Google Meet Is Deaf on Your Phone: The Usual Suspects, in Order
You joined the meeting, the tiles are there, people’s mouths are moving, and nothing comes out of your phone. A silent Google Meet call on a phone almost always comes down to a short list of usual suspects, checked in order, quickest first.
Suspect 1: You’re Muted — or Somebody Else Is
Start inside the call. Look at the microphone icon in your call controls — if it has a line through it, you’re muted, and one tap brings your voice back. Then check the other direction: Meet shows a small blue speaker indicator at the top right of a person’s tile while they’re talking. If it never lights up for anyone, the problem is probably on your side — your speaker, or your connection. If it lights up but you still hear nothing, the audio is reaching your phone and getting lost on the way to your ears. If it never lights up on your own tile, your mic isn’t sending anything. If you joined with audio off, leave and rejoin with audio on.
Suspect 2: The Sound Is Going to the Wrong Place
If the meeting controls look fine, the next suspect is where the sound is going. In the call, tap the speaker or Bluetooth icon at the top right to switch between the phone speaker, the earpiece, and any connected Bluetooth device — Meet remembers your last choice, so if you took a call on headphones last week, it may still be sending today’s meeting there. Bluetooth is the classic thief: earbuds in their case, a smartwatch, or the car stereo can quietly grab Meet’s audio, so turn Bluetooth off completely and test again. If the sound comes back, forget that device until you actually need it. Cheap or low-battery earbuds can drop into a call-only mode with thin audio that sounds like nothing — try the phone speaker instead. Unplug any wired headphones or USB-C adapters too, then test the phone speaker and the earpiece on their own.
Suspect 3: Companion Mode Switched Your Audio Off
Here’s one people almost never suspect. Google Meet has a Companion mode for joining a meeting from a second screen or device — say, your phone while your laptop runs the main call. In Companion mode, the microphone and speaker are unavailable by design, so you can join a meeting and hear absolutely nothing. If your call controls look odd, or the mic and speaker options seem greyed out, check whether you joined in Companion mode by mistake. Leave and rejoin normally, not as a companion, and your audio should come back.
Suspect 4: A Permission Quietly Vanished After an Update
Meet goes quiet after an app update more than you’d expect, and the reason is usually a permission that got reset without asking you again. On iPhone, open Settings, then Meet, and switch Microphone on. On Android, the path is Settings, then Apps, then Meet, then Permissions — Microphone should read Allowed; Google’s own help suggests choosing “Allow only while using the app”. Check whether another app is holding your mic hostage — a voice recorder or another calling app can grab it and not let go, so close anything like that. If you’re joining from a mobile browser instead of the app, try the Meet app for one call instead: phone browsers are fussy about audio permissions, and a tab can lose its audio session without warning.
Suspect 5: Silent Mode, Volume, and the Call-Volume Trap
Your phone’s own settings can silence Meet even when the meeting controls look perfect. On an iPhone, flick the Ring/Silent switch to the sound-on position and press volume-up during the call. On Android, make sure you’re not stuck on vibrate-only, and switch off Do Not Disturb if it’s running. The volume trap catches the most people: the volume buttons adjust whatever’s playing at the moment, so pressing them from the home screen changes your ringtone, not your call volume. Press volume-up inside the meeting, while someone is talking, and watch the slider climb. If it barely moves, that’s your culprit — your ringer can be loud while your call volume sits at zero.
Came Here From a Teams or Skype Search? Same Fixes, Different App
If you landed here looking for a fix for Microsoft Teams or Skype, you’re in the right place — those two guides now live here, and the fixes are the same because the failure pattern is the same. Both are video-call apps with their own in-call mute and speaker controls, their own microphone permission, and the same habit of sending audio to a forgotten Bluetooth device. Run the same checks in order: the mic icon, the speaker selector, Bluetooth off, volume-up during the call, and the microphone permission. In Teams, check which account you’re signed into — a work account managed by your employer’s IT policies can restrict audio devices. In Skype, look for the echo or sound test service if your version still offers it — it plays back what your mic picks up, so you can tell in ten seconds whether your mic and speaker both work.
The Last-Resort Round: Rejoin, Update, Reinstall, Switch Networks
If nothing above helped, give Meet a clean slate. Leave the meeting completely, force-close the app, reopen it, and join again — a stuck audio session clears itself surprisingly often on a fresh join. Then update the app and restart your phone properly, not just lock and unlock it. On Android, clear the app’s cache: Settings, then Apps, then Meet, then Storage, then Clear Cache. Don’t hit Clear Data unless you’re happy signing in again. On iPhone, delete Meet and install it fresh; your account and meetings live online, so none of that disappears.
Is It Meet, or Is It Your Phone?
Last check: play a song or a video in another app. If nothing plays anywhere, the fault is your phone, not Meet. Run a quick check with the free speaker test on Fix My Speaker to find out whether your speaker is producing sound at all. If the speaker works everywhere except Meet, sign out, sign back in, and test a call. If it’s still silent, contact Google support and tell them what you already tried.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can I join a Google Meet call but hear nothing?
Usually the meeting audio is muted, sent to the wrong device, or blocked by a phone permission. Check the mute icon, the speaker output, Bluetooth, and the call volume.
What is Companion mode, and why does it kill my audio?
Companion mode is for joining from a second device while another screen runs the main call. In it, the microphone and speaker are unavailable by design — leave and rejoin normally to get your audio back.
Why does the blue speaker light never turn on when people talk?
The blue indicator lights up while that person is speaking. If it never lights for anyone, their mics aren’t sending audio or your connection is dropping it. If it lights up but you hear nothing, check the speaker output and Bluetooth.
I can hear everyone, but nobody can hear me. Where do I start?
Check the mic icon first — a line through it means you’re muted. Then confirm Meet has microphone permission, close any other app holding the mic, and rejoin.