iPhone XR – Sound Not Working – What to Do?

Your iPhone XR might refuse to play sounds for a wide range of reasons. Sometimes damaged hardware is to blame, but more often than not, the issue is with the software. Before taking your phone to a repair shop, try some of the methods laid out below.

iPhone XR – Sound Not Working – What to Do?

Check the Ringer Switch

Sometimes it might happen that you turned your iPhone XR’s ringer off and forgot to turn it back on. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Hold your iPhone XR with the screen facing up.
  2. Flip the ringer switch up.
  3. Reset your phone. Press and hold the “Power” button and one of the volume buttons simultaneously.
  4. Don’t release them until the “Slide to Power Off” screen appears.
  5. Drag the slider from left to right.
  6. Wait for 30 seconds.
  7. Turn on the phone by pressing and holding the “Power” button until you see the Apple logo.

Disable Do Not Disturb

Another common cause of this problem is enabling Do Not Disturb mode. Follow these steps to deactivate Do Not Disturb:

  1. Unlock your iPhone XR.
  2. Tap the “Settings” app icon on the phone’s Home screen.
  3. Find and tap the “Do Not Disturb” tab.
  4. Tap the slider switch to toggle the mode off.

You can also disable it via Control Center.

  1. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to launch the Control Center (works on any screen).
  2. Tap the Crescent Moon icon to deactivate Do Not Disturb mode.

The sounds should now be enabled on your phone. If the problem persists, try another solution from this list.

Disable Bluetooth

In case your iPhone XR is connected to an accessory with Bluetooth enabled, it will forward all sounds to the accessory. To solve this, turn off Bluetooth on your phone. Here are the steps:

  1. Unlock your iPhone XR.
  2. Launch the “Settings” app.
  3. Find and tap the “Bluetooth” tab.
  4. Tap the slider switch to toggle Bluetooth off.
  5. Optionally, you might want to delete all Bluetooth connections. To do that, tap the “i” icon next to the device’s name and pick the “Forget This Device” option.

Once the Bluetooth function is off, check a sound-enabled app to confirm that the sound is back on.

Check Notification Settings

If you have problems with certain apps, you should check their notification settings. To do so, you will need the good old Settings app. These are the steps:

  1. Unlock your iPhone XR.
  2. Launch the “Settings” app from the phone’s Home screen.
  3. Find and tap the “Notifications” tab.
  4. Find the problematic app and tap its name.
  5. After that, tap the “Sounds” and “Lock Screen Banners” options.

Update Your iPhone

If none of the previous methods brought the desired results, you might want to try and update your iPhone XR to the latest version of iOS. If you decide to give the update a go, make sure to back up your data first. With the backup out of the way, follow these steps:

  1. Unlock the phone.
  2. Tap the “Settings” icon on the Home screen.
  3. Tap the “General” tab.
  4. Select the “Software Update” option.
  5. Once the process is complete, reboot the phone.

Closing Words

If the sound problems persist even after you have updated your iPhone XR, consider a factory reset or recovery. Alternatively, you might want to take your iPhone to a repair shop.

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