Sound Test

This sound test tells you in a few seconds whether your computer, phone or TV can play audio, then checks that every speaker plays from the right place. Press the big play button for a quick audio test: a chime and a spoken "testing, one, two, three" play through both sides, and a level meter shows the sound leaving the browser. Then play each speaker by itself. A recorded voice says its name (left, right, center, surround), so a silent or swapped speaker is obvious straight away. It works with laptop speakers, desktop speakers, headphones, Bluetooth earbuds, monitors and TVs on HDMI, and home theater systems, in any current browser on Windows, Mac, ChromeOS, Linux, iPhone and Android.

How to do a sound check

1. Set your system volume to about a third before you start.
2. Press the big play button. Answer Yes if you hear the chime and the voice. Answer No sound and the test shows fixes for the system you are using.
3. Press Check each speaker. Each speaker plays in turn with its name spoken. Answer Yes, No sound or Wrong place to build a verdict.
4. If you have more than two speakers, switch the layout to 2.1, 5.1 or 7.1 first.
5. Open Balance, Polarity and Sweep under the room drawing for the finer checks, and Test files to play the same test in another player.
6. Press Copy results to keep a summary for a support ticket or a warranty claim.

What the results mean

If the level bars move and you hear nothing, the browser is doing its part. The problem sits between your computer and your ears: the output device, a mute setting, a cable or the speakers themselves.

No sound at all

Work down this list. The first two cover most cases.

• The wrong output device is selected. On Windows 11, click the speaker icon on the taskbar, then the arrow next to the volume slider, and pick your speakers or headphones. On Windows 10, click the device name above the slider. On a Mac, open System Settings, then Sound, then Output.
• Something is muted. Check the system volume, the mute key on your laptop keyboard (often F1 with a small light), your speakers' own knob, and the browser's slider in the Windows Volume mixer (Settings, then System, then Sound, then Volume mixer). Right-click this tab and choose Unmute site if you see it.
• The speakers are off or in the wrong socket. Desktop speakers need power and the green 3.5 mm socket. Front panel sockets on a PC case are sometimes not connected inside.
• The browser blocks sound for this site. In Chrome, open Settings, then Privacy and security, then Site settings, then Additional content settings, then Sound, and check this site is not in the blocked list.
• A driver or the audio service has stopped. On Windows, run the Audio troubleshooter from Settings, then System, then Troubleshoot, then Other troubleshooters. If that fails, open Device Manager, expand Sound, video and game controllers, right-click your audio device and choose Update driver, then restart. On a Mac, restart, or run sudo killall coreaudiod in Terminal to restart the sound system.

Still silent after all that? The no sound on computer guide goes deeper into drivers, BIOS settings and hardware faults.

Sound plays from the wrong speakers or screen

Monitors and TVs connected by HDMI or DisplayPort appear as sound devices, and Windows often switches to them after an update or when a screen wakes up. Many monitors have tiny speakers or none, so the sound seems to vanish. Pick the device you want from the output list, then right-click the monitor in the Sound control panel (Settings, then System, then Sound, then More sound settings) and choose Disable if you never use it. Bluetooth headphones can grab the sound the moment they switch on, so check them too. If your speakers stay silent whichever device you choose, read speakers not working.

Sound works in other apps but not in the browser

• The tab or the whole site is muted. Chrome, Edge and Firefox show a crossed out speaker icon on a muted tab.
• The browser's own slider is down in the Volume mixer. Windows keeps a separate volume for every app.
• Another app has exclusive control of the device. Music and recording software can lock it. In the Sound control panel, open your device, then Properties, then Advanced, and untick Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device to test.
• The browser was opened before the device was plugged in. Close every browser window and open it again.

Crackling, popping or distorted sound

Distortion has a short list of causes. Try them in this order:

1. Too loud somewhere in the chain. Turn the app and system volume down and the speakers' own knob up. If the test crackles at minus 12 dB and a moderate speaker volume, run the Sweep: a damaged speaker buzzes at certain frequencies.
2. Audio effects. On Windows 11, open Settings, then System, then Sound, select your device and set Audio enhancements to Off. On Windows 10, open the device Properties in the Sound control panel and tick Disable all enhancements on the Enhancements tab. Laptop maker apps such as Dolby, Waves MaxxAudio, Nahimic or Realtek Audio Console can add their own effects.
3. A sample rate mismatch. In the device Properties, Advanced tab, set Default Format to 24 bit, 48000 Hz, which suits most USB headsets and HDMI devices.
4. Bluetooth interference. Move closer, charge the headphones, and keep the computer's Wi-Fi on 5 GHz if you can. A USB 3 port or hub right next to a wireless receiver also causes dropouts.
5. The system cannot keep up. Crackles that come and go with load point to a driver holding the processor. Update chipset, Wi-Fi and audio drivers, and set the power mode to Best performance while you test.
6. A loose plug. Wiggle the plug gently while the sound plays. Crackles that follow the movement mean a worn socket or a broken cable.

One side is silent or quieter

Check each speaker shows which side is affected. The usual causes are the balance slider in your sound settings, a mono audio setting, a plug pushed only halfway in, or a desktop speaker that lost the cable linking it to the other one. The left right audio test has the full list of fixes for every system, and the headphone test covers earbuds and headsets.

Surround speakers stay silent

To hear each speaker named from its own spot, open the speaker test and pick your layout. If you chose 5.1 or 7.1 and Outputs reachable shows 2, the browser cannot reach your rear speakers, so the test mixes them into the front pair. Set your system to 5.1 or 7.1 and connect the receiver by HDMI, not optical or ARC. The surround sound test explains every step, and the 7.1 surround sound test adds the side and rear pairs.

Sound test on a phone or tablet

On a phone, press the volume up button while the sound plays, because media volume is separate from the ringer. On iPhone, silent mode can mute web page sound. This test asks Safari to play anyway, but if you hear nothing, switch silent mode off. The sound may also be going to AirPods or a Bluetooth speaker: open Control Center and press the AirPlay icon to choose iPhone. On Android, check that Bluetooth is not sending the sound elsewhere and that Do Not Disturb allows media. If the phone's own speaker sounds muffled or faint, try the phone speaker test.

What a browser sound test cannot check

The test makes the sound, but only your ears can confirm what comes out of each speaker, so the verdict depends on your answers. The level meter proves the sound left the browser, not that it reached the room. A browser cannot measure frequency response or loudness in your room: for that you need a measurement microphone and free software such as Room EQ Wizard. A web page also sends plain multichannel audio, never a Dolby Atmos or DTS bitstream, which the dolby atmos test explains. The output picker works only in Chrome and Edge on a computer. Everywhere else, choose the output in your system settings.

Sound test questions