How do I silence the Sound on Facebook?

Facebook plays various sounds for notifications, videos, ads, and other content. These sounds can become disruptive and annoying over time, especially with frequent Facebook use.

The goal of this guide is to show readers how to silence or mute sounds on Facebook’s website and mobile app. We’ll cover how to mute notifications, videos, ads, games, and adjust general sound settings. By the end, you’ll know how to control Facebook’s audio so it doesn’t interrupt you unnecessarily.

Identify Sound Sources

There are several places on Facebook where sounds may occur:

Notifications – Facebook notifications like messages, friend requests, post reactions, etc. often have accompanying sound effects. These can be controlled in the Notifications settings.
Videos – Videos in the News Feed will automatically play with sound unless you disable video autoplay or mute the sound specifically for videos. You can adjust video sound settings under Settings & Privacy.
Ads – Facebook ads may contain audio that plays automatically when scrolling past them. The sound for ads can be muted under Settings & Privacy.

Games – Games and apps on Facebook frequently have their own sound effects and music. Each individual game or app will have sound options to mute the audio.
Messages – Chat messages and calls on Messenger will ring and alert you with sound. These can be muted within Messenger settings.
Pages and Groups – Live videos and other content from Pages and Groups can also contain audio. You will need to mute those Pages or Groups individually.

So in summary, the main sources of sound on Facebook are notifications, videos, ads, games/apps, Messenger, and Pages/Groups. Each area offers individual audio controls.

Mute Notifications

Muting notifications allows you to disable sounds and alerts for specific people or pages you follow on Facebook, or all notifications if you wish. This is one of the quickest and most direct ways to silence sounds on Facebook.

To mute notifications on the Facebook website, go to a person or page’s profile and click on the “Follow” button. Here you’ll see options to mute notifications. You can also go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Notifications and select “Off” next to any person or page you follow.

On the Facebook mobile app, go to the three line Menu > Settings & Privacy > Settings > Notifications. Tap on a specific person or page to customize notification settings. You can also select “Off” next to any person, page or group to mute notifications.

To mute all notifications on mobile, go to Menu > Settings & Privacy > Settings > Notifications and switch “Notifications” to off. On desktop, go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Notifications and deselect everything under the “Get notifications about” section.

Sources:

How do I turn off or change notification sounds on Facebook?

Turn off Facebook notifications in Windows 10

Mute Videos

Videos in the Facebook feed will autoplay by default and also play sound automatically. To mute video sounds on Facebook:

On the website, go to the Settings menu and select “Settings”. Under the “Videos” section, turn off the setting for “Autoplay Videos with Sound”. This will prevent videos from autoplaying with sound as you scroll through the Facebook feed.

On the Facebook mobile app for iOS or Android, go to the Settings & Privacy menu, select “Settings” and go to the “Media” preferences. Turn off the “Videos Start With Sound” option. This will stop videos in the feed from automatically playing audio.

You can also tap on the three dots above any video post and select “mute” to turn off sound for individual videos.

Stop Video Autoplay

One of the main sources of unexpected sound on Facebook is videos auto-playing as you scroll through your feed. To prevent videos from playing automatically and generating unwanted sound, you can disable the autoplay feature.

On the Facebook website, click the down arrow in the top right corner and select “Settings”. Go to the “Videos” tab and deselect the “Autoplay Videos” option to turn it off. This will stop videos in your feed from automatically playing as you scroll.

In the Facebook mobile app, go to “Settings” from the menu and select “Media and Contacts”. Turn off the toggle next to “Autoplay Videos” to disable video autoplay and prevent sounds from playing without warning.

According to Facebook’s Help Center, turning off autoplay is the best way to avoid unexpected sounds from videos in your feed on both desktop and mobile.

Mute Ads

One of the most common sound annoyances on Facebook is autoplaying video ads. The audio from video ads will start automatically as you scroll through your feed. To mute ad sounds on Facebook:

On the Facebook website:
– Click on the three line “hamburger” icon in the top right corner
– Select “Settings”
– Click on “Ads” in the left sidebar
– Toggle “Sound” off

In the Facebook mobile app:
– Tap the three line icon in the top right
– Go to “Settings & Privacy”
– Select “Settings”
– Choose “Media and Contacts”
– Toggle “Autoplay Videos and Ads” off

This will prevent ads from playing audio automatically as you scroll through Facebook. Note that it will mute all ad video sound, not just a specific ad.¹ You will have to manually unmute an ad if you want to hear the audio.

Disable In-Game Sounds

One of the main sources of sound on Facebook is from games played through the platform. Many popular games like Candy Crush, Slotomania, and Words with Friends have audio and music that automatically plays when launching the game.

To disable sounds for games played through Facebook:

Open the Facebook app and tap the three-line “hamburger” menu icon in the top right corner.
Scroll down and select “Settings & Privacy”.

Tap “Settings”.
Under “Media and Contacts”, toggle off “Sounds in Games” to disable game sounds.

With this setting disabled, you’ll no longer hear sounds effects, music, or audio prompts when launching Facebook games. This allows you to play games quietly without disruptive sounds.

Note that some games may still have a separate in-game sound setting that needs to be adjusted. Check each individual game’s audio options for full sound control.

Adjust Sound Settings

Facebook offers several settings to control sounds for videos, ads, notifications and more. You can adjust these in both the website and mobile app versions of Facebook.

On the Facebook website, click the down arrow at the top right and go to “Settings”. Then click on “Sound” on the left sidebar. Here you can toggle sound effects on or off for videos, messages, notifications, and other features. Unchecking any of these boxes will mute that sound.

In the Facebook mobile app, go to the menu (three line icon) and tap “Settings & Privacy”. Choose “Settings” and scroll down to “Media”. Tap on “Sound” and you can disable “In-App Sounds” to mute all sounds. You can also individually adjust sounds for videos and messages in their respective sections.

The mobile app also has a section called “Notifications” in Settings where you can disable sounds for specific notification types. Toggle off any notification sounds you don’t want to hear.

Using these sound settings, you have granular control to mute sounds from videos, ads, notifications, and any other audio that automatically plays in Facebook. Adjust them to suit your preferences.

Use a Browser Extension

One option to mute or hide Facebook sounds is to use a browser extension. There are many Chrome and Firefox extensions that can help mute sounds and distractions on Facebook specifically:

UnDistracted – allows you to hide the Facebook news feed and mute all sounds.
Social Fixer – lets you filter content in your Facebook feed to hide unwanted posts and mute notifications.

MuteTab – completely mutes the Facebook tab so you don’t hear any sounds.

These extensions work by blocking certain content or muting the entire tab. This can be an easy “one-click” way to eliminate Facebook sounds.

Summary

Facebook offers several ways to silence sounds based on your preferences. The main options include: muting notifications, muting videos, disabling video autoplay, muting ads, turning off in-game sounds, and adjusting sound settings in the Facebook app and on your device.

You can customize notifications and video settings to control which sounds you hear on Facebook. The settings allow granular control to mute specific things like ads or games. There is also an overall toggle to disable in-app sounds entirely. These settings are available on both mobile apps and the desktop site.

The key is understanding where to access the sound controls depending on what you want to mute. With all of the configuration options, you can fine-tune Facebook’s audio to your liking and avoid unwanted sounds.