There have been several Mac owners and users that have reported having trouble adjusting the sound on their Mac computer. They are simply unable to change the volume levels at all. This article aims to help users solve this problem. We will give you a step by step guide to troubleshooting and fixing this issue and if you follow these steps carefully, you should be successful in correcting this problem.
Find Sound Settings
First things first, we want to check our settings and make sure they are correct. In order to check your settings:
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Go to System Preferences > Sound > Output.
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Ensure that your sound is enabled and all of the settings are correct.
Restart Your Computer
By going to Apple menu > Restart, you can restart your Mac which could reset your settings and fix the problem easily.
Reset The Core Audio
After checking your settings and making sure they are correct, you might want to try to reset the core audio on your device. This is a simple step and could save you a lot of frustration in the long run. In order to reset your core audio:
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Launch the Terminal.
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Enter the following command:
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sudo killall coreaudiod
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Then, simply press Enter (although you may have to enter your admin password as well).
Don’t worry. If this was not the solution, there are more options to come.
Reset PRAM / NVRAM
On older Mac computers, the speaker volume information is stored in the PRAM, and on newer ones it is stored in the NVRAM. Therefore, resetting these may help to resolve your issue. This is how you can do that (this involves shutting down your Mac so you may want to print these out or take a picture):
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Turn off your Mac (Apple menu > shut down)
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Press and hold down the power button on your device
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Press and hold down the Command, Option, P, and R keys at the same time after you hear the startup sound indicating your device has been turned on. (Note: it is important that you press these keys before the Apple logo appears on the screen.)
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Continue holding the keys down until the Mac restarts.
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Finally, when you hear the startup sound again, you can release the keys.
Once these steps have been taken, you may test your audio and see if the trouble persists. If so, there is one more step you can take before giving up and calling Apple support.
Audio Midi Setup
Making sure that your audio is correctly set up is (obviously) crucial to having it function correctly. Here is how to do the audio midi setup:
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Launch Spotlight (hold down Command and Space bar).
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Make sure that:
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“Built-In Output” is selected
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“44100 HZ” and “2ch – 16 bit Integer” are selected
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It is quite possible, and hopeful, that one of these solutions will have helped and that you will be able to adjust the sound on your Mac device now. However, if you are still having issues, do not hesitate to contact Apple support to assist you in resolving this matter.
hello.my built-in output source is always on headphones, how can I change it to internal speakers?? I really need to set my mac’s volume please.Thank you.
My settings aren’t correct because the internal speaker option is not there, and i honestly do not know what to do. maybe it’s the fact that i have an older mac.
Thank you so much. I reset my core audio like you said, and my speakers give full output volume again!!!
I’ve tried your advice to reset my internal speakers by pressing and holding down the Command, Option, P, and R keys following a restart, and now my iMac has a blue screen and seems to be in a recovery mode and asking for software to complete the installation.
How can I fix this, very pissed off to say the least.
Thank you!!!
My keep going to some digital out thing when it’s supposed to be internal speakers why is it doing this over and over or they trying to get us to buy a new max which I think is wrong and slowing down our systems this is criminal Big corporation shouldn’t be able to do this to us
Thanks so much for this! Your first suggestion worked like a charm.
Thank you so much. The terminal command resolved my issues!