How do I get the sound back on my notifications?

What are notifications?

Notifications are alert messages that appear on your Android device to let you know about app events, incoming communication, system information, and more (https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/views/notifications). They provide timely updates and reminders without you having to constantly check your apps.

There are different types of notifications that can appear:

Alerts – Banners that briefly pop up to notify you.

Sounds – Rings, vibrations, or other noises to get your attention.
Icons – Notification icons that appear in the status bar.
Banners – Larger alerts that hang around longer at the top of the screen.

Notifications are triggered by apps and the Android system to let you know about new messages, app events, pending updates, alarms, incoming calls, and more. Without notifications providing alerts, you’d have to constantly manually open apps to check for new activity (https://www.bobology.com/public/What-is-a-Notification.cfm).

Why is sound important for notifications?

Sound for notifications serves several important purposes for many users (source):

Alerts the user about new notifications and events on their device.

Allows users to customize sounds so they can identify the type of notification without looking at the screen.
Provides accessibility for users who are blind, low vision, or deaf by adding an audio cue for notifications.
Helps users with cognitive disabilities like ADD focus when important notifications arrive.

Without sound, users may miss time-sensitive information or urgent alerts. Custom notification sounds also allow personalization and individuality in how users interact with their devices (source). Enabling sound is especially crucial for accessibility, as it provides an audio notification cue for blind users, or acts as an alternative to visual alerts for deaf users.

Common reasons sound may stop working

There are a few common reasons why notification sounds may stop working on your Android device:

One common cause is a software bug or glitch. Apps and the Android operating system are constantly being updated and improved. Sometimes a bug in an app update or system update can cause notification sounds to fail. Trying rebooting your device or updating your apps to see if a software fix is available.

Another reason sounds may not work is if do not disturb mode is enabled on your device. Go to Settings > Sound and check if Do Not Disturb is turned on. This mode mutes all sounds except alarms and settings you specifically allow. Turn off Do Not Disturb to restore notification sounds.

Finally, a simple change to your sound settings could explain missing notification sounds. Open the Settings app and go to Apps & Notifications > Notifications > Advanced > Sound. Make sure your notification sound isn’t set to None and that the volume slider is turned up.

If you use a custom notification sound, try switching back to the default tone to see if that works. You can also try toggling the override Do Not Disturb switch on this screen.

Checking do not disturb settings

One of the most common reasons for missing notification sounds is having Do Not Disturb enabled. Do Not Disturb mode mutes sounds and vibrations from notifications. To check if Do Not Disturb is enabled:

1. Open the Settings app on your Android device.

2. Scroll down and tap Sound or Notifications.

3. Look for the Do Not Disturb setting. If the switch is on, Do Not Disturb is enabled.

To disable Do Not Disturb:

1. Open Settings and go to Sound/Notifications.

2. Tap the switch next to Do Not Disturb to turn it off.

With Do Not Disturb disabled, notification sounds should work again. You can customize Do Not Disturb to allow exceptions for certain contacts or apps according to this Google support article.

If Do Not Disturb is already off, the missing notification sound issue is likely caused by something else. Check the notification and app settings next.

Checking Notification Settings

To check your general notification settings and make sure sounds are enabled, you first need to access your device’s Settings menu. On Android, open the Settings app and select “Apps & notifications” (Google Support). From there, tap on “Notifications” and make sure the setting for “Default notification sound” or “Sound” is enabled and not set to silent or none.

If sounds are disabled here, simply tap on the setting and select one of the available notification sounds from the menu. This will enable sounds for app notifications globally on your device. You can also check for a “Do Not Disturb” toggle here and make sure it is disabled, as that can mute all sounds.

Checking app notification settings

Each app on your Android device has its own notification settings that you can control. To check an app’s notification settings:

1. Open the Settings app on your Android device.

2. Tap “Apps & notifications”.

3. Tap “See all apps”.

4. Tap on the app you want to adjust notifications for.

5. Tap “Notifications”.

Here you can toggle notifications on or off for that app, control which types of notifications you receive, and more. For example, you may want to mute notifications during certain times or days. You can also block notifications entirely from an app if desired.

Checking each app’s individual notification settings is important because you may have accidentally toggled off sound for notifications only within a certain app. If you don’t hear notifications from one app but do from others, this is the first place to check.

