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Vizio TV Has No Sound But Not Muted: FINALLY FIXED! (2024)

If you are facing the issue where your Vizio TV has no sound but is not muted, then you should know that this is quite a common issue, and it can happen whether you are using the internal TV speaker or an external sound bar. 

The good news is that I am going to show you some easy and practical steps to fix the issue in no time. 

Vizio TV sound not working

For some people, their Vizio TV sound is not working on selected apps like Netflix, YouTube, Spotify and the likes. For other people, sound is disabled on many apps. Some even complained that the issue only occurs after using their TV for an hour or more.

Whichever category you fall doesn’t matter, this guide will help you enable sound on your Vizio smart TV quickly.

No time to waste, let’s begin right away!

Vizio TV No Sound But No Muted

If your Vizio TV sound is not working, you need to check if it’s muted first. If the TV is not muted but still has no sound, there are a couple of ways to fix it and restore the audio. 

1. Make Sure TV is Not Muted

While this is obviously something I believe most people would have checked already, it’s still worth mentioning it first before we proceed.

That said, go ahead and check that your Vizio TV is not muted from the remote controller.

check if Vizio TV sound is muted

Also, increase the volume on the TV either from the remote control or directly from the buttons on your TV depending on the model you are using.

If the Vizio TV volume is not working, then there’s probably something wrong with the remote. You can also use the volume buttons on the TV instead. 

Once you check this and your Vizio TV has no sound despite not being muted, you can do a quick power cycling to fix the issue.


2. Power cycle the TV

If your Vizio TV has no sound and is not muted, you can fix the Vizio TV no sound issue by doing a power cycle or soft reset.

Here’s how to soft reset a Vizio TV with no sound:

  • Unplug your Vizio TV from power outlet

unplug tv from power outlet

  • Leave it unplugged for 60 seconds
  • Press the power button on your TV for 30 seconds.

hold vizio tv power button

  • Plug the TV back into the power source and the TV should start working.

This process is also called soft reset.

The reason why the method works is because power cycling your TV will reset your TV (without deleting any data or changing any of the settings on your TV.

It also removes corrupt cache files from streaming on your TV overtime.

That said, if that fixed your issue, great!

Otherwise, if your Vizio TV still has no sound and it’s not muted, no need to panic.

Next thing is you want to check and configure the Vizio TV sound settings.


3. Check Audio Settings

The next logical thing to check is the sound/audio settings of your Vizio smart TV.

There are three things you need to do to fix sound on your Vizio TV:

  • You need to switch audio out to PCM
  • You need to turn off volume leveling
  • Finally, you need to turn of surround sound

Now, let me show you how to do these:

Step 1: Switch Digital Audio Out to PCM

When Vizio TVs sound stop working, one of the most common culprit is the digital audio output configuration under the Vizio TV sound settings. 

To fix the issue, you need to switch the audio output to PCM. Here’s how to do that:

  • Click on the menu button on your Vizio TV remote
  • Scroll to ‘Audio’, click on it

Vizio TV audio settings

  • Scroll down and click on ‘Digital audio out’

digital audio out settings

  • Next, switch the option to PCM

switch to PCM

Next thing, you need to turn off volume leveling if it is enabled.

Step 2: Turn Off Volume Levelling

Still on the audio settings page, scroll up and switch volume leveling to ‘Off’ if it is turned on.

turn off volume leveling on Vizio TV

Finally, you need to turn off Surround sound.

Step 3: Turn Off Surround Sound

On the audio settings page, go to Sorround sound and turn it off.

turn off surround sound on Vizio TV

Once done, restart your Vizio TV, and the sound should be working.

Otherwise, let’s continue.


4. Reseat HDMI Cable

HDMI is known for the quality of video it transmits, but it also transmits audio signals without the need for extra cables.

If your Vizio TV has no sound through, the HDMI cable could be the source of the audio issue on your TV. 

check hdmi cable

Interestingly, it’s not necessarily because it’s faulty. Instead, the cable may not be properly seated in the port

So, here’s what you need to to:

Remove the HDMI cable from the port, and plug it back in while making sure it’s properly seated in the port. 

If your HDMI cable is not faulty, you should be getting sound now. Otherwise, let’s move on to the next step.


5. Try a Different HDMI or Optical Audio Cable

Faulty HDMI ARC and optical audio cable will definitely cause your Vizio TV to not have sound. Also, not all HDMI cables are created equally. The best ones are the certified premium ones.

HDMI arc
HDMI cable

If you are connecting your Vizio TV to your sound bar or A/V receiver with HDMI but you are still not getting any sound, then your Vizio SmartCast TV is probably unable to send sound through the HDMI cable because the latter is faulty.

In that case, you need to replace your HDMI cable with a certified premium HDMI cable.

The same thing goes for optical audio cable or standard A/V cables if that’s what you are using instead. 

digital optical audio cable
Optical audio cables

The optical audio cable is for connecting receivers with Dolby Digital or PCM (pulse-code modulation) optical audio input to the TV’s DIGITAL AUDIO OUT.

Standard A/V cables usually come in sets of three, and are colored according to their use – yellow for video, red for stereo right audio, and white for stereo left (or mono audio).

Therefore, if you are using the standard A/V cable and you are not getting sound but you are getting picture, check the red cable. If you are not getting neither sound nor picture, then check the yellow and red cables.

RCA standard audio video cable
Standard RCA cables

NOTE: Before you go ahead and buy a new HDMI or Optical audio cable, there are other things you should try first that won’t cost you a dime and can help you fix the issue with no sound or muffled sound on your Vizio TV. 

