Chrome audio cuts out and the rest of your computer is fine. Music apps work, system sounds work, but YouTube and other Chrome tabs are silent. The issue is almost always one of these 6 specific things.
Start with the easy fixes. The hard ones are rarely needed.
Check the volume mixer
Windows has per-app volume controls. Chrome might be muted while everything else is fine. Right-click the speaker icon in your taskbar and pick Open Volume Mixer (or Open Sound Settings then Volume Mixer on Windows 11).
Find Chrome (or Google Chrome) in the list. Make sure the slider is up and not muted. The volume icon next to it should not have a slash through it.
Unmute the specific Chrome tab
Chrome lets you mute individual tabs. If only one tab is silent, you might have muted it accidentally. Right-click the tab in the tab bar at the top. Look for Unmute site. Click it.
If the tab shows a speaker icon with a slash on the tab bar, that confirms it's muted. Click the speaker icon directly to unmute.
Check site permissions
Chrome has per-site audio permissions. To check, click the lock or info icon to the left of the URL. Look at the permissions list. Make sure Sound is set to Allow.
Or open chrome://settings/content/sound directly in your address bar. Look at the blocked sites list. If your site is there, remove it.
Restart Chrome completely
Close every Chrome window. Then check Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc on Windows) for any leftover Chrome processes. Right-click and End task on any you find.
Open Chrome fresh. Audio should work. If it doesn't, the issue is deeper than a stuck process.
Disable hardware acceleration
Hardware acceleration uses your GPU for video and audio processing. Sometimes it breaks the audio output. Turn it off as a test:
- Open chrome://settings/system in the address bar
- Toggle off Use hardware acceleration when available
- Restart Chrome
- Test audio in YouTube or any video site
If audio works now, hardware acceleration was the culprit. Leave it off, or update your GPU drivers to see if that fixes the conflict. Then you can turn it back on.
Reset Chrome settings
If nothing else works, reset Chrome to defaults. This doesn't delete bookmarks or passwords but clears all your customizations including extensions that might be interfering.
Open chrome://settings/reset. Click Restore settings to their original defaults. Confirm. Restart Chrome.
Test audio. About half the time, an extension was the cause. Without it loading, audio works again. Re-enable extensions one at a time to find which one broke the sound.
Check Windows audio output device
Sometimes the OS is routing audio to a different device than you expect. Click the speaker icon in the taskbar. Make sure the output is set to the correct device.
If you have a USB headset, Bluetooth speakers, or a monitor with built-in speakers, Windows might be sending Chrome audio there while your main speakers stay silent. Switch to your intended device and test.
Update Chrome
Chrome updates often. Audio bugs get patched in new versions. Open chrome://settings/help. Chrome checks for updates automatically and tells you if one is available.
If a new version installed, restart Chrome (the button to do this appears at the top). Test audio.
Worst case – reinstall Chrome
If audio is still broken after everything above, uninstall Chrome and reinstall fresh. Your data syncs back automatically if you're signed into your Google account.
Uninstall through Settings > Apps in Windows. Download Chrome again from google.com/chrome. Install. Sign in. Audio almost always works after this nuclear reset.
Which site is silent for you? YouTube? Spotify Web Player? Tell me and I'll mention specific known issues.