No sound and other audio problems on Samsung Galaxy A7 and other smartphones can be associated with different factors including malware infections, app glitches, faulty updates, misconfigured audio settings, and in worst cases, hardware damage. Learn what to do whenever you encounter a similar issue on your Galaxy A7 with the help of this post.
But before we actually jump to our troubleshooting, if you have other issues with your device, then try to visit our Galaxy A7 troubleshooting page for we have already addressed the most commonly reported issues with this device. Try to find issues that are similar with yours and use the solutions and workarounds we suggested. If they don’t work for you or if you need more help, then feel free to contact us by filling up our Android issues questionnaire. Just give us the information we need and we’ll help you solve your problem.
What causes your Galaxy A7 to lose audio or sound output?
Sound problem appears to be one of the common issues encountered by many users of Galaxy devices especially after installing a new software update. It turned out that the update automatically switched off audio or sound options for certain apps, ringtones, and notifications. This can occur on your device after installing update for apps or Android itself. Aside from software issues, dust and dirt clogging the phone’s sound output channels like the headphone jack and speakers can also be the culprit. With the presence of these factors, the overall audio performance of your phone might be affected. Aside from software issues and dirts on the speakers or headphone jack, the Galaxy A7 sound functions can likewise malfunction due to some bad components or hardware damage. This is often the case if you happened to drop your phone hard or got it wet. It is very likely for your phone to acquire physical or liquid damage from these prior instances. Symptoms of hardware damage may not show up immediately though but if your phone got into any of these circumstances then you couldn’t just neglect this possibility. To help you determine whether or not the sound problem on your Galaxy A7 is inflicted by physical or liquid damage to the relevant audio components, try to troubleshoot the software first. If none of the applicable workarounds is able to fix the problem, then that’s the point when you’ll need to consider having your phone carefully assessed by a technician.
Potential solutions to audio problems on your Galaxy A7
A recommended approach in troubleshooting software-related issues in mobile devices is to think of what has happened prior to the onset of the problem. This means that you need to backtrack the changes you’ve made and actions done to your phone before it started to lose sound or show other audio symptoms. Once you figured out the root cause, you can go ahead and work straight on a solution. However, there are just some instances when the problem just occurred to your device and you couldn’t get to identify the underlying cause. In this case, you may attempt to fix the problem using a trial-and-error troubleshooting approach. All you have to do is try all applicable solutions then test your device to find out the output. To give you some more inputs, here’s a list of standard solutions and pertinent workarounds for you to try on.
Before anything else, make sure to clean up the headphone jack or music dock. Try to insert headphones into the headphone jack then take them out, repeat the process for at least five times. Doing so can help dislodge any dirt or dust that might have build up inside the headphone jack. Or you can use an old toothbrush to brush out the music dock for a few minutes.
If this doesn’t work, then proceed with these subsequent solutions. Don’t forget to test your phone’s audio or sound functions after performing each method so that you’ll know if the problem is fixed or not.
Restart your phone (soft reset)
Many software-related issues in mobile devices are rectified by a simple restart or soft reset. This has been among the first recommended solution to random glitches transpiring in various types of mobile devices including the Galaxy A7. So if this happens to be the first instance when you notice your phone is not emitting any sound, then you should give soft reset a try then see what happens.
To perform a soft reset on your Galaxy A7, simply press the Power button for a few seconds until the phone turns off. After 30 seconds press the Power button again to restart.
Alternatively, you can do a forced restart by holding down the Power button and the Volume Down button simultaneously for about 7 seconds until the Samsung logo appears. Your phone then power cycles.
Neither of these restarts will affect your phone data for as long as done correctly so there’s no need to worry of losing any of your personal information.
Verify and ensure sound settings are properly configured
Sometimes, the sound settings including the volume level are automatically changed after installing a new app, or software update on your device. To make sure everything is properly set, care to verify the audio settings on your Galaxy A7.
To do so, launch the Notification panel then navigate to Settings-> Sound menu. Check the settings for volume, ringtones, notifications, and other audio features and make sure they are properly configured.
