Sound not working in MacOS or MacBook? Try these tips!

On a Mac, sound or audio is one of the easiest components to set up. A Mac user never needs to install drivers, and macOS natively supports almost any external audio device you can connect to a Mac, including but not limited to most Bluetooth audio devices.

If you look through the Mac settings, you'll notice that macOS has basic audio controls in the Mac System Preferences and more advanced audio settings in the form of the Audio MIDI settings.

Audio works seamlessly on macOS. At most, you will need to change the audio device in use if you have more than one device connected, but other than that there is nothing a user needs to do.

That said, a Mac can run into audio issues from time to time. A Mac is not immune to hardware problems, nor is it immune to software problems. However, there are some steps you can check beforehand if the sound on your Mac is not working.

• Make sure your volume is not muted.
• If you play sound through external hardware such as speakers or they are connected to your Mac via Bluetooth, USB or Thunderbolt.
• Make sure the volume on your external hardware is not muted.
• Restart your Mac.
• Check that the software you are using to play audio, for example “Boom 3D”, is started and working properly.

If you are using an external audio device, such as Bluetooth headphones or wired headphones, connect them to another device and check if they work. If not, it may be damaged.

If you are using an external device such as an external speaker, try using another device to check if you are getting sound from the built-in speakers.

Sound not working on Mac computer

To start, check in the Sound preferences which device is set in the audio output settings.

Select audio output device

In the Mac menu, next to the time and date, click the Sound Settings icon. In the sound preferences menu, choose Sound preferences.

Click on the tab: Output. Select the device you want the sound to come from. By default these are the Internal speakers, but you can also choose here (if connected of course) for a paired Bluetooth device or the external monitor via DisplayPort.

You can also set the sound balance and output volume for the selected audio device here.

Once you have selected the output device, close all apps and try again.

Restart audio service

Restarting the audio services, especially after connecting or switching to a new audio device, can fix audio problems on a Mac.

Press the Command button (⌘) + Spacebar at the same time. Spotlight will now open. In the Spotlight window type: Terminal.

In the Terminal window type: sudo pkill coreaudiod

Now restart all apps that use audio.

Reset NVRAM and SMC

If the above solutions do not work, the audio hardware may be offline. This can happen and the easiest way to get it back is to perform an NVRAM and SMC reset.

Reset NVRAM

1. Shut down your Mac.
2. Restart it and immediately hold down Option+Command+P+R.
3. Press and hold the buttons for 10 seconds and release them.
4. Let it restart your Mac.

SMC reset

This is only for an iMac, not a MacBook.

1. Turn off the Mac.
2. Wait 15 seconds.
3. Plug in the Mac and start it up.

The following is only for a MacBook without a removable battery.

1. Shut down the Mac.
2. Press and hold Left Shift+Control+Option and the Power button (or Touch ID button) for 10 seconds.
3. Release the keys and turn on the Mac.

Lees meer: Increase sound volume on a Mac.

I hope this helped you. Thank you for reading!