Fix No Sound on the Crunchyroll App
Crunchyroll with no sound is usually an app setting or a streaming fault, not a broken phone speaker. The episode plays, the subtitles roll, and the audio is missing — or it cuts out seconds after the episode starts. The usual causes are the audio track, a casting mix-up, or corrupted cached data.
Run these three checks first, before anything else:
- Play a video in another app. If it has sound, the problem is inside Crunchyroll.
- Press volume-up while the episode plays and confirm the media volume bar rises.
- Check the audio track — the wrong language or track is the most common cause.
If the other app is silent too, skip to the speaker section at the end.
Pick the Right Audio Track — Sub or Dub
Crunchyroll episodes carry more than one audio track, and the app does not always pick the one you expect. Open the episode, tap the gear icon on the player, and look at the audio options — usually the original Japanese audio with subtitles and one or more dubbed versions. If the selected track has no audio on your device, or the app picked a track that never loaded, the episode plays in silence while the subtitles keep going.
Switch to a different track and wait a few seconds. If one track has sound and the other does not, the problem is that audio stream, not your phone. Leave the working track selected — a broken stream is common after a new release and usually corrects itself once the file is re-encoded. If every track on one episode is silent but others play fine, that episode’s audio file is broken — report it and watch something else.
Sound Drops Out Seconds After the Episode Starts
The second classic Crunchyroll fault is timing: the episode opens with sound, then the audio vanishes a few seconds in, or stutters and dies each time a new episode begins. This is almost always a streaming fault rather than a setting.
Pause, wait ten seconds, and press play again. If the sound returns and then drops out at the same point, close the episode completely, go back to the episode list, and open it again. A stream interrupted during loading can get stuck with video but no audio, and only a clean reload clears it.
Next, change your connection. Switch from Wi-Fi to mobile data, or the reverse, and play the same episode — the audio stream is more sensitive to network hiccups than the video. A VPN can cause the same symptom, so turn it off and test again. An ad-blocker or private DNS setting can also interfere with the stream, and the audio is usually the first thing to fail.
Protected Content and DRM Can Mute the Stream
Crunchyroll protects its episodes with digital rights management, and when that check fails, the app may play the video in silence rather than showing an error. This is most common on Android phones after a system update or on phones with a custom ROM.
The tell-tale sign: the video looks perfect and the subtitles work, but there is no audio at all, on every episode, while other apps play sound normally. First, restart your phone — a fresh boot re-registers the phone’s DRM system. Then try the same episode again. If the silence survives a restart, install any available system update on your phone, then check for a Crunchyroll update in your app store. Mismatches between the app version and the phone’s DRM support are a known cause, and updates on either side can restore it. Avoid sideloaded or modified versions of the app — they frequently fail the DRM check and play video without audio, and no setting will fix that.
Clear the Cache and Fix Offline Downloads
When the fault survives everything above, corrupted cached data is the next suspect. A damaged cache can make the app play video with no audio, freeze on a black screen, or crash at the start of an episode.
On Android, go to Settings, Apps, Crunchyroll, Storage, and tap Clear Cache. Your watchlist, history, and downloads stay — only the temporary data goes. On iPhone there is no cache button, so force-close Crunchyroll, restart the phone, and open the app fresh.
A downloaded episode can be incomplete or damaged, especially if the download was interrupted by a lost connection or a dying battery — it will open and play the video, but the audio may be missing or cut short. Delete it, stream the same episode over Wi-Fi to confirm the audio works, then download it again. Also confirm you have enough free storage — a nearly full phone can save a partial episode file and play it back in silence.
Casting Sends the Audio Somewhere Else
If you ever cast Crunchyroll to a TV or Chromecast, the audio routing can stay pointed at that device long after you stop casting — the sound may be coming out of a television in another room, or nowhere at all if the TV is off.
Open the cast menu. If a TV or Chromecast is listed, disconnect it so the output returns to your phone. Turn Bluetooth off briefly too — a forgotten speaker or headphones can take the audio the same way.
When you cast, the TV handles the audio, so if the TV’s volume is down or muted, the episode is silent even though everything on your phone looks correct. If you are actively casting and there is no sound, raise the volume on the TV itself and check it is not muted — the phone’s volume buttons do nothing for cast audio.
Rule Out a Phone-Wide Speaker Fault
If every app is silent — Crunchyroll, videos, ringtones — the speaker is the prime suspect and no app setting will fix it. Check the grille is not blocked by a case, lint, or dust.
Water is a frequent cause after rain or a splash — run this site’s free speaker-cleaner tool, which plays a tone designed to push water and dust out of the speaker, a couple of times and test again. If headphones work but the speaker stays silent in every app after cleaning and a restart, the speaker hardware may need a repair. If only Crunchyroll is silent, reinstall it — your watchlist lives on your account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Crunchyroll have no sound but subtitles work?
Check the audio track in the player settings. The app may have picked a track that failed to load — switch between the subtitled and dubbed tracks and wait for the sound to return.
Why does the sound cut out at the start of a Crunchyroll episode?
The audio stream may have stalled while loading. Close the episode and reopen it, or switch between Wi-Fi and mobile data — a VPN can also interrupt it.
Why is there no sound when I cast Crunchyroll to my TV?
The TV controls cast audio, not your phone. Raise the TV’s volume and check it is not muted. If you stopped casting, disconnect the TV so the audio returns to your phone.
Will clearing the Crunchyroll cache delete my downloads?
No. Clearing the cache on Android only removes temporary data — your watchlist, history, and downloads stay. A damaged download must be deleted and downloaded again.