What to do if your iPhone sound isn’t working or sounds muffled

In this tutorial, we’ll share some troubleshooting tips to follow if you can’t hear the sound coming out of your iPhone or iPad or if the sound is muffled or distorted.

Changing volume on the iPhone and two sound waves illustrations at the bottom, signifying sound coming from iPhone speakers

Your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch have a built-in speaker system that allows you to hear sounds when you play videos and music or take phone calls. Although some devices have more speakers than others, that’s not to say that you will never have a problem with any of them.

Speakers may malfunction, or user error may lead to problems with the device’s settings that make sound inaudible. Here are some practical fixes to address this issue.

Reasons you can’t hear sound from your iPhone or iPad and how to fix them

There are myriad reasons why you might be experiencing hearing issues on your iPhone, whether it’s related to ringtones, videos, and music or it sounds muffled. We’ll try to cover a few main aspects of why this happens, and then we’ll give you some tips on how to troubleshoot.

Your iPhone may be stuck in silent mode or DND

Problem: If your iPhone is in silent mode, Do Not Disturb, or another Focus mode, then you might not be able to hear your ringtones and other notification sounds when people are trying to get in touch with you.

Fix: You can put your iPhone back into ringer mode by using the ringer/silent switch on the side of your iPhone. If you have an iPhone 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max, press and hold the Action button to unmute it. You can also open the Control Center and make sure the silent bell icon is not active. Secondly, make sure Focus is not active. If it is, tap its icon to turn it off.

Turn off Do Not Disturb on iPhone from Control Center

Your device’s ringer volume could be all the way down

Problem: If your ringtones, text tones, and other sounds aren’t sounding when you get a notification, but your videos and music are playing at a normal volume, then this means your ringer volume is turned all the way down, and your media volume is turned up. These are two separate settings in iOS.

Fix: To adjust your ringer volume, go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics and drag the ringer and alerts volume slider to the desired level. If Change With Buttons is turned on, simply adjust the volume with the volume buttons while no media is playing, or turn it off if you often lower your ringtone and alert volume unknowingly.

Sounds and Haptics settings on iPhone

Your device’s media volume could be all the way down

Problem: If you can’t seem to hear music and videos, but your ringtone is loud and clear, then that’s because your ringer volume is turned up, but your device’s separate media volume level may be turned all the way down.

Fix: You can adjust your device’s media volume separately from the ringer volume by dragging the volume slider in the Control Center.

Dust may be obstructing your device’s speaker

Problem: If you use your iPhone or iPad in a dirty environment, check the speaker for obstructions like dirt and grime. These things can easily get into the speaker grille of your device and muffle sounds. One of the key indicators of a problem like this is when your device’s sounds feel distorted or muffled rather than clear, and you don’t have a case on.

Fix: Cleaning out your device’s speaker grille can be a tedious task, but Apple recommends that you should always use a soft-bristled brush. Personally, I have good luck being extremely careful and using a toothpick. Not only is it nice and small and can get into the charging port and speaker grille easily, but it is also effective at removing obstructions. If you choose to disobey Apple’s recommendation like I do, you do so at your own risk, however.

Your case may be obstructing your device’s speaker

Problem: Some protective cases that you use with your iPhone may obstruct the noise and give it the effect of playing sound underwater since the sound waves have nowhere to go. Some highly protective cases are known for causing muffling because you trade off your user experience for protection but never rule out that your case could be the problem.

Fix: To see if your case is causing the problem, remove it and try to listen to the sound again. If it still sounds muffled or distorted, then the dust idea above may be your culprit rather than the case itself. If this is the case, you either need to find a new brand or go caseless.

Your Bluetooth headset may be connected

Problem: If you occasionally use a Bluetooth headset with your iPhone, then your iPhone is set to automatically connect to it when it’s in range. When it connects, iOS automatically directs all sound to the Bluetooth headset.

In this scenario, what can happen is if you leave home without your Bluetooth headset, your sound might work great when you’re out and about, but when you come back home, sound might start to route to the Bluetooth headset instead of through your iPhone, giving you the illusion that there’s no sound because the iPhone is routing sound to the Bluetooth headset that you’re not using instead.

Fix: You can disconnect the headset, turn Bluetooth off when you’re not using the Bluetooth headset, or power off the Bluetooth buds. Since I use an Apple Watch, turning off Bluetooth isn’t really an option for me. Instead, I just open Control Center, tap on the AirPlay button, and choose the iPhone speaker instead of the Bluetooth headset, and this makes the sound work right on my iPhone again.

Select iPhone as sound output from Control Center

Other possible fixes for sound issues

If any of the above issues don’t relate to you, then there are some other things you can do to try to fix your sound woes. Among those are:

Turn your device off and on again

If it’s a software glitch, which can happen from time to time, you might be able to fix it by simply turning your device off and on again. If that doesn’t help, a hard reset is the best.

Update to the latest version of iOS

It could be that something in the iOS software itself has become corrupted, and installing an updated copy of iOS could solve the problem. To do that, go to Settings > General > Software Update.

Move to an area with better cell reception

If the sound is muffled or crackles when you’re on a phone call, it could be because of poor cell reception. You can try calling later or move to an open area with a better cell signal and then place the call. Alternatively, you can turn on Wi-Fi Calling or use internet apps like FaceTime or WhatsApp to call via your Wi-Fi connection.

Connect a headset and see if the sound works

If you can’t hear anything with the built-in speakers after trying all of the above steps but are able to hear sounds via the headset when a headset is connected, there could be a problem with your built-in speaker(s).

If you believe an issue is tied to the built-in speakers, then you will most likely have to visit an Apple Store to have your speaker serviced. If the device is under warranty, it should be replaced for free. Otherwise, you may be facing a bench and labor charge.

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