Lenovo Chromebook Sound Not Working (How to Fix) - Ready To DIY (2023)

Lenovo has been making laptops and computers for a very long time. Like all computers Lenovo Chromebooks have a headphone jack, Bluetooth, as well as, inbuilt speakers. When the sound is not working it can be caused by a minor setting, but in rare cases something has failed and needs to be repaired or replaced. Here is what to do if the sound is not working on your Lenovo Chromebook.

In general, click the clock at the bottom right hand side of the screen and see what the audio is set to, next to the audio dial to turn the volume up and down is a ‘+’ icon, click that and see what audio device it’s sending the audio to, and change it if necessary, then do the following.

Top 8 Reasons Lenovo Chromebook Sound Is Not Working

In total there are 8 reasons why the sound on a Chromebook is not working. But, it’s a good idea to do some troubleshooting steps before others, because they are more likely to work, or are much easier to do. Here is a list of the top 8 reasons why the sound is not working on a Chromebook.

In general, the audio device is faulty or has crashed, the Bluetooth driver has crashed, the music app you’re using has crashed, the audio output is set to the wrong device, there’s a minor with ChromeOS or is out of date, there’s a major issue ChromeOS, or one of the internal components has failed.

Each of these issues with a Chromebook is very easy to troubleshoot yourself. I have provided easy to follow instructions for each of these troubleshooting steps near the top of this article. Scroll to the top of this article and do each step one by one starting with step 1.

1. The headphones or speakers are faulty or have a glitch

Oftentimes a pair of headphones or speakers can be broken, or have an issue. They can either be broken mechanically, or have a software glitch. An easy way to check if this is the issue is to grab another pair of headphones or Bluetooth speaker and connect them to your Chromebook.

Simply unplug whatever speakers or headphones you are using (if you are), and plug a different pair of headphones, or set of speakers. Or pair a Bluetooth speaker. Also, for bluetooth devices, and speakers that plug into a wall outlet, turn them off and turn them on again.

2. The Bluetooth driver has crashed (Bluetooth audio only)

Bluetooth on a Chromebook and most other electronic devices is controlled by a piece of software called a driver. The Bluetooth driver can crash, and even though it says it’s connected no audio will play. It can be fixed by turning Bluetooth on and off again.

3. The audio player has crashed such as VLC or Spotify

It’s common to use a program or app like VLC Media Player or Spotify to play audio. But, also applies to playing audio on Youtube via Google Chrome or another internet browser like Firefox. All programs such as ones you’re using to play audio can crash, or have pending updates, and therefore won’t play any sound.

Close the specific app you’re using to play audio and then reopen it again. Most of these types of apps are set to auto update when there is a pending software update. But, it’s worth checking them to see that there are any pending software updates, and update it to the latest version.

If you can’t find the setting to update it, do a Google search to see how to update a specific app. For example, ‘how to update Spotify to the latest version.’

4. There’s a minor issue with ChromeOS

The ChromeOS operating system can have a glitch. This is related to the various different apps, and files it uses to make your Chromebook operate. When there’s an error such as the audio not working often there can be a glitch in the background which doesn’t show on the user interface.

A hard reset can fix thi, if it’s the cause because it closes everything, and then when it starts back up, the glitch will be gone. Often a soft reset is the terminology used for the type of reset to fix this issue. And a hard reset means a factory data reset.

But, for ChromeOS they call a soft reset a hard reset. And call a hard reset a factory reset. Confusing, I know!

To do a hard reset on your Chromebook refer to the instructions below. But, the method below applies to all Chromebooks EXCEPT the Chromebooks listed below:

• Asus Chromebit
• ASUS Chromebox
• Acer AC700 and Cr-48
• Acer Chromebox
• LG Chromebase
• Lenovo Thinkpad X131e
• Samsung Chromebox
• Samsung Series 5 Chromebook
• Samsung Series 5 550 Chromebook

If your Chromebook is one those above then refer to this article from Google that explains how to do a hard reset for these. Otherwise do the steps below for Chromebook laptops (not tablets):

Copyright protected content owner: ReadyToDIY.com and was initially posted on 2023-02-10.

