7 Ways to Fix Chrome Sound, Not Working

7 Ways to Fix Chrome Sound, Not Working.

More and more websites are relying not on text-rich messages, but on videos, audio messages and podcasts hosted on sites like YouTube and Spotify to bring their content to life and offer viewers more value. This is, of course, if the browser you are using plays video or audio correctly.

While major browsers such as Google Chrome should play audio automatically, sometimes problems can occur that prevent audio from playing correctly. If your audio isn’t working in Chrome, fix the issue by following these common fixes.

1. Unmute the Website Tab

In many cases, audio cannot be heard in Google Chrome because the website playing it is automatically muted. Each tab in Chrome can be turned off, allowing you to only hear the sounds you want to hear on specific pages. To fix the problem, you need to enable sound on the tab.

If you want to mute the page, right-click the tab at the top of the Chrome window. From the drop-down menu, select the ‘Turn on sound on-site’ option.

Alternatively, click the padlock to the left of the URL in the address bar. In the drop-down menu, change the Sound option to Allow.

2. Check Volume Levels

While checking the volume levels on your PC or Mac may seem like an obvious answer, it’s not always easy. In particular, Windows PCs allow you to reduce the sound volume in some applications, which is not always visible from the sound icon on the taskbar.

If the Chrome volume is turned off, you won’t hear any sound, so it’s important to check this before ruling it out as a potential problem.

To do this in Windows, right-click the sound icon in the system tray in the lower-right corner, then select the Open Volume Mixer option.

A list of available volume sliders appears. Make sure the Google Chrome slider is set to 100% by moving the slider to the top of the bar.

For Mac users, the system volume applies to all running applications. To access the volume controls (for macOS Big Sur and newer), select the notification icon from the menu bar. In the drop-down menu, move the Sound slider to 100%, moving it all the way to the right.

3. Switch Output Devices

When you regularly switch between headphones (Bluetooth or wired) or a speaker system, your operating system may not automatically switch audio output. This means that when you expect audio from your speakers, your OS tries to output audio from Chrome through another device.

In this case, the sound in Chrome (and other apps) may not work. You will need to manually switch to the correct audio output device to fix the Chrome audio not working issue.

To do this, in Windows, right-click the sound icon in the taskbar at the bottom-right corner of the taskbar. From the menu, select the Open Sound Settings option.

In the Sound Settings menu, select the correct output device (for example, speakers) from the Select Output Device drop-down menu. Once selected, make sure the Master Volume slider is set to 100 by moving the slider to the right.

Mac users can set the audio output device in the System Preferences menu. To launch it, choose the Apple menu icon in the menu bar, then choose System Preferences from the menu.

From the System Preferences menu, choose Sound> Output. Select the correct output device from the available options. After changing, make sure to move the Output Volume slider at the bottom to the right to achieve maximum volume.

If your output device is not detected or you are not satisfied with the sound quality, you may need to update the drivers for this device.

4. Check Google Chrome Sound Settings

In the Google Chrome settings menu, there are options to block or allow audio output from specific sites or to completely disable audio output. In this case, you will not be able to output audio from Chrome until you change these settings.

To do this, you need to enter the Chrome settings menu. In Chrome, click the three-dot menu icon in the upper-left corner, then choose Settings from the options menu.

From the Chrome Settings menu, select Site Settings> Additional Content Settings> Sound.

Make sure the Allow sites to play sound (recommended) slider is enabled in the Chrome sound settings menu. When this option is disabled, this option is marked as “Disable sites that play sound.”

To ensure that sounds from your favorite sites play, select Add next to the Allow category.

In the Add Site field, enter the URL of the site from which you want to hear sound, then click Add to confirm.

Once a site is added to the audio exceptions list, Chrome will allow any sounds from that site to play unless other issues are preventing it.

5. Disable Chrome Extensions

In rare cases, some Google Chrome extensions (such as overly protective security extensions) can cause audio output issues. This is especially true if rogue extensions are installed that hijack your audio, microphone, and camera output. If malware is the culprit, check and remove it first.

If other extensions are to blame, you should disable them to see if they are interfering with sound output in Chrome.

To do this, select the menu icon with three dots in the upper right corner. From the menu, choose More Tools> Extensions.

From the Extensions menu, select the slider next to each extension to change its color from blue (enabled) to gray (disabled).

With all extensions disabled, restart Chrome and check the result. If the sound is restored, go back to the Extensions menu and re-enable each extension one by one, making sure it does not affect the sound output. If re-enabling an extension causes the sound to stop, disable and uninstall the extension.

6. Check for Chrome Updates

Google Chrome is set to update automatically, so you’ll always have the latest version available. However, if the updates are not installed, you may be missing the latest features or bug fixes, including fixes that might fix Chrome audio not working issues.

To check for Chrome updates, select the three-dot menu icon in the upper right corner, then select the Settings option.

From the Chrome settings menu, choose About Chrome. Chrome will automatically check for new updates after loading the page and, if an update is found, install it (or offer to manually install it).

After installing a new Chrome update, restart your browser to end the process.

7. Reinstall Chrome (or Switch to Another Browser)

Unfortunately, there is not always an obvious cause of audio problems in Chrome. If you can’t get the sound to work in Chrome, it might be time to try reinstalling Chrome or, if that doesn’t fix the problem, switch to a different browser.

Other browsers like Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge are good alternatives to Chrome. Edge, in particular, is built on top of the open-source Chromium code that Chrome uses, with the ability to use many of the same extensions and features.

If the sound is not working in an alternate browser, it usually means that the problem is caused by another issue, such as a broken website, faulty hardware, or a system conflict.

Getting More From Google Chrome

With these common fixes, you’ll quickly get back to listening to podcasts or watching YouTube videos with crisp, clear audio. Unfortunately, problems with Google Chrome are not uncommon: Chrome memory leaks and other problems occur by accident.

If you’re seeing issues with Chrome, it might be time to make some fixes to get things tidy. If Chrome stops responding, you might want to clear things up by clearing your cache or resetting your browser settings. Then, you might want to consider using some great Chrome extensions to further expand its functionality.