Why is my notification sound not working?

Check Your Phone’s Sound Settings

The first step in troubleshooting notification sounds is to confirm your general sound and vibration settings are enabled. Open your phone’s Settings app and go to the Sound & Vibration or Sound menu (settings vary by device). Ensure the sound and vibrate modes are switched on by toggling the sliders or buttons on (reference source).

Next, check that both the media volume and notifications volume sliders are turned up sufficiently to hear sounds. You may need to adjust these levels higher if your notification sounds seem quiet or muted (reference source).

Finally, make sure ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode is disabled, as this will mute all sounds and notifications. If it’s on, turn it off and test if your notification sounds now work.

Check the Notification Settings

The first troubleshooting step is to open the settings for the app that is missing notifications and check if notifications are enabled with a sound selected. Here are the steps:

1. Open the Settings app on your Android phone.
2. Tap “Apps & notifications.”
3. Select the app that is missing notifications.
4. Tap “Notifications.”
5. Confirm the toggle is enabled to allow notifications for this app.
6. Under “Importance,” check that “Sound” is selected. If not, tap it to enable a sound with notifications.

If the app’s notifications are enabled with sound but you are still not hearing them, the issue likely lies elsewhere. Continue troubleshooting by checking your overall sound settings, restarting your phone, looking for blocked notifications, and more as covered in the following sections.

For detailed steps on managing notifications for any app on Android, see Google’s support guide.

Check If the Notification Sound is Muted

If the notification sound is not working on your Android phone, one of the first things to check is if the notification sound has been muted. Here are the steps to check if notification sounds are muted:

Go to Settings > Sounds (or Notifications) > Advanced Settings. On Android phones, the path to the notification sound settings may vary slightly depending on the manufacturer. Look for an option to mute or disable notification sounds and make sure it is not enabled [1].

Often under Advanced Settings, there is a toggle for “Do Not Disturb” or “Mute Notifications.” If enabled, this will mute all notification sounds. Disable it to turn notification sounds back on.

There may also be an option like “App Notifications” or “Notification Sounds” that allows you to selectively mute notifications from specific apps. Check if your problem app’s notifications are muted here and unmute them.

Basically, thoroughly check all the notification and sound settings to ensure notification sounds are not globally or selectively muted. Once you have enabled notification sounds, they should start working again.

Restart Your Phone

Restarting your phone completely can often resolve issues with notification sounds not working properly. When a phone is powered on and in use for an extended period, it can accumulate minor software glitches over time. Restarting the phone clears out these glitches and resets the phone, which may fix the problem.

To restart your phone:

1. Hold down the power button for a few seconds until you see the “Power off” prompt.
2. Tap “Power off” to completely shut down the phone.
3. Once the phone is off, press and hold the power button again to turn it back on.

Allow the phone to fully reboot and go through the startup process. Then check if your notification sounds are now working. Restarting clears out any minor glitches and resets the audio software, which can resolve sound issues like missing notification tones.

If the problem persists after restarting, it’s likely caused by another issue, and you may need to investigate other troubleshooting steps like updating apps or checking notification settings.

Check for Blocked Notifications

Sometimes notification sounds may not work if certain apps are being blocked from sending notifications. To check for this:

Go to Settings > Notifications. Look for the list of apps under “Recently Sent” or “All Apps.” Check if any desired apps are being blocked from notifying you. Make sure that the notification settings for your desired apps are enabled to allow notifications.

For example, if you are not getting text message notifications, open the Messaging app’s notification settings and make sure they are enabled. Additionally, check if notifications are blocked at the system level by going to Settings > Apps & Notifications > Notifications and ensuring no apps are disabled.

Enabling notifications for desired apps in Settings should resolve any problems with specific apps not able to notify you. According to the NotificationSync app, blocking notifications can prevent sounds from working properly.