Another thing you can try working on is the Accessibility settings. To access this meu, go to Apps-> Settings-> Accessibility-> Hearing. Then check to ensure if the option to turn off all sounds option is not selected. If selected, it mutes all sounds made by the phone during taps, selections and notifications. Deselect this option if necessary.
Restart your phone after making necessary changes to these settings then try to see if sound is working fine again.
Check sound/audio function in safe mode
Booting into safe mode can help you isolate or determine whether or not the problem is triggered by a third-party application on your device. Only the stock apps are able to run in this mode.
- Turn off your phone.
- Press and hold the Power button for a few seconds.
- When the Samsung logo appears, release the Power button then immediately hold the Volume Down button.
- Keep holding the Volume Down button until the phone reboots.
- When your phone boots up, you will see the Safe Mode label at the bottom left corner of the screen.
Try to test your phone’s audio functions while in safe mode. If the problem does not occur or your sounds are working as intended, uninstall third-party applications particularly the ones you suspected inflicting the issue. You can try uninstalling the more recent apps (individually) you’ve downloaded then see if that fixes the problem.
To uninstall third-party apps, go to Apps-> Settings-> Application Manager. Then select the app you want to remove and click Uninstall to confirm.
If that won’t help either, then try other options.
Verify and make sure that Bluetooth is turned off
When Bluetooth is enabled on your Galaxy A7, it is possible that the audio output is set to a Bluetooth device like a car stereo, headset, or speaker. Needless to say, you won’t be hearing any sound coming from your phone in this case. To rule this out from the possible cause, you can just disable Bluetooth on your phone the retry testing audio outputs.
To disable Bluetooth, go to Apps-> Settings-> Bluetooth menu, then tap the Bluetooth switch to turn it on or off.
You can also turn Bluetooth off by accessing the notification panel on your Galaxy A7. To do so, simply swipe down on the status bar on your device. Once you’re in the panel, simply tap the Bluetooth icon to turn it on or off. Again you will need to turn Bluetooth off in this case.
After making changes to your Bluetooth settings, restart your phone then try to see if sound functions are already working as intended.
Check for available software update to install
Installing a software update might be necessary especially if the problem is caused by some bugs or malware dwelling in and ruining the system functions on the phone. Aside from bringing in new and enhanced features, software updates also contain bug fixes to address existing problem including sound problems on the Galaxy A7.
To check for available update, go to Settings-> About device-> Software Update menu.
Or follow these steps instead:
- Tap Apps from the Home screen.
- Tap Settings.
- Select Software updates or About Device-> Software updates.
You will see a notification if an update is available. If there is, back up your data for safekeeping then follow the onscreen instructions to proceed with the update download and installation.
Factory reset / Master reset
A master reset or factory reset can be considered as the very last option if you’ve reached this point with the same no sound issue persisting on the phone. The problem might be just too complex and therefore requires a more advanced solution. This reset however will completely wipe out all your data from your device and restores the factory default options. The process can be tedious and could take some time especially if you’ve already stored a lot of contents in your device. But then again, it might be worth a try.
Before you proceed, make sure you back up every critical information you have on your device. Once everything is set, follow these steps:
- Turn off your phone by pressing the Power button until it shuts down.
- Press and hold the Volume Up, Home, and Power buttons simultaneously for a few seconds or until you see the Samsung logo.
- Then press the Volume Down button to highlight or select Wipe data/factory reset from the recovery menu options.
- Press the Power button to confirm selection.
- Next, press the Volume button to select Yes — delete all user data option, then press the Power button to confirm selection.
- Finally, use the Volume button to highlight or select Reboot system now option then press the Power button to confirm.
Your phone will then restart. Once it completely boots up, try to test the sound functions and see if the problem is fixed.
What to do if the sound problem continues after the master reset?
If the problem persists or your Galaxy A7 still has no sound after carrying out standard solutions and applicable workarounds, then at this point you may consider reaching out to Samsung Support for further assistance and recommendations. Problem escalation is also necessary especially if the problem started to occur after an update installation. Doing so can help the Support team tag the problem among other post-updates issues to be addressed in the next firmware update rollout.
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