Fixes to No Sound when Playing Videos on PC, Mac, iPhone, Android

Symptoms

• I can see the video, but I can't hear the audio (or very low audio).
• There is no sound when displaying videos in 4k on Roku Ultra.
• The Android TV has no sound during playback of videos from a USB device
• The audio is distorted and messed up when playing videos on the computer.

From now and then, you may see users of different devices reporting that there is no sound when playing videos on their computer, TV, iPhone, Android devices, etc. Sometimes, there is no sound at all. And sometimes, the audio is too low or distorted during the playback. Some no sound errors happen with videos in 4K or certain formats like HEVC, MKV, while some are related to apps such as YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, Zoom, etc. Here we've gathered all the fixes to only video no audio issues on different devices.

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1. Hardware Issues

• Check if the cables are connected properly. For computers and TVs, check all the components that connect the source video to the device, including all the cables, plugs, ports, jacks, etc. Make sure the cables are connected to the correct ports. On iPhone and Android phones, check if the headphone cables are damaged.
• Don't forget to check the Bluetooth connection for wireless audio devices. You won’t hear the audio on a video when you connect the Bluetooth to another speaker.
• Check if the audio drivers are outdated or otherwise damaged. Install or update the audio drivers if necessary.
• Try to play different videos on your mobiles or play the video on other devices, and if all the video playback has no sound or the problematic video has audio on other devices, check if there is a hardware issue with the internal speaker or the headphones.

2. Incorrect Settings

• Make sure the sound volume is not muted when playing videos on your computer or mobile.
• Make sure the computer or iPhone/Android is not muted via hardware, such as the Ring/Silent switch on iPhone.
• Make sure the audio is playing through the right output device if multiple audio devices are connected to your computer.
• On the computer, check there is no conflict or error (yellow exclamation point or red X) with the driver settings in the Device Manager. Make sure there are no missing sound cards or other devices.
• If the microphone is not allowed under the privacy settings, the audio won't work when you play the video. Check the Allow access to the microphone on this device is enabled in the Microphone Privacy settings.
• New system updates often come with new fixes and improvements that may contain a fix to video no sound issues on iPhone, Android, Windows, etc. Check if there is a new version available and update the computer or mobile to the latest system.

3. Unsupported Formats

• When the audio format is not supported by your devices, you will hear no sound when playing videos. You can change the audio format: on a Windows computer, you can go to the Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound and change the playback audio format under the Properties > Advanced > Default Format. To play an unsupported audio format on mobiles, you need to change the audio to a compatible format.
• Audio issues are more common with video formats such as MKV, MOV, WebM, etc. This is because some audio codecs contained like DTS, LCPM, Vorbis/Opus are less compatible. More than that, multiple audio streams can also cause no sound errors.
• For 4K video no sound issues, don't forget to check the specs of the USB or HDMI/HDCP cables. 4K Ultra HD (4K) or High Dynamic Range (HDR) content requires HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 cables in order to display content properly. If you play the 4K video via USB flash drive, then both the USB drive and the port should be 3.0. If you're not using proper cables/USB to play 4K videos, it can cause stutters, motion blurs and also distorted audio errors during the 4K video playback.

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4. Audio Issues with Apps

If there is no sound when playing videos on apps like YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, Facebook, Zoom, etc., there are some other fixes you can try in addition to the above tips:

• Clear the app cache to wipe out the data and other history files stored on your iPhone or Android devices.
• If the YouTube, Instagram, Reddit mobile app video is not playing audio, try to play the video in the browser.
• Make sure there are no other applications using your microphone at the same time. Close any conflict apps.
• Disable any related extensions you may have installed for the app.
• Restart your iPhone or Android devices.
• Re-install the app.

Check detailed fixes to Reddit video no sound errors, Instagram video not playing audio