on a cotton bud and clean the headphones port gently.

Even though headphones should be compatible across devices, maybe the headphones you use are incompatible with your device. In this case, connect another headphones set to your device, which are compatible (e.g. have an iOS compatibility logo) and try again.

Maybe something went wrong when you installed the app and it didn't install properly. Try reinstalling the app through App store.

Updates are designed to fix many software-related irregularities. If an update is available, make sure to install it as soon as possible.

See the don't know how to update my device's operating systems guide to learn how to check for updates.