Is your iPad not producing sound in certain applications? It may work fine while playing music or streaming YouTube videos, but some games or apps are completely muted.
Sound issues like this can be difficult to fix because one day you might hear an app sound, but the next day it’s muted. Or maybe you’re using the app for a bit, open another app, and then go back to the first one to find that it’s suddenly not making any sounds anymore.
How to fix a silent iPad
If you’ve already tried restarting your iPad to no avail, and you know there aren’t a pair of headphones plugged into the headphone jack, there are a couple more things you can try.
Turn off iPad
Since there is a button to mute your iPad inside Control Center for easy access, it is easy to understand how you can accidentally mute iPad. What’s strange is that even with a muted iPad, some apps can still make noise, regardless of settings.
- Open Control Center by swiping up from the bottom of the screen to display a menu. Be sure to drag from the bottom of the screen, you can even drag from the outer edge of the screen to make sure it hooks to the bottom.
- Look for the mute button . It’s muted if it’s highlighted, just tap once to unmute iPad. The mute button looks like a bell (may have a slash on some iPads).
Turn up the volume from within the app
The system volume may be turned up and the iPad is not muted, but the app itself needs the volume to be turned up. This can happen if you’re using one app to play sounds but then open another one that also requires sound, and then go back to the first one.
- Open the app that is not making noise.
- Use the volume up button on the side of the iPad to turn up the volume, but make sure you do it with the open app .
Check the sound within the app settings
Most gaming apps have their own volume control, and when this is the case, they usually allow you to mute game sounds or even background music. You may have one or both options turned on, effectively muting the app.
Go to the settings for that app (i.e. open the app and look for a “Settings” area) and see if you can turn the sound back on.
Is the side switch muted?
Older iPad models have a switch on the side that can mute and unmute the tablet. The switch is right next to the volume controls, but if it doesn’t mute the iPad when you toggle it on, it may be set to lock the screen orientation.
It’s possible to change the behavior of the iPad side switch within settings if you want to use it to mute or unmute your iPad.