YouTube Audio Not Working? How to Get the Sound Back

If YouTube audio isn't working, make sure sound is on for your browser or device, check your device's sound settings and restart the browser or device. Then try turning stable volume off in the player Settings, because it can make some videos sound quiet or flat.

There's a special kind of silence when a YouTube video plays and nothing comes out. The picture moves, the speaker's mouth is going, and your speakers say nothing. If you've got a client call in ten minutes or you're checking a competitor's tutorial, it's maddening. The good news is that YouTube audio problems are usually a setting on your browser, your device or the video player, and not a fault with the video.

Here's the order I'd work in, using YouTube's own help pages on sound, volume and playback troubleshooting. The official advice is short and simple, so I'll cover what it says and then the two YouTube features that change how sound behaves, because they explain a lot of 'it's too quiet' complaints.

The first checks when YouTube audio is not working

YouTube's help for no sound says that if sound isn't working and the volume button looks turned off on YouTube videos, you should try these three things:

Make sure sound or volume is turned on for your browser or device.
Check your device's sound settings.
Restart your browser or device.

Do them in that order, and test with a different video after each one. That tells you whether the problem is one video or everything. If every video is silent, it's your side. If only one is silent, the video itself may have an issue, and there's nothing you can fix from your end.

Checking the YouTube volume control and your device volume

There are usually two volume controls in play: the one on the YouTube player and the one on your computer or phone. Both have to be up. A speaker icon with a line through it on the player means the video is muted, and clicking it should bring the sound back.

Next, look at the things around the video:

On a phone, check the ringer or media volume rather than only the ringer switch.
Check whether Bluetooth headphones or a speaker are connected, because the sound may be playing there.
On a computer, check which output device is selected in your sound settings.
Try other apps or websites. If they're silent too, the problem is your device, not YouTube.

Those are general device checks that go with YouTube's advice to look at your device's sound settings. Exactly where the settings live depends on your phone or computer, so I won't pretend there's one route.

Stable volume on YouTube and why it can make audio seem quiet

YouTube turns on a feature called stable volume by default. It balances the range between quiet and loud, continuously adjusting the volume to reduce variations in sound. YouTube also says that it isn't available for all videos, and that it's turned off for YouTube Music and official music videos.

If a video sounds flat or oddly quiet, you can switch stable volume off while you're watching:

At the bottom of the video, click Settings.
Toggle Stable Volume off.

On a TV, YouTube's steps are slightly different: tap Settings at the bottom of the video and untick the Stable Volume box. Switching it off won't fix a muted device, but it can help when speech sounds weak next to the music.

Voice boost on YouTube for hard-to-hear speech

If the sound is working but you can't hear the dialogue, voice boost is worth trying. YouTube says it makes dialogue easier to hear by reducing background sounds and highlighting vocals. It's available on computers and TVs, and not for every video. On a computer, click Settings at the bottom of the video and toggle Voice boost. On a TV, open Settings at the bottom of the video, choose Audio and tick the Voice boost box. Untick it to turn it off.

One detail from the help page: stable volume is switched off automatically while voice boost is on, though YouTube says both balance the range between quiet and loud. If you need the words and can't get the sound, captions help, and adding subtitles to a YouTube video explains how they work from the creator side.

Fixing YouTube audio problems in your browser

If the sound only fails in a browser, YouTube's playback troubleshooting for computers lists the usual suspects. Work through them one at a time:

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Make sure your computer is up to date.
Close and reopen your web browser.
Close most of your other tabs, keeping just the one you're using for YouTube.
Update your browser to the latest version.
Try Google Chrome as your browser.
Restart your device.

If that doesn't solve it, clearing your cache and cookies is another step, and YouTube's help says it can resolve loading and formatting issues. In Chrome, open More, choose Delete browsing data, pick a time range, select Cookies and other site data and confirm. Afterwards you'll need to sign in to sites again.

YouTube audio not working on a phone or tablet

On a phone, the same logic applies. Check the volume, restart the app, then restart the phone. YouTube's streaming help adds that clearing the app's cache can help with playback problems on Android: open Settings, find Apps, choose YouTube and clear the cache from its storage section. Menus differ between phones, so look for the YouTube entry in your app list.

If you can see the video but it's choppy as well as silent, the issue may be your connection rather than your sound settings. My checklist for when YouTube isn't working covers connection checks.

YouTube audio not working on a TV

On a TV, the same ideas apply, plus a couple of TV-specific steps. YouTube suggests quitting and reopening the app, restarting the device by disconnecting it from power and reconnecting it, and checking for a system software update. Also check the TV's own volume and whether its sound is being sent to a soundbar or headphones you've switched off.

Telling YouTube about an audio problem that won't go away

If you've tried everything and one video is still silent while others work, tell YouTube. It says you can send feedback from your profile icon by choosing Help and Feedback and then Send Feedback, straight after the playback problem happens. Doing it at the time helps, because it can capture what was happening.

If you're a creator whose own video has no sound after uploading, play it back in Studio before you panic. Sometimes the file you exported had no audio track in the first place, which is a quick thing to rule out.

Frequently asked questions

Why is there no sound on YouTube?

YouTube's help says to make sure sound is turned on for your browser or device, check your device's sound settings and restart your browser or device.

What is stable volume on YouTube?

A feature that is on by default and balances quiet and loud sounds. YouTube says it isn't available for all videos and is turned off for YouTube Music and official music videos.

How do I turn off stable volume?

On a computer, click Settings at the bottom of the video and toggle Stable Volume. On a TV, tap Settings and untick the Stable Volume box.

What does voice boost do?

YouTube says it makes dialogue easier to hear by reducing background sounds and highlighting vocals. It's available on computers and TVs but not for every video.

What if only one video has no sound?

Test other videos first. If only one is silent, the problem may be with that video, and you can send feedback to YouTube from your profile icon under Help and Feedback.

Can my browser cause YouTube audio problems?

Yes. YouTube suggests updating the browser, closing extra tabs, trying Chrome and restarting your device if videos aren't playing correctly on a computer.

Published and maintained by the Lilach Bullock team, covering marketing, AI and business growth.