To fix WhatsApp voice messages not working, check permission, check volume, restart the phone, check storage, update WhatsApp, etc.
As the most used messaging app in the world, you may experience issues when using the app, like sending or receiving voice messages.
If you’re having problems with WhatsApp audio messages not working, here’s what to do to fix it.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to fix WhatsApp voice messages not working. You’ll also know why you can’t send or receive audio messages on WhatsApp.
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What To Do If WhatsApp Voice Messages Not Working?
Users have been complaining that WhatsApp is not sending or receiving voice messages, and this can be a big issue.
This problem occurs on both Android and iPhone devices. Most times even with a good internet connection it still won’t send.
If you’re experiencing the issue, here’s how you can fix WhatsApp audio messages not working on iPhone and Android.
First, turn up your phone media volume, and then update the app, restart your phone and then open the WhatsApp app to use voice messages.
If voice messages are not sent on your device, you can always use WhatsApp web to send voice messages.
ALSO READ: WhatsApp Not Sending Messages? 9 Ways To Fix It (Solved)
Why Is Voice Messages Not Working On WhatsApp?
If you’re wondering why WhatsApp voice message is not working, they’re different reasons WHY.
If the WhatsApp app won’t send voice messages or receive one, it could be caused by your internet connection [most times].
The problem could also be caused by your phone having some technical issue, or WhatsApp isn’t allowed to use the microphone.
Your phone media volume is down, your Mic is not working, or you don’t have enough storage to download WhatsApp audio messages.
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How To Fix WhatsApp Voice Messages Not Working
Different reasons might be causing WhatsApp not to send and receive a voice message.
But you can use the guide below to fix the problem on your device. If you can’t send or hear WhatsApp audio messages, use these troubleshooting guides.
Fix 1: Enable And Disable Airplane Mode
If your internet connection is working, but the voice message is still not working, you’ll need to turn on Airplane [Flight] mode and turn it off.
Turning on your Airplane Mode on your device turn off all the signals on your phone, and when you turn it back up, everything will be refreshed including your internet connection.
For Android: Swipe down from the top of your screen and you’ll see the Airplane [Flight] Mode icon. Tap on it [You may have to still swipe left to see the icon on some Android devices].
For iPhone: Swipe up from the bottom of your phone and turn on Airplane Mode in the network section.
After a few minutes you can turn it back on, and now, enabled an internet connection and open WhatsApp to use voice messages.
Fix 2: Increase Your Phone’s Volume
Many people often don’t even know that they’ve their mobile phone volume down to the minimum.
Not just any volume, since they’re more than one. You need to increase your phone media volume.
You just need to check out every way to fix the problem you can, and this might just be one of the issues.
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Fix 3: Check If Your Mic is Working
Most issues come with your device. If you’re finding it hard sending a voice message to your friends or family, your mic may be bad.
If you’ve sent a voice message, and you play the voice message but you can’t hear yourself on the audio, it may be that the mic is damaged.
You’ll need to confirm and check it out by making a phone call to anyone close to you so that you can confirm if the mic is damaged or not.
You can also check it out using your phone’s built-in recorder, open the app and record your voice, when done, play the voice record and see if you’ll hear anything.
If you can’t hear anything, you need to change your phone microphone so that you can be able to use the voice message on WhatsApp.
Fix 4: Check For Permissions
If you’re not able to send a voice message on WhatsApp it may be that you’ve prevented WhatsApp from using your device microphone.
To fix the problem on your device, you’ll have to grant permission to WhatsApp to be able to use your phone microphone.
Go to your Android Settings > Apps & notifications > Tap on App info or See All [Num] apps > Find WhatsApp app > Permissions > Microphone > Tap on “Allow access to media only.”
You can also tap and hold the WhatsApp app on your Home Screen, then tap on the App info icon, tap on Permissions, then Microphone, and tap on Allow access to media only.
Go to your iPhone or iPad Settings > Find WhatsApp app > Toggle on Microphone off and on.
After you’ve permitted WhatsApp, you’ll need to restart your phone. Then try to record an audio message.
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Fix 5: Check Available Storage
If you can’t download new voice message sent to you, and you’re getting an error message, you need to check your storage space.
Your phone storage might be filled up and you’ll not be able to download new voice messages on WhatsApp to your device.
To fix the voice messages not working issue on WhatsApp, you’ll need to free up some space on your Android or iPhone device.
Fix 6: Check Screen Protector
If you’re using a screen guard on your iPhone or Android device, it may be blocking the proximity sensor.
And the voice message will want to play through earphones, instead of the phone speaker.
To fix this, you’ll need to remove the screen protector from your phone, or change it and place it well on your device. After that, see if you can hear the voice message.
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Fix 7: Close Other Apps
If you have other apps that are using the microphone, you’ll need to close these apps. Since the Mic can only work on one app at a time.
To close these apps on your device, go to your phone’s recent apps tab and close all the running apps in the background.
You can choose to close the specific app that may be using the mic if you know them, if not, you should close all and see if your WhatsApp voice message will work.
