How to Fix YouTube Audio Not Playing or Syncing on Your Smart TV?
Sometimes, YouTube app videos play without any audio on a Smart TV. At other times, the audio on YouTube videos may be out of sync. While both of these issues are a hindrance to seamless streaming, there are simple fixes.
What to Do if YouTube Audio Doesn’t Play on Your Smart TV
If you’re having trouble with the audio quality while watching YouTube on your Smart TV, here are some simple fixes you can try.
Method 1: Replay the Video From the Library/Recents
The easiest and most painless method to fix the YouTube app’s audio not playing on your Smart TV is to replay videos from your Library or Watch History. You can find your library (which holds your recent videos) on the left side menu of the YouTube app.
Method 2: Exit and Re-Open the YouTube App
If replaying a video from your recent list doesn’t work (and it should), exiting and re-launching the YouTube TV app is your next best bet.
Method 3: Hard Restart Your Smart TV
If the problem still persists, a hard restart of your Smart TV may help clear saved and stored data. Simply switching your TV off and on again may not work; you’ll have to shut down the OS—by long-pressing the power button on your TV remote or turning off the power to the unit—and restart your TV.
Some Common Causes and Fixes for YouTube TV App Audio Not Playing
It may not be an app or TV problem. If you’re still having trouble with YouTube TV app audio not playing on videos, try these general tips to make sure you’ve covered your bases.
1. Check if You Have Wireless Headphones Connected
If you frequently listen to your Smart TV content using a wireless headset, it may still be connected. This will affect all audio coming from your Smart TV; not just YouTube videos.
To check whether you have one connected, increase or decrease the volume, and look to see whether it displays a Bluetooth icon. Another way to check is to look for attached Bluetooth devices in your Smart TV’s settings for remote devices or accessories.
2. Select a Speaker for Sound Output
Some Smart TVs have the option to toggle the main speaker on and off. Look for your TV’s speaker to check whether it is set to the off position. You will find this under your Smart TV’s audio/sound settings.
3. Factory Reset Your Smart TV
If nothing else works, try factory resetting your Smart TV. Be warned, though, that this will cause you to lose all your saved data, installed apps, and logins.
To do this, go to your Smart TV’s settings and navigate to the About option. Within this subsection, you should find the Factory reset option. You may need to enter a PIN to begin factory resetting your Smart TV.
YouTube Audio Not Syncing With Your TV? Try These Fixes
Out-of-sync videos are no fun at all to watch. Here’s what you can do to fix the problem.
Method 1: Check Your Internet Connection
A choppy internet connection can cause a lag between the audio and video playing on your Smart TV. Make sure your internet connection is stable.
Method 2: Restart Your Smart TV
Out-of-sync audio could be caused by an overworked system and low available resources. Restarting your Smart TV could help free up working memory and clear saved data and cache, which might help with laggy or draggy audio.
Go to your Smart TV’s settings, select Device Preferences, and then choose the Restart option.
Method 3: Clear the YouTube App Cache
If the problem doesn’t lie with your system, it might reside with the YouTube app itself. Clearing the cache could make the app run more smoothly. Here’s how to clear the YouTube app cache on Android.
- To clear the YouTube app cache on your Android Smart TV, go to Settings.
- Navigate to Apps, or a similarly named option.
- Select YouTube from the list of apps.
- Scroll down to the clear cache option.
- Click on this and say yes to clearing the YouTube app cache on your Smart TV.
Method 4: Try Switching the Audio to PCM Format on Your TV
Laggy and unsynced audio might also be made worse depending on the audio format selected on your Smart TV. Switching your audio output to PCM format—which is one of the most commonly used audio formats—may help reduce this occurrence. Here’s how to do this:
- Go to your Smart TV’s settings.
- Navigate to audio options or sound settings.
- Look for the Digital Output option.
- Change it to PCM.
Method 5: Update or Reinstall the YouTube App
It may be that the version of YouTube you’re running isn’t wholly compatible with your Smart TV’s OS. Try updating or reinstalling the app.
With this solution you might have to sign in to your YouTube account.
If the YouTube app comes preinstalled on your Smart TV, most likely, you won’t be able to uninstall it. However, if you’ve turned off updates for apps on your TV, it could be that you are using an older version of the YouTube app.
Here’s how to check if your Smart TV is running the latest version of the YouTube app.
- Go to the Apps tab on your Smart TV. (You can also get here through your TV’s settings.)
- Look for and open the Google Play Store app.
- Navigate to your profile.
- Go to Settings > Auto-update apps.
- Toggle this to always update your apps.
As you can see above, there may be many things getting in your way of seamless YouTube streaming. However, with a few simple fixes, you should be able to get back to watching the online video site on your smart TV.