If you have a spare working HDMI cable or optical audio cable that you can try, then go ahead and use that first (as long as you are sure it works)

You don’t want to end up spending a few dollars on a new cable that you actually don’t need. You can always come back to this option if the other tips below don’t work for you.

That said, let’s continue.


6. Switch HDMI Port

In some cases when your Vizio TV won’t produce no sound or has a muffled sound, the issue might just be with the HDMI port instead of the cable.

HDMI arc port

So, try plugging the HDMI into a different port.

Also, if you are not using HDMI ARC, make sure your HDMI is plugged into the normal HDMI port and not in the HDMI ARC port.

Most common, there is only one port for the optical cable.

As for standard A/V cables (yellow, red and white cable), some TVs have more than one port. It could also have an extension where you can plug it in. If that’s the case for you, make a switch too just in case the first port is faulty.

Again, make sure it is seated properly into the port.


7. Update Vizio TV Software

The issue could also be caused as a result of an outdated software/firmware.

In a case where your Vizio SmartCast TV software/firmware is outdated, you need to update it.

Here’s how to update your Vizio SmartCast TV software:

  • Click on the Menu button on your Vizio TV remote

click menu button on Vizio TV remote

  • Under TV settings, scroll down to ‘System’, select it.
click on system settings
  • On the system settings menu, click on ‘Check for Updates’
check for update on Vizio TV
  • You will see a prompt asking if you want to check for update. Highlight ‘Yes’ and click enter button.
select yes to check for software update on Vizio TV
  • If there is an available software, the TV will proceed to download and install it (as long as it is connected to the internet)
Vizio TV software up to date

Once done, your Vizio TV sound should start working. 


8. Reset Vizio TV to Factory Settings

At this point, the next thing you can do is reset your SmartCast TV to the default factory settings. Hence, if there has been a misconfiguration in settings anywhere that you don’t know about causing sound not to work on your Vizio TV, a factory reset will do the trick.

The only caveat is that all your settings, customizations and configurations will also be removed. You will need to setup your TV again afresh just like a new one from language settings to connecting to your network again.

Also, any picture or audio setting will be removed and reset to the default. Hence, you could take pictures of your current configurations/settings so as to make it easier to setup once it has been reset.

I will show you two methods to reset your Vizio TV to factory reset. First method, you use the TV remote. If for some reason you can’t use the first method, you can simply use the second method even without your TV remote!

Now, here’s how to reset your SmartCast TV to factory defaults with the remote:

  • Press the ‘Menu button’ on your TV, select ‘Admin & Privacy’

select admin and privacy

  • Then, select ‘Reset TV to Factory Settings’ or ‘Clear Memory’

reset to factory settings

NOTE: On some older Vizio TV models, you will find this under the ‘System’ settings and not under ‘Admin & Privacy’.

  • You will get a prompt asking you to confirm the reset, click on ‘Reset’ to confirm it

confirm Vizio TV reset

Alternatively, you can reset it without your TV remote by following the steps below:

  • Look for the buttons on your Vizio smart TV (could be behind your TV or at the lower edge depending on the model of your TV)
  • While your TV is on, press and hold the Volume down + Input/Source buttons simultaneously until you get a memory/factory reset prompt on your TV.

buttons at the back of Vizio TV

  • Once you see the prompt, press and hold the INPUT button alone for 10 seconds (you will see another prompt on your TV showing that it is being reset/memory is being cleared if done right)

press input button for 10 seconds

Once your TV has been reset, allow your TV to turn on and go ahead with the initial configuration.

Once that’s done, your Vizio TV sound should be working perfectly well.


9. Check Attached TV/Cable Box

If you have connected a TV/cable box like Roku, Amazon FireTV or even a gaming console to your Vizio TV, then the sound issue might just be from the attachment rather than your TV.

vizio tv external devices

So, whatever TV/cable box you are using, do the following checks:

  • Make sure that it’s not muted from the box
  • Make sure the volume is not low
  • Check the sound/audio settings and switch to the right option, depending on whether you are using HDMI or PCM (Optical)

10. Contact Vizio Support for Technical Help

Your last option is to contact Vizio technical support team to help you get your TV fixed.

You can find the official contact details for Vizio support team below:

Chat & SMS:

For SMS support text 205-301-3729. For Chat, click here.

Monday-Friday 8am-8pm CST

Saturday-Sunday 9am-8pm CST

Phone:

For phone support dial (844) 254-8087

Monday-Friday 8am-11pm CST

Saturday-Sunday 9am-8pm CST


Bottom Line

If your Vizio TV has no sound but is not muted, there are a number of things you can do to fix it and enable.

Whether there is no sound on one channel like Netflix or it’s not working on many apps, it doesn’t matter.

Do the following to fix and enable sound on your Vizio TV in 2024:

  • Make sure TV is not muted
  • Power cycle the TV
  • Switch audio output to PCM
  • Turn off volume leveling
  • Turn off surround sound
  • Reseat HDMI cable
  • Try a different HDMI or optical audio cable
  • Switch HDMI port
  • Update Vizio TV software
  • Reset Vizio TV to factory settings
  • Check the sound of any attached TV or cable box
  • Contact Vizio support for technical help

With these, your Vizio smart TV sound should start working again.

Let me know which of these tips worked for you in the comment section below. Also, kindly share the content with others so they can benefit from it as well. 

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