Sound test
A quick sound test to confirm that audio is actually coming out of your computer — and a fix order for when it is not.
Last reviewed on August 26, 2026
A quick sound test to confirm that audio is actually coming out of your computer — and a fix order for when it is not.
Last reviewed on August 26, 2026
This sound test plays audio generated in your browser and sends it to whichever output your computer is currently using. It answers one question quickly: is sound working at all? Because playing sound needs no permission and no plugin, the test starts the moment you press a button — there is nothing to install and nothing to sign up for.
Thirty-second version: set your volume to roughly half, press Run the quick sound test, and listen for a lower tone on the left followed by a higher tone on the right. Two tones from the correct sides means your sound output is healthy.
The whole sequence takes well under a minute, and every step runs locally. Nothing is recorded and nothing is uploaded.
| What you hear | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Both tones, correct sides | Output is working normally | Nothing — move on to the microphone test if you are checking a full setup |
| Both tones, but from the wrong sides | Channels are reversed | Check the speaker cables, or that headphones are not on backwards |
| Both buttons play from both sides | Your system is downmixing to mono | Turn off Mono audio in Windows accessibility, or "Play stereo audio as mono" on macOS |
| Only one side plays | A dead speaker, a loose cable, or a balance slider pushed fully across | Check the balance control first — it is the more common cause |
| Sound is there but crackly or distorted | Volume too high, or a driver problem | Halve the volume and repeat; if it persists, run the speaker test sweep |
| Nothing at all | Almost always output routing, not hardware | Work through the fix order below |
When a computer goes silent, people usually suspect the speakers. In practice the speakers are rarely at fault. Work down this list in order — the first three items account for the large majority of cases.
coreaudiod process from Activity Monitor does the same thing.If sound works here but not in a specific application, the problem is that application's own device preference rather than your computer's. Our guide to audio problems in Zoom, Teams and Discord covers the per-app layer.
A sound test is also a decent way to calibrate. The 1 kHz tone sits near the peak of human hearing sensitivity, which makes it the closest thing to a reference level you have without measurement gear.
The test works in mobile Chrome and Safari, with two caveats worth knowing before you conclude something is broken:
This page answers "is sound coming out?". Once you know it is, these tests answer the more specific questions:
Set your volume to about half and press the quick sound test above. If you hear a tone from each side, output is working. If you hear nothing, the cause is almost always the selected output device rather than a broken speaker.
No. Playing sound requires neither. Only microphone-based tools ask for a browser permission, so this test can run the moment the page loads.
Check the selected output device, the per-app volume, whether the browser tab is muted, and the physical volume on the speakers — in that order. Monitors, docks, and idle Bluetooth speakers steal the default output constantly.
Yes, in mobile Chrome and Safari. Many phones downmix to one speaker, so the left and right buttons may sound the same. Plug in headphones for a real channel check.
Your ears are far less sensitive at the extremes of the range, and small speakers cannot reproduce deep bass at all. A 60 Hz tone genuinely sounds quieter than a 1 kHz tone at the same output level.
It shares the same tones, but the aim is different. This page answers "is sound working at all". The speaker test goes further into speaker quality — rattles, driver faults, and placement.