Android phone automatically goes to Silent Mode (FIX)

Switching to the Silent mode is a necessity in so many everyday situations but, preferably, the user should be the one who controls this. Many users report that their Android phone automatically goes to silent mode, even when they haven’t scheduled DND. If you are among them, make sure to check the steps we listed below.

Table of contents:

1. Disable the Do Not Disturb mode
2. Check Routines
3. Check Sound settings
4. Boot into Safe mode
5. Update the firmware

Why does my Android phone turn itself to silent mode automatically?

Firstly, you need to ensure that neither the “Do Not Disturb” mode nor the Routines that put the phone on silent in certain scenarios are enabled. Secondly, make sure that you have legitimate sounds set as the notification and ringtone tones.

Finally, and most commonly, a certain third-party app with system-adjusting permissions might be causing this. To find out, you should boot into Safe mode. Also, don’t forget to keep your firmware up to date.

1. Disable the Do Not Disturb mode

The first thing to do is to ensure that the Do Not Disturb mode is disabled. When enabled, this mode will silence your notifications and incoming calls by default. So, what you should do is disable it and check for improvements.

Usually, there’s a tile in the Quick Access menu where you can toggle the mode on or off. If you can’t seem to find the tile, just open Settings > Sound and you should find it under the sliders, among other Sound settings. In addition, navigate to Settings > Notifications > Do Not Disturb and disable Schedule.

2. Check Routines

Google Assistant Routines (Bixby Routines, as well) have a big variety of actions you can trigger at a certain time or a certain location. For example, my Good Night routine puts the phone on silent. So, if you have a few nifty Routines set up, check whether some of them make your Android phone go to silent mode automatically.

Here’s where to check your Routines:

1. Open Google Assistant.
2. Tap on the Account icon to open Settings.
3. Open Routines.
4. Check if any of the active routines have the toggle that puts your device in Silent mode.

On top of this, you can check out our article about Google Assistant Routines not working, in case you have any problems with this feature.

3. Check Sound settings

This solution is of no importance if you used system sounds to set your notification sound and the ringtone. However, if you used a third-party app to assign them or used media files in your library, we have a possible culprit for the issue at hand.

Namely, if the audio file assigned to the notification sound or ringtone is deleted, some devices won’t switch to the default system sound. Instead of that, they will switch to vibrate or, sometimes, to silent.

So, we recommend switching to one of the System sounds instead of going for external alternatives. If you are not sure how to change notification sounds and ringtones, make sure to follow the steps below:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Sounds.
3. Locate the Default notification sound and Phone ringtone.
4. Make sure to set any of the pre-built sounds for both categories.

In addition, your device might have a hardware shortcut (usually includes the Power button + Volume Up) to instantly switch to the Silent mode. Make sure you are not pressing those two simultaneously.

4. Boot into Safe mode

Now we get to the most probable cause of the problem at hand. Namely, if you recently installed an app that allowed you to make certain system changes, there’s a chance that that exact app is causing your phone to go to silent mode automatically. But how to find out if this is indeed causing the issue? Booting into Safe mode.

Once you boot into Safe mode, your device won’t load third-party apps. Spend some time and, if the device is not switching to silent mode on its own, restart it. Locate all recent apps that you installed and remove them. You can also revoke some permissions, with a focus on modifying system settings permission.

Here’s how to boot into Safe mode on Android:

1. Press and hold the Power button until the Power menu appears.
2. Tap and hold on to the Power off icon until the pop-up appears. It should inform you about the safe mode and offer options to enter the Safe mode or cancel the action.
3. Tap OK to boot into the Safe mode.
4. Once the device boots into Safe mode on Android, you’ll see the Safe mode strip at the bottom of your screen.
5. If you are not seeing the reoccurring issue with Silent mode, just restart your phone.
6. Go to Apps > All apps and uninstall all recently-installed apps.

5. Update the firmware

Finally, the only thing we can suggest (besides a factory reset) is to keep your device up to date. If there’s an underlying system bug that provokes the issue at hand, chances are that developers are working on a fix.

Here’s how to manually update your Android device:

1. Open Settings.
2. Choose System.
3. Tap System update.
4. Check for updates.
5. Install any available firmware update.

And that should conclude it. Thank you for reading, check our Twitter and Facebook pages and share alternative solutions or questions in the comments section below.

Editor’s note: This article was initially published in January 2021. We made sure to revamp it for freshness and accuracy.