According to Google Support, notification settings for each app can vary but generally allow you to choose alerting or silent modes for different notification types.

Testing with different notification types

One way to troubleshoot missing notification sounds is to test different notification types across various apps. This can help identify whether the issue is isolated to a specific app or notification style.

First, check if sound works for banner notifications, which appear briefly at the top of the screen. Open different apps and trigger banner alerts, like receiving a new message in your messaging app. Check if any sounds play.

Next, see if popup notifications have sound. These are more prominent alerts that appear in the middle of the screen when activated. Test popups from apps like your calendar, email, or social media apps.

Finally, check your various apps’ notification settings to see if sounds are enabled for them specifically. Open the app’s settings and look for options like “Notifications” or “Notifications and Sounds.” Make sure none are muted.

If sounds only work for some notification types or apps, it points to an isolated software issue, like a notification sound setting needing to be re-enabled. But if no sounds play from any apps or alerts, it likely indicates a global system issue.

Updating or reinstalling apps

One common reason for notification sounds to stop working is that there is a bug in the app causing the issue. Apps frequently get updated to fix bugs and improve performance. If you haven’t updated an app in awhile, it could be running an old version with a notification sound bug. Updating your apps ensures you have the latest version with the newest fixes.

Go to the Play Store app and check if any apps have pending updates. Tap the update button next to each app to download the latest version. Once updated, test the app’s notifications again to see if sound is restored.

If updating doesn’t work, try uninstalling and reinstalling the problematic app. This will completely remove the app and do a clean install of the latest version. Open the Play Store, go to the app, and tap uninstall. Then search for and reinstall the app. With a fresh install, notification sounds may start working again.

Make sure to keep apps updated going forward. Enable auto-update in the Play Store for hassle-free updates. Also periodically check your installed apps for any available updates. Keeping apps updated is an easy way to prevent bugs like missing notification sounds (source).

Trying a Reset

If you’ve tried all other troubleshooting steps and notification sounds still aren’t working properly, a reset may help resolve the issue. There are two main types of resets to try:

Soft Reset

A soft reset allows you to restart the phone without erasing any data. To do a soft reset on Android:[1]

Hold down the power button for 30-60 seconds until the device restarts.
After restart, check if notifications are now playing sounds properly.

Often a soft reset is enough to fix minor software glitches causing notification sound problems. This restarts the operating system and clears any processes that may have been interrupting the sounds.

Hard Reset

If notification sounds continue to malfunction after a soft reset, a hard reset is the next step. This will erase all data and reset the device back to factory default settings.[2]

To complete a hard reset:

Go to Settings > System > Reset options.
Select Erase all data (factory reset).
Follow the prompts to confirm the reset and erase all data.

Set up the device again once completed.

This will give you a clean slate which should resolve any corrupted files or settings causing notification sounds to fail. Be sure to backup any important data first.

A factory reset is often the last resort to fix persistent technical issues like notification sounds not working properly after all other troubleshooting has failed.

[1] https://www.theedadvocate.org/10-ways-to-fix-notification-sound-not-working-on-android/
[2] https://www.thetechedvocate.org/top-10-ways-to-fix-notification-sound-not-working-on-android/

When to contact support

If the issue persists after trying the troubleshooting steps above, it may be time to contact support. The specific contact will depend on whether the problem seems to lie with your device’s operating system or a specific app.

For device issues, contact the device manufacturer’s support team, like Samsung or Huawei. Provide details on the troubleshooting you’ve tried and exactly when and how the notification sounds stopped working.

If the problem seems isolated to a particular app, check that app’s support site or help section. The app developers may be aware of notification sound glitches and have guidance on resolving it.

As a last resort, you can try your device or app store’s customer support. Provide your device details, OS version, and the troubleshooting steps you’ve taken. However, the device or app developers will likely have more specialized insight into notification sound issues.

Before contacting support, check for available device and app updates. Install any pending updates which could contain fixes for notification sound problems. Keep note of your troubleshooting for easy reference when explaining the issue.

With persistence and help from customer support, you should be able to resolve even difficult notification sound problems. Don’t hesitate to contact the device maker, app developer, or app store for assistance getting notifications to sound normal again.