5 Proven Ways to Fix No Sound on MP4 Issues on Mac [macOS 13/12/11]

"On my Retina MacBook Pro running Sierra 10.12.6, I can play multiple QuickTime files on my Apple TV with good sound. However, some files exhibit the following behavior: In QuickTime, I click Apple TV/Airplay. On the TV, I get video only, no sound (from either the TV or the laptop). I select Apple TV as output by clicking the Sound Preferences button. After a brief interval, the video returns to the laptop and the Apple TV now plays the audio."

Just like this Mac user, you may often come across the error "No sound on MP4 on Mac" when trying to play MP4 video files with any media player. MP4 videos can get corrupted due to file damage, malware attack, or incomplete video transfer, usually resulting from improper handling of the video. However, as we will see in this article, there is always a chance to fix a corrupted MP4 file on your Mac.

What Causes MP4 No Sound on Mac?

Most people assume that MP4 issues on their Mac are due to some hardware problems. However, it is not related to that. Most of the time, it's a software issue that's to blame. You might encounter this problem if any codec on your device is incompatible with the media file. Most users are not familiar with codecs. Hence, they find it hard to detect the problem initially. There could be two main reasons – one is that there is something wrong with your Mac media player, and the other is that the MP4 file you are using might be corrupted.

Reason 1: Issues with your Mac or Mac Media Player

A damaged Mac media player can occur due to incorrect or improper installation. Sometimes, media players can become corrupted or fail to open MP4 files due to unnecessary operating system updates. Damage to the media player can lead to sound not playing.

Since not all media players support MP4 video files, it is recommended to use a standard media player, such as Mac Quicktime, to play MP4 files.

Reason 2: Damaged MP4 File

Moreover, if the MP4 file is corrupted or gets damaged, it won't play on Mac. Here are some common reasons that lead to MP4 file corruption:

• A damaged or missing video header.
• Poor compression, transfer, or conversion during video editing.
• An interrupted MP4 video download due to an unstable internet connection.

You can create backup copies of your MP4 files to have on hand in case the original file gets completely damaged in the future, thus preventing corruption and errors. However, fixing corrupted files is not always that easy. Although repairing an unplayable MP4 file on Mac can be very challenging and time-consuming, you can still utilize some manual and automatic methods to fix corrupted videos on Mac, as shown in the next section.

Before you proceed with the step-by-step guide, watch this video tutorial that shows how to fix corrupted MP4 or MOV files to view on both Windows and Mac.

• 00:18 - Reasons for video corruption
• 00:38 - Using the Fixo Video Repair download tool
• 01:30 - Advanced repair mode in Fixo
• 02:02 - Online video repair tools
• 02:41 - Trying VLC media player
• 03:33 - Creating a copy of the original file in VLC

This code is an HTML snippet embedding a YouTube video. The video is a tutorial that teaches users how to repair a corrupted MP4 file using the tool Fixo Video Repair. In a webpage, this code will embed a video player 400 pixels tall and 700 pixels wide, with features such as full-screen playback, clipboard writing, encrypted media, gyroscope support, picture-in-picture, and web sharing, all enabled by the attributes in the iframe.

How to Fix the No Sound Issue with MP4 Files on Mac

You can try any of the methods to resolve the issue, as each effectively targets the root cause of the specific MP4 video file error.

• Solution 1: Fix Sound Issues in MP4 File with Software
• Solution 2: Restart QuickTime or Mac
• Solution 3: Update QuickTime Player
• Solution 4: Download and Transcode MP4 on Mac
• Solution 5: Play MP4 Files with Alternative Players on Mac

Solution 1: Repair the Soundless MP4 File with Software

When you play an MP4 video on your Mac and the audio track is damaged, no sound comes out, which reminds you that besides software issues, a corrupted video file could be the reason behind it. Data corruption is a common issue among Mac users, and most of the time, users choose to delete the corrupted video files and start over.

However, you can quickly fix a corrupted MP4 file and other issues like VLC no sound on Mac with the help of the powerful Fixo Video Repair tool. The program is feature-rich and very easy to use, allowing you to fight video data corruption in various situations. It extracts data from the damaged MP4 file and separates the audio and video tracks on a copy.

This marvelous application makes it effortless to fix corrupted videos. You can use it to repair and recover videos that fail to play due to various reasons such as virus infection, bad sectors, and more. Download the Fixo tool and follow the steps below to fix the silent MP4 video.

Step 1: Launch the Fixo tool on your Mac

Download and launch the Fixo tool on your Mac. Click on “Video Repair” from the left panel, and then hit “Add Video” to upload the corrupt MP4/MOV/MKV/3GP video file.

Step 2: Select the Damaged Video and Start the Repair Process

Select a target video and click on the “Repair” button to start the single video repair process. If you want to fix all videos, select them all and hit “Repair All.”