• Turn off your Chromebook by using the power button, or shutting it down
• Once it’s turned off hold the Refresh button and press the Power button once
• When your Chromebook start turning on let go of the Refresh button

How to hard reset a Chromebook tablet

Chromebook tablets are hard reset in a different way to Chromebook laptops. To hard reset a Chromebook tablet press and hold the volume up button and the power button for 10 seconds

5. The audio output is set to the wrong device

Multiple audio devices can be plugged in or connected to a Chromebook. What audio device your Chromebook is set to play to can be set manually and changed in the settings on your Chromebook. It’s possible the audio device such as a pair of speakers is set, when it should be set to your headphones.

In which case, you need to change it manually. To open up these settings click on the time on the bottom right hand side of the screen. There is a volume setting where you can turn the volume up and down.

To the right of the volume slider there is an arrow icon that looks like this >. When you press that it opens additional settings where you can change what audio device your Chromebook is set to play audio to.

6. ChromeOS is out of date

When the version of ChromeOS you have on your Chromebook is not the latest version it can cause issues with some of the apps. The reason is the apps can be updated to the latest version but your Chrome OS is not. It’s a bit complicated to get into the nitty gritty of why this happens.

But the long and short of it is not having your Chromebook updated to the latest version of ChromeOS can cause things like the audio to not play. Updates to the ChromeOS operating system are typically downloaded in the background, and then you’ll get a notification to install the update. But, it’s worth double checking you haven’t accidentally disabled it and to download, and update ChromeOS manually in the ChromeOS settings.

To do that:

• Click on the time on the bottom right hand side of the screen
• Click on the cogwheel icon to open the settings
• The click on ‘About ChromeOS’
• Click on ‘check for updates’

If there is one it will start downloading it and then notify you to install it once it has finished downloading.

7. There’s a major issue with ChromeOS

ChromeOS is made up of a set of files that are stored on the hard drive for your Chromebook. These files can have errors and not work correctly. When this happens ChromeOS won’t work properly, and can cause the audio to stop working.

This generally only happens if your hard drive is a bit faulty. Or, if you did something like turn off your Chromebook while it was installing a program, or updating ChromeOS. To fix this issue do a factory reset.

A factory reset wipes everything on your Chromebook, and returns it to how it was when it was brand new. Doing so deletes any saved documents and files on your computer. So, you should only do this step once you’ve saved any files you want to keep such as images or documents to the cloud, such as on Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive.

Or, copied them onto an external USB drive or hard drive. That way you can easily copy them to your computer again if you need them. Refer to this article by Google where they explain how to do a factory reset on a Chromebook.

8. An internal component or the internal wiring has failed

The internal components on a Chromebook can fail all on their own. Or, in other cases water was spilled onto it, or it was dropped hard enough to break an internal component. Or, jog some of the wiring loose.

Finally if you’ve tried all of these steps and the sound on your Chromebook is still not working then it’s more than likely one of the components on your Chromebook has failed and needs to be repaired or replaced. It’s best to contact your Chromebook manufacturer.

For example, if you have a Samsung Chromebook contact Samsung support. They can let you know if the repair is covered under warranty, and how best to get it repaired or replaced.

Copyright article owner is ReadyToDiy.com for this article. This post was first published on 2023-02-10.

Troubleshoot Lenovo Chromebook Sound That Does Not Work

There are two different types of Chromebooks, laptops and tablets. The sound on a Chromebook can play on virtually any audio device. All of sudden the sound on a Chromebook can stop working, and in this article I will explain why this happens and how to get it working again.

In general, the audio setting is set to low or muted, the pair of headphones or speakers are not working, your Chromebook needs to be restarted, or your Bluetooth speakers need to be restarted (bluetooth speakers only). Check these first, and then do the steps below.

After that check what audio device your Chromebook is playing to, for specific websites like Youtube check the audio is turned up loud enough, if you’re playing audio with a program like VLC, close it and open it again. In the article above, I will cover step by step instructions for how to perform each of these steps, and what to do if you try all of them and the audio is still not working.

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ReadyToDIY is the owner of this article. This post was published on 2023-02-10.

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