How do I turn off the sound when I hit a like on Facebook?
Facebook lets users interact with posts by clicking the Like button, which shows appreciation and shares the post with your friends. When you like a post, Facebook has included an audible sound effect that plays to confirm your like.
This sound effect was added by Facebook to provide users with satisfying feedback when they have liked something. It’s similar to the audible notifications you receive when receiving a new message or notification on the platform.
While some users enjoy the audible confirmation, others find it disruptive or unnecessary. The good news is you can control the like sound settings on Facebook to enable or disable sounds when liking posts and comments.
Current Default Settings for Likes
By default, Facebook emits an audible sound effect whenever you tap the “Like” button on a post. This occurs on both desktop and mobile versions of Facebook. The sound effect is meant to provide feedback and validation when giving a Like.
On desktop, the sound is a light tap or popping noise. On mobile, it’s a louder, more hollow tapping sound. The mobile sound is higher volume since phone speakers are smaller than desktop speakers.
This default setting has been in place for many years. The idea is that the sound reinforces the action of Liking content, making it feel more substantial. Facebook product designer Chuck Lee has compared it to “closing a door” or “slotting a cassette tape into a car stereo”. The sound aims to make the interface feel more physical.
However, many users find the sounds distracting or annoying over time, especially when browsing their News Feed and giving multiple Likes in quick succession. Thankfully, Facebook does allow muting these sounds for a quieter experience.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/help/ipad-app/1546034095653735
Why Facebook Added Sound to Likes
In 2016, Facebook introduced a subtle audio cue that plays whenever a user likes a post or comment on the platform. This “like” sound effect was added as a way to provide an instant feedback mechanism and dopamine hit to increase engagement.
According to an article on Medium, the audio cue triggers a positive reinforcement response. The sound taps into the brain’s reward system, making the act of liking something more satisfying. This fulfills the human desire for validation through likes and reactions.
Overall, Facebook determined that adding a subtle yet pleasing sound effect to liking actions would increase engagement. Users receive immediate audio feedback confirming they liked something successfully. The sound effect provides a dopamine rush that makes users more likely to continue scrolling and liking posts.
How to Mute Like Sounds on Desktop
On the Facebook website, you can mute the sound that plays when you like a post by going to your Settings and unchecking the option for like sounds. Here are the steps:
- Click on the down arrow in the top right corner and choose “Settings”.
- On the left sidebar, click “Sound”.
- Under “Sound Settings”, uncheck the box next to “Play a sound when I react to something or someone reacts to me”.
Once you uncheck this setting, you will no longer hear the sound effect when liking posts while browsing Facebook on your computer. The rest of the sound effects and notifications will still be audible. If you want to mute everything except messages, scroll down further and uncheck “Play sound for other notifications” as well.
For more information, refer to Facebook’s Help Center article on managing notification and sound settings.
How to Mute Like Sounds on Mobile
To mute like sounds in the Facebook mobile app for iOS or Android, you will need to adjust your notification settings:
1. Open the Facebook app on your iPhone or Android phone.
2. Tap on the three-line menu icon in the top right corner to open the menu.
3. Scroll down and tap on “Settings & Privacy”.
4. Tap on “Settings”.
5. Tap on “Sound”.
6. Toggle the “Like Sound” switch off. This will disable the sound when you tap Like on posts in the Facebook app.
Once you toggle the Like Sound off, you will no longer hear the notification sound when liking posts or comments within the Facebook mobile app. The rest of your Facebook notifications will still come through with sound unless you choose to mute those as well. You can toggle the Like Sound back on at any time by flipping the switch back on in your Sound settings.
How to Mute Specific Posts
If you don’t want to hear the like sound for one particular post, you can mute just that post. Here’s how to mute likes on a specific Facebook post on desktop and mobile:
On desktop:
- Click the three dots in the top right corner of the post.
- Select Mute Post from the dropdown menu.
On mobile:
- Tap the three dots below the post.
- Tap Mute Post.
This will disable notifications and sounds only for that specific post. You will still hear sounds for other Facebook activity and notifications. Muting a post is useful if you want to avoid getting notified about a particular post but don’t want to mute your entire News Feed.
Source: https://m.facebook.com/help/689458494480324
How to Mute All Notifications
You can mute all Facebook notifications so that you don’t hear any sounds when you receive them. This will silence likes, comments, messages, and other notifications site-wide.
To mute notifications on desktop:
- Go to the Settings page and click on “Notifications” in the left sidebar.
- Under the “Notifications” heading, uncheck the box next to “Play sound for notifications”.
- Scroll down and click “Save Changes”.
On mobile:
- Tap the three-line menu icon in the bottom right corner.
- Select “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings”.
- Tap on “Notifications”.
- Turn off the “Sound” switch at the top of the page.
This will mute all notification sounds across Facebook. You can go back anytime and enable sounds for specific notification types if desired.
Troubleshooting Tips
If muting sounds on Facebook isn’t working, there are a few troubleshooting steps you can try:
Log out of Facebook and log back in. Sometimes your sound settings can get stuck, and logging out and back in can reset them.
Clear your cache and cookies. On desktop, you can clear the browser cache and cookies. On mobile, go to the Facebook app settings and choose to clear the cache. Clearing the cache forces Facebook to reload its sound settings.
Check your Facebook notification settings. Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Notifications and make sure sounds are muted for different notification types like videos, posts, and comments. Toggle the sounds off if needed.
Update the Facebook app. An outdated version of the Facebook app could cause problems with sound settings. Install the latest version from the app store.
Restart your device. As a last resort, completely power off your phone, tablet or computer and turn it back on. This will wipe out any temporary glitches.
If you still can’t get Facebook sounds to mute after trying these troubleshooting tips, you may need to contact Facebook support for additional help.
Additional Sound Customization Options
Facebook allows you to customize sounds for specific notification types in your Settings. For example, you can set a unique sound when you receive a new friend request or message. This allows you to distinguish between different notifications you receive.
To customize notification sounds on desktop:
- Click on the arrow in the top right corner.
- Select “Settings & Privacy”.
- Click on “Settings”.
- Scroll down and click on “Notifications”.
- Under “Sounds”, you can customize the sound for News Feed notifications, messages, friend requests, and more.
On mobile:
- Tap the three line menu icon.
- Select “Settings & Privacy”
- Tap “Settings”
- Tap “Notifications”
- Select “Sounds” to customize sounds for different notification types.
This allows you to toggle notification sounds on or off for specific types of Facebook notifications. You can pick unique sounds to assign to each notification type.
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Conclusion
In summary, it is possible to easily mute the sound when you tap the Like button on Facebook, both on desktop and mobile. On desktop, you can go to Settings > Sound and mute notification sounds. On mobile, go to Settings & Privacy > Sound and disable Like sounds. You can also mute specific posts by tapping on the three dots in the top right corner, or mute all notifications by going to Settings & Privacy > Notifications > Sound. If you are still hearing sound effects, double check that sound effects are disabled across all platforms you use Facebook on. With these steps, you should be able to browse Facebook silently and Like posts without any bothersome audio effects.
Facebook added sounds to Likes in order to make the experience more interactive and engaging. However, if you find the sounds distracting you have options to disable them. You can customize your Facebook experience to suit your preferences.