Step 3: Preview and Save the Repaired Video

Wait a few minutes for the damaged video to be fixed. The time it takes will depend on how damaged the video is. When it's finished, click “View Fixed” to preview the video. To save the repaired video, click the “Save” button. You can save multiple videos by selecting “Save All.”

Step 4: Run the Advanced Video Repair Process

If the Quick Fix didn't cut it, give the Advanced Repair mode a shot. Hit "Advanced Repair" to kick off the process. Upload a sample video, then hit "Confirm."

Step 5: Preview and Save the Video Repaired in Advanced Mode

A detailed window about the corruption and the sample video will pop-up. Click on “Repair Now” to start the repairing process. Once it's done, you can view the repaired video and save it to the desired location by clicking on the “Save” button.

Solution 2: Restart QuickTime or your Mac

If your MP4 isn't playing or has no sound on your Mac, try restarting your MacBook Air. It's also a good idea to quit out of QuickTime Player and reload the program to see if that fixes the issue with an MP4 not playing with sound on your Mac. If either helps, you won't need to use any more complex methods.

Please share this article on social media to help others learn how to fix corrupted videos on their Mac.

Solution 3: Update QuickTime Player

If the QuickTime Player on your Mac isn't playing MP4 files with sound, update it. Usually, if your Mac has an active internet connection and the program is open, QuickTime will prompt you to download the latest version available when one is out.

However, you can manually check for available QuickTime updates. Here's how:

Step 1: Choose QuickTime Player from the Apple menu.

Step 2: Update your existing software from the QuickTime menu.

If an update is available, install it according to the instructions, and then check if the MP4 file plays in QuickTime Player.

Solution 4: Download and Transcode the MP4 File on Your Mac

If your Mac is missing the codecs needed to play the video file, it won't play MP4 files properly. Incompatible codecs are often the reason for no sound or audio lag issues when playing MP4 files on your Mac using QuickTime Player. To fix this, you can get MP4 codecs for your Mac.

If all of these issues have been ruled out and both QuickTime and the MP4 file are confirmed to be functioning properly, the main cause of the problem might be that the MP4 file is missing necessary codecs, making it incompatible with QuickTime Player. If the lack of audio in the MP4 is due to this reason, you should modify the encoding to be compatible with QuickTime.

Step 1: Run the player and select “Window”

Step 2: Show the Movie Inspector.

Step 3: You should see a list of codecs.

Step 4: Try the other links to see if they resolve the issue.

Fix 5: Play MP4 Files with Other Players on Mac

If all the above fixes fail to play the sound of MP4 files on your Mac, there's one more simple solution to deal with the “no sound on MP4 files on Mac” issue – playing the MP4 file in another media player on your Mac. You can use alternatives to QuickTime like VLC Media Player or 5K Player to open the MP4 file on your Mac. Make sure the new media player can resolve the unplayable MP4 issue and is compatible with the H.264 or H.265 codecs in the video.

Settings to Check on Your Mac if MP4 Has No Sound

If there's an issue with your Mac's system settings or volume preferences, that could also cause an “MP4 has no sound” problem.

• If the sound is turned off, check the volume settings and turn it on.
• If your audio is muted, make sure to unmute from the taskbar before playing the MP4 file.
• If the audio driver in Device Manager is outdated, update it before playing the MP4 file.
• Inspect the balance settings on the audio equalizer.
• Ensure that the file extension is .mp4.
• You can also try changing the file extension to ".avi" to fix a corrupted video file on your Mac.

Conclusions

I hope you can use my approach to identify the specific cause and choose the best solution to fix the MP4 no sound issue on your Mac. If you need a third-party conversion tool, I highly recommend Fixo Video Repair due to its smooth playback, fast conversion speed, and powerful features.

FAQs on No Sound in MP4 on Mac

After learning how to fix the no sound issue on MP4 files on Mac, you may have more related questions. Check here to see if you can find your answer:

< strong > 1. Is MP4 an audio or video format?

Though more commonly used for video, the MP4 file format is classified as a digital multimedia container, meaning it can hold both audio and video. As such, MP4 is a portable, web-friendly video format that also supports audio or sound.

Since MP4 is a standardized file format, it can be played by various media players. Simply double-click on the MP4 file you want to play or open, and your operating system's default media player should launch. The default media player is usually Windows Media Player (WMP) on Windows and QuickTime Player on macOS. To play MP4 videos, you can either set another media player like VLC as your system default or use it occasionally for playback.

3. How can I tell if my MP4 has audio?

Try playing the MP4 file with a media player to see if it has audio. If you don't hear anything, the file might not have an audio track.

Another way to check is to open the file in a text editor and search for the “audio” tag. If it's not there, the file probably has no audio.

4. Why does my MP4 video have no sound?

• MP4 audio issues can be caused by incorrect or missing audio codecs.
• The MP4 file could be corrupted, resulting in the loss of sound.
• The media player, video editor, or other components might be damaged, preventing the playback of MP4 videos with audio.