A smartphone that is suddenly losing sound or audio output is most likely experiencing random software glitches. But if the symptom occurs after the phone was dropped or got wet, then it’s likely due to some damaged components. But prior reports however showed that many cases of sound problems among smartphones were attributed to software problems.
Among the common factors to blame include but not limited to misconfigured audio settings, rogue apps and bad updates. Tackled in this post is a relevant issue affecting the Galaxy Note 9. If ever you bumped into this page while finding solutions to no sound problem on your Galaxy Note 9, then consider the subsequent solutions I’ve mapped out as additional inputs.
Now, before anything else, if you have other issues with your phone, make sure you drop by our troubleshooting page for we have already provided solutions to hundreds of problems reported by our readers. Odds are that we may have already provided a solution to the problem you currently have so try to find issues that are similar with yours on that page and feel free to use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work or if you need further assistance, fill up our Android issues questionnaire and hit submit to contact us.
How to troubleshoot Note 9 that has no sound and other audio functions that don’t work
Before you troubleshoot software problems on your Galaxy Note 9, check and ensure that it’s not set to silent mode. All sounds on your phone are turned off if silent mode is turned on. Therefore, it has to be turned off. The easiest way to check if silent mode is enabled on your Galaxy Note 9 is through the notification panel. To access the panel, slide your finger downwards starting from the top of the Home screen. You will then see icons of the phone’s key features including sound. Tap the sound/audio icon to enable sound mode, if necessary. Test your phone to see if sound functions are already working after toggling the sound/mute icon off or on. You can open any sound or audio apps to check it works. If it still has no sound, then you may start troubleshooting with these subsequent methods.
First solution: Reboot/soft reset your Galaxy Note 9.
To clear random software errors from the underlying causes, performing a soft reset or restart your Galaxy Note 9 can help. A soft reset effectively clears minor software glitches caused by errant apps and data corruption. This is by far the simplest yet proven effective solution to various types of device issues attributed to software errors. If you haven’t yet restarted your phone since the no sound symptom first occurred, then you should do it now. Here’s how:
- Press the Power button for a few seconds until the power options appear.
- Select the option to Power off then tap OK to confirm. Your phone will then shutdown.
- After 30 seconds, press the Power button to turn your phone back on.
- Alternatively, you can press and hold the Power and Volume Down buttons simultaneously for up to 45 seconds. Then release both buttons when the phone restarts. This method is usually applied when the phone screen gets stuck or frozen.
A soft reset also helps free up some space of the internal memory by dumping temporary data or cache.
Second solution: Turn off Bluetooth on your Galaxy Note 9.
You won’t hear your phone making sound if it’s paired or connected to a Bluetooth-enabled audio device like Bluetooth headset, speaker, or Bluetooth car. To make sure this isn’t the root cause, try to disable Bluetooth connections on your Galaxy Note 9 then try if that will solve the no sound problem. Here’s how:
- Swipe up on an empty spot from the Home screen to open the Apps tray.
- Tap Settings.
- Tap Connections.
- Tap the Bluetooth switch to turn the feature OFF.
Doing so will disconnect your Galaxy Note 9 from any Bluetooth-enabled device it’s currently paired with. Audio outputs are now routed back to the built-in speakers of your phone.
Third solution: Boot your Galaxy Note 9 in safe mode.
Safe mode is a device state in which only the preinstalled apps and services are allowed to run. This allows you to diagnose apps-related issues including sound problems. If you suspect that a third-party app has ruined your phone’s audio functions, then follow these steps to enable safe mode on your Galaxy Note 9 to confirm:
- Turn your phone off.
- Then press and hold the Power button past the model name screen showing up on the screen.
- Release the Power button as soon as you see the Samsung logo on the screen.
- Immediately after releasing the Power button, press and hold the Volume Down button.
- Keep holding the Volume Down button until the phone is finished restarting.
- Release the Volume Down button when the Safe mode label appears at the bottom left corner of the screen.
Your phone is now running in safe mode, which means that all third-party apps and services are temporarily bypassed or disabled. At this point, test your phone to see if its sound or audio functions are working in safe mode. If sounds are working as intended while in safe mode, then a third-party app is the culprit. To solve the problem, you will need to manage that app or uninstall it, if necessary. But before you can do that, you have to determine which from your downloaded apps is at fault. To give you some clues, try to think of the last app you’ve downloaded before the no sound problem started. If you really couldn’t figure out, then you can just uninstall individual apps starting from your most recent download. Don’t forget to test your device after deleting an app to see if the sound problem is already fixed.
Fourth solution: Update phone software to the latest version available.
Software updates can likewise address the problem if it’s inflicted by software bugs. Bug fixes are usually embedded into a software update for security enhancements. Thus any bug-inflicted symptoms including sound errors will be cleared. To manually check for and install the latest software update for your Galaxy Note 9, follow these steps:
- Swipe up on an empty spot from the Home screen to open the Apps tray.
- Tap Settings.
- Select Software update.
- Tap the option to Download updates manually.
- Wait for your phone to check for updates.
- When it’s done checking, tap OK then select Start to instigate update download and installation.
- Once the update is completely installed, you will be prompted to restart. Tap OK to restart your phone.
After the restart, test the audio functions and see if your phone is already making sound as intended.
Fifth solution: Wipe cache partition on your Galaxy Note 9.
System caches that have been corrupted can also cause conflict to system functions of your phone. It’s possible that the audio system is the one affected this time. To clear this out, wiping cache partition can help. Here’s how it’s done:
- Turn off your phone.
- With the phone powered off, press and hold the Volume Up button and the Bixby button, then press and hold the Power button.
- When the Android logo displays, release all three buttons.
- An ‘Installing system update’ message will show for 30 – 60 seconds before the Android system recovery menu options appear.
- From the Android system recovery menu, press the Volume Down button several times to highlight wipe cache partition.
- Press Power button to confirm selection.
- Press the Volume Down button to highlight yes, them and press the Power button to select.
- When the wipe cache partition is complete, Reboot system now is highlighted. Press the Power button to restart the phone.
Wiping cache partition deletes temporary files that are stored as cache in system folders. This is recommended especially when the phone goes rogue following a new update installation.
Other options
You may attempt to reset all settings on your Galaxy Note 9 if the problem continues after wiping cache partition. Doing so will restore the default settings on your phone without losing any saved data. This would be necessary if your Note 9 started to lose sound or audio outputs after installing a software update. It’s possible that the update had altered some settings automatically and that yielded to some conflicts.
If none of the given solutions is able to fix the problem and your Galaxy Note 9 still has no sound, then your device is likely having some sort of physical or liquid damage and therefore needs service. You can take your phone to the nearest Samsung service center in your area and have it thoroughly checked by an authorized technician instead.
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