Update Your Apps

One potential cause of notification sound issues is outdated apps. App developers regularly release updates that fix bugs, improve performance, and add new features. According to Lifewire, app updates often address things like crashes, security flaws, and notification problems.

To check for app updates on an iPhone or iPad, open the App Store app and tap on your profile icon in the top right. Then select “App Updates” to see any available updates. On Android, open the Play Store app and tap on the hamburger menu icon in the top left. Select “My Apps & Games” and then “Updates” to view updates.

Install any available app updates by tapping the “Update” button next to each app. This will download and install the latest version which may fix notification sound bugs. Keeping your apps fully updated is a good general practice for getting the best performance and functionality.

Check Third-Party Apps

Third-party apps from outside the official app store can sometimes cause issues with your device. To troubleshoot, try uninstalling any apps you’ve downloaded recently from third-party sources to see if one of them is causing the problem:

Go to Settings > Apps and uninstall any apps you’ve downloaded in the past few days or weeks. Pay particular attention to apps not downloaded directly from the Play Store.

After uninstalling, check if your notification sound starts working again. If so, the issue was being caused by one of the apps you uninstalled.

To identify the problematic app, you can reinstall the apps you removed one-by-one, testing your notification sound each time. When the sound stops working again, you’ll know that the last app you installed is the culprit.

Be cautious when downloading apps outside the Play Store, as they may not be vetted for malware or stability issues. For more info, see this guide on the risks of third-party apps.

If uninstalling third-party apps doesn’t resolve the issue, you may need to try additional troubleshooting steps like restarting your device, updating apps, or resetting app preferences.

Try Safe Mode

One troubleshooting step to diagnose notification sound issues is to boot your phone into safe mode. Safe mode loads Android without any third-party apps running in the background. This can help identify if the issue is being caused by an installed app.

To enter safe mode on Android:

1. Press and hold the power button until the “Power off” prompt appears.
2. Long press the “Power off” option. This will open a “Reboot to safe mode” dialog.
3. Tap “OK” to confirm and restart your phone in safe mode.

Once in safe mode, check if your notification sounds are working properly. If the sounds work fine in safe mode, then a third-party app is likely causing the issue when not in safe mode.

To exit safe mode, simply restart your phone normally. Then, you can begin troubleshooting which app is responsible by testing notification sounds after selectively disabling apps. If the issue recurs after enabling a particular app, that app should be uninstalled or its notifications settings reviewed.

Entering safe mode provides an easy way to isolate if third-party apps are disrupting your notification sounds on Android. By process of elimination in and out of safe mode, you can identify the problematic app.

Reset App Preferences

One potential solution for fixing notification sound issues is to reset your app preferences (Digital Trends, 2021). This will reset any customized app settings back to their defaults. To reset app preferences on Android:

1. Go to Settings > Apps.
2. Tap the More menu (⋮) in the upper-right corner.
3. Select Reset App Preferences.

Resetting app preferences essentially clears any customizations you’ve made to app permissions, notifications, defaults, and more. It can help resolve issues caused by problematic app settings (Digital Uncoded, 2023). By resetting everything to default, it may fix notification sound problems. Just keep in mind that you’ll have to reconfigure any custom settings you want after resetting.

Factory Reset Your Phone

As a last resort, you can reset your phone back to its factory settings to erase any software issues causing problems with your notification sounds. This will erase all data and settings on your phone and revert it back to its original state.

Be sure to backup any important data first. You can backup to the cloud, a computer, or an external hard drive. Then, go to Settings -> System -> Reset options and select “Erase all data (factory reset)”. Follow the prompts to fully reset your phone.

According to an answer on Quora, factory resetting your phone frequently can potentially damage it: https://www.quora.com/If-I-do-a-factory-reset-on-any-smartphone-does-it-decrease-any-performance-or-does-it-harm-or-reduce-any-effect-in-hardware-or-software-by-factory-resetting-the-end-number-of-times. So only use a factory reset as a last resort when troubleshooting notification sound issues.