Why Is My Samsung TV Mute? (How to Fix)

I recently had an issue with my Samsung TV where the sound suddenly stopped working – the TV was mute! I was frustrated and didn’t know what to do so I decided to do some research and testing to solve the problem. In this blog post, I’m here to share how I solved my issue and provide other solutions I discovered along the way.

Unfortunately, Samsung TVs losing their sound or having audio problems seems to be a recurring complaint. Most of the time, there’s nothing wrong with the TV’s hardware, and it’s mostly a software issue. This can be solved by resetting your device in several different ways.

Tips
Audio loss on Samsung TV is usually due to a software issue.
Resetting the device in several different ways can fix the problem.
Possible causes include external speakers being connected, insufficient memory, and software glitches.
To return audio to internal speakers, go to Settings > Sound > Sound Output and select TV Speakers.
To remove unused and automatically downloaded apps, go to Source > Apps and delete them.
Resetting your TV, Smart Hub, and/or performing a Software Update in the Self Diagnosis menu can fix more complex issues.

Table of Contents

Why Is My Samsung TV Mute?

There are several possible reasons why Samsung TVs go mute all of a sudden. Some of them have to do with the device’s settings, and some are software glitches. Let’s go over them in detail.

The Audio is Set to External Speakers

This one is probably the simplest reason why your Samsung TV is mute. TVs come with internal speakers that project audio; however, smart TVs can also connect to external speakers via cable or Bluetooth.

If your TV is connected to an external sound system, this triggers an internal mute setting. Using the remote to click mute or unmute won’t affect it at all; audio has to be reverted to the internal speakers.

The Device’s Internal Memory is Too Full

A common problem today with all the different streaming services and smart TV apps is insufficient memory. These apps take up a lot of the TV’s storage space, and this can affect basic controls like audio.

Deleting some of the unused or automatically downloaded apps can make a huge difference in the available memory. This way, you can clear up enough space to use your TV controls as usual.

It’s a Software Glitch

More often than not, the audio issue is a software glitch resulting from not updating the software often enough. Or, your TV may need a factory reset.

There are multiple ways this can affect your Samsung TV’s audio, from volume up and down controls not working and the mute sign flashing to loss of sound on all channels without any screen indication. You can take care of that by resetting your Samsung TV.

How to Fix a Mute Samsung TV?

The fix for your mute Samsung TV will differ depending on which of the problems mentioned above you’re facing. So let’s tackle each of them in order:

Return Audio to Internal Speakers

For the first fix, follow these steps:

Click on the Settings button on your remote

Choose Sound from the menu
Choose Sound Output
If it’s set to any kind of external speakers, select TV Speakers instead

This should take care of the problem if your device was connected to malfunctioning Bluetooth speakers.

Remove Unused and Automatically Downloaded Apps

This should take care of insufficient space leading to loss of volume control.

On your remote, choose Source

Select Apps
Review all the downloaded apps, and you might find a few you’ve never used on there
Press the Select button on your remote for a couple of seconds

Choose Delete to delete the apps you don’t need

A common complaint here would be the “basic apps” that Samsung downloads automatically, which can’t be deleted. However, these apps usually don’t take up much space, to begin with, so you shouldn’t worry too much about them.

Reset Your Samsung TV

Resetting your TV can take care of multiple issues that fall under the “software glitches” category.

It can be done the old-fashioned way by unplugging your TV, waiting for at least 60 seconds, then plugging it back in. This seems to solve the audio problems for many users.

You can also use the device’s controls to reset Smart Hub, which is the smart controller Samsung uses. To do that, follow these steps:

Click on the Settings button on your remote

Select Support from the Settings menu
Choose Self Diagnosis
Select Reset Smart Hub

This usually takes about 60 seconds to come into effect, and most users report that the sound controls come back to normal after they do that.

However, sometimes factory resetting your Samsung TV is the only option left when these fixes don’t work out. To do that:

Click on the Settings button on your remote

Select Support
Choose Self Diagnosis
Select Reset

This restores your device to factory settings, so all your downloaded apps and TV channels will have to be downloaded again.

The Self Diagnosis menu also has the option for a Software Update, which takes care of some of the software bugs that can cause audio issues, so it’s recommended you do that frequently.

Conclusion

“Why is my Samsung TV mute?” can be such a frustrating question! You’re doing everything right, and suddenly, the TV has no sound.

While this seems to happen to some Samsung users, the fixes for it are well within reach. However, if the fixes in this article don’t take care of your problem, you should probably call customer support.