How do I test my left and right speakers or headphones?
Turn your volume down to about a third, open the sound test and press ◀ Left, Both or Right ▶. You hear three short beeps from that side only.
Step by step
- Turn your volume down a little first – test tones can sound louder than music.
- Open the sound test.
- Press ◀ Left, Both or Right ▶ and listen for which side the beeps come from.
- Try the Frequency sweep from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, or the Bass tones.
- Press Stop sound at any time.
Questions and fixes
The left test plays on the right
Your headphones are on backwards, or your speakers are swapped.
Both tests play from both sides
Your device may be set to mono audio (check the accessibility settings), or you are using a single speaker.
I can’t hear any sound
Check the tool’s sound button is on, your device isn’t muted and the volume is up. Browsers only play sound after you have clicked or tapped on the page at least once. On an iPhone, the silent switch can mute web pages.
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