Fix 8: Clear WhatsApp Cache
One of the best ways to fix any issue on apps is to clear the app cache without having to log out.
If you’re facing an issue with the WhatsApp app, which doesn’t allow you to send and receive voice messages, you can clear the app cache.
To fix the WhatsApp voice message not working, you need to clear the app cache.
For Android: Go to your phone Settings > Tap on Apps & notifications > Tap on App info or See All [Num] apps > And then find the WhatsApp app > Tap on Storage & Cache > Tap on Clear Cache.
For iPhone users, you can’t directly clear cache on your iPhone app Settings or even from the WhatsApp app.
This feature isn’t available on iPhone devices, the only thing you can do here is to offload the app from your phone.
Since you can’t directly clear cache on the WhatsApp app, or from the iPhone Settings, you’ll need to offload the app.
For iPhone: Go to your iPhone Settings > And then tap on General > Tap iPhone Storage > Then find the WhatsApp app and open it > And tap on Offload App button.
After you’ve offloaded the app from your iPhone, you’ll need to reinstall it back from the Apple App Store.
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Fix 9: Restart WhatsApp App [Close And Open]
If WhatsApp voice message is not working, you can restart the app by force-stopping the app and background refreshing on your iPhone.
If you’re using an Android device, you can force stop the app and it will stop it from running in the background. Then open the app again.
The WhatsApp app must be open for you to be able to tap on the Force Stop button.
For Android: Go to your phone Settings > Tap on Apps & notifications > Tap on App info or See All [Num] apps > Then find WhatsApp app > And then tap on Force Stop.
You can refresh the WhatsApp app on your iPhone, all you have to do is refresh the app in the background.
For iPhone: Go to your phone Settings > Find the WhatsApp app > Tap on Background App Refresh > Toggle to turn on background refresh.
After that, you’ll want to close WhatsApp on your Android and iPhone. Then, relaunch the app to see if the problem is resolved.
Fix 10: Restart Your Device
If you can’t send or receive voice messages on WhatsApp, and you’ve tried changing the network, but it’s not working, you can reboot your phone to fix the problem.
The app may just have a minor glitch that’s causing the app to misbehave and not send or receive voice messages.
Once you restart your device and open WhatsApp, the problem will be fixed, and you’ll be able to send or receive voice messages.
For Android: Tap on the power button and tap on the restart option. You can power it off and wait for a few minutes before turning it on.
For iPhone: You can soft or force restart your device, this will clear glitches and stop running apps in the background.
You can also tap and hold the power button to turn it off, and then turn it on.
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Fix 11: Update WhatsApp App
If you haven’t updated the WhatsApp app in a long time, updating the app now is a good time to fix the issue.
The old version of the WhatsApp app may not be working properly, causing the app to glitch.
To update the WhatsApp app on your device, go to the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store, once you see an update, click on it to update right away.
After you’ve updated the WhatsApp app to the latest version, then you’ll need to restart your device.
If restarting your phone hasn’t fixed the issue, confirm your phone has the latest OS version. If it’s not here’s how to update.
Fix 12: Use WhatsApp Web
If you’re having trouble with the WhatsApp mobile app, you can try the WhatsApp web version to send or see voice messages.
Head over to your favorite browser on your computer, then go to web.whatsapp.com and scan your account QR.
You’ll be able to send and receive voice messages on the web version.
If voice messages can’t send on the web, or you can’t receive any voice message, it means that WhatsApp has a server [technical] issue.
Conclusion
If WhatsApp voice messages is not working on your Android, iPhone, or iPad device, this could be a technical issue, the microphone is bad, or permission issue, etc.
To fix this problem on your mobile device, you can start by increasing your media volume, seeing that your Mic is working, and making sure WhatsApp is allowed to use the microphone.
Disable all third-party recording apps, and if you open other apps, close the apps from the recent tabs. Force stop WhatsApp on your Android.
Update the app on your device, restart the app, and then open WhatsApp again and send the voice messages, you’ll be able to receive one also.
You can use your computer to send voice messages through the WhatsApp web.
If you’re using an official WhatsApp, app you’ll need to uninstall it and download the official app from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why does WhatsApp not receive voice messages?
If someone sent you a voice message and you’re not receiving the voice messages, it means either your internet connection is poor, there’s a bug on the app, or the server is down.
How do I recover a deleted WhatsApp voice message?
You cannot recover WhatsApp voice messages you deleted a few hours, or minutes ago, it’s not possible. You can only recover the voice message you’ve backed up to Google Drive. No backup, no recovery.
Why are my WhatsApp voice messages playing abnormally fast?
If someone sent you a voice message and it’s playing fast, it means that the voice message playback speed was set to 1.5x or 2x speed. You can see the speed from the voice message that you receive from the person.
Why can’t I send voice messages on WhatsApp Android and iPhone?
If you can’t send voice messages on WhatsApp, it’s because there’s a technical issue with the app, the internet may not be working for the app, you don’t have WhatsApp permission to use the microphone, or device issue.
