Having speakers not working on Mac will make you more frustrated. Yes, we can understand that pressure! But, no worries!
There are more numbers reasons are create the problem like the speaker may be muted, software error, update issue, and more. This article will give all the ideas you need to take to find the volume issue on a Mac device.
Don’t make rush yourself by contacting Apple support page or direct visit Apple customer service. Read & implement the below-mentioned tips, which help to rectify the error.
Why Are My Speakers Not Working On Mac?
Before moving into deep learning, you should know the common reasons for speakers not working on Mac. These reasons will help you to understand the problem efficiently and fix the issue quickly.
- Your speaker isn’t selected as an output device
- Your device didn’t start properly
- The device sound may be muted
- The operating system needs to update to the latest version
- Mac needs to reset the PRAM or NVRAM
- Your audio port can’t be connected correctly
Now let’s dive into the solutions to fix the external speakers not working on Mac!
Tip 1: Checking the Hardware and Other Connections
Before resetting the sound on Mac, ensure that all other components are working correctly.
- Check the headphones are correctly connected to the device
- You can disconnect the external devices from your Mac and reconnect them again.
- If your external devices like headphones or Bluetooth didn’t work, you could try to play the audio/video sound with the internal speakers.
- After disconnecting all the external devices from your Mac, you can restart it and check again whether the volume works or not.
Tip 2: No sound? Check the Volume
Don’t pressurize! If your speakers are not working on Mac, it might be a simple problem and can be easily fixed. Also, double-check whether you use the right speaker as the output device. Another important thing is that you must check the muted sound on your Mac. If it’s muted, click unmute and hear the audio.
Do you know how to unmute the device if the speakers are not working?
- Go to the -> System Preferences/ System settings on your Macbook
- Select “Sound”
- Now, you can view which device is selected as the output.
- Also, check double the time whether it is Mute or not.
Tip 3: Restarting the Sound Controller
The sound controller is one of the main components of playing audio files on a Mac. If the sound controller doesn’t work, you may decide with the problem of speakers not working on Mac. If you want to fix the issue immediately, you can restart the sound controller on Macbook.
Here are the steps to rectify the speakers not working on Macbook:
- Navigate to your Mac finder and browse “Applications.”
- Under the applications, choose “Utilities” and open the “Activity Monitor” on your device.
- Once the “Activity Monitor” opens, look for the “CoreAudio” process.
- After finding it, choose and select it and tap the cross icon to close them.
Now, it takes minutes. Then, you can close the activity monitor and try to play the sound to restart the audio controller.
Tip 4: Turn off the Bluetooth
If you can get sound on your Mac without connecting to any device, the problem is the external speakers not working on Mac! Therefore, you should solve the problem without taking time. Beforehand, verify all the sounds on your Macbook and that the Bluetooth device is functioning.
Steps to check the process to resolve the speakers not working:
Tap the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar, or you can also access it through the control center
- Now turn off the Bluetooth
- Wait for a few minutes, then turn on the Bluetooth again
- You can now connect your Bluetooth to the device
If this method still doesn’t work, click on the Bluetooth icon from the finder and select Debug > factory reset all connected devices from the Macbook.
You can follow the simple click-through process to reset the connected devices and your Bluetooth settings. Try to connect the Bluetooth on Mac and get a better experience!
Tip 5: Reset NVRAM & PRAM on Macbook
Not all Mac users will know about NVRAM or PRAM, which appears on the devices.
NVRAM (Non-Volatile Random Access Memory) refers to the computer storage that holds data information while the power supply to the memory chip is turned off.
PRAM (Parameter Random Access Memory) stores the information of Mac’s operating system.
These two types of memory will store information like display settings, time zone, speaker, volume, and more. So, when you find the issues like external speakers not working on Mac, you can do the NVRAM or PRAM resettings.
Here are the steps to perform NVRAM/ PRAM reset:
- First, turn off your Mac, and remove the USB cables other than the keyboard wires.
- Turn on and immediately press the “Command + Option + P + R” keys
- Press those keys until you hear the Mac’s restarting sound, or Macs with a T2 security chip until the Apple logo appears and disappears
By doing these steps, specific settings like time, keyboard preferences, and volume will automatically reset. Sometimes, the sound not working on the Macbook issue will be sorted out quickly.
If you notice any issues with speakers on Mac not working, you can reset the SMC (System Management Controller). It is a chip-based model on Intel Macs that controls the essential physical parts.
- Switch off your Mac
- Press and hold “Shift + Control + Option + Power button” for 15 minutes on your computer
- Now you can switch on your Mac normally
Important Note: You must proceed with the points mentioned above on the Intel Mac. You can’t reset the NVRAM or SMC settings on Apple silicon Macs.
Tip 6: Malware Issues
If the tips mentioned above don’t resolve the speakers not working on Mac, your Macbook is experiencing a hardware malfunction or infected with a virus. You can make sure that your Mac is affected by the virus by having a look at the below signs:
- Extreme pop-up ads
- Unknown warning on the browser
- Mac’s performance is low
If any signs always appear while working, your laptop or computer will be affected by malware problems. Deleting the affected files is not enough because the virus might have spread across the entire system. It will adhere to other files and makes it harder to remove. You can delete these issues by using the Mac malware apps. These apps will detect the files and software from your device and eliminate them.
Frequently checking the files and software will prevent the virus and hacking process. Now, you will get a better idea to rectify the speakers not working on Mac.
Tip 7: Update macOS
Outdated OS versions on your Mac will create the problems such as sound issues and loading more while working. So, updating Mac’s operating system is essential to get the best performance. Here is the way to find your OS update by following the steps.
- Navigate to the “Apple Menu”
- From the top-left corner of the screen, select “System Preferences” on your device
- Then choose “Software update.”
If any update is available on your system, download and installs it. After that, check if your sound is working or if you still have to face the same issue.
Tip 8: Fix Audio Terminal on Mac
You know that a terminal performs various functions (if you are familiar with it). It is an excellent solution to technical issues like speakers not working on Mac. You can follow the simple steps to solve your speaker not working on the Mac issue:
- Go to the “Applications” on your computer
- Choose “Utilities”
- Select “Terminal”
- Now enter “sudo killall coreaudiod”
- Press the “Enter” button
Typing this on the terminal should reset your Core Audio problems.
If you are a Google Chrome user, you might find that the new versions can block the sound controller. You can fix this issue by disabling Chrome. Here are the steps for resetting Core Audio as a Chrome user in Terminal:
- Shut down Chrome by typing “sudo killall Google \ Chrome” and pressing enter
- If this command doesn’t close the browser, try typing “pgrep- x Google Chrome.”
- Now the terminal shows you a number. Enter “kill -9 _” with the number in the place of the underscore
- Now press “Enter.” This will disable the Chrome
- You can now enter the command “sudo killall coreaudiod” again to reset Core Audio. Your browser (Google chrome) will generally work when you open it again.
Conclusion:
In this blog, we have covered all technical things to help you figure out why speakers are not working on Macbook and showed you how to fix the issue. However, if you still struggle with the same issues, it would be better to contact Apple Customer Support.