Connected, but no sound

Choose the headphones as the output

Being connected and being the sound output are two separate things on a Mac. The headphones can show Connected in System Settings → Bluetooth while macOS keeps playing through the built-in speakers or a display.

1. Open System Settings → Sound.
2. Under Output, click your headphones.
3. Play something to check.

The quicker way is Control Center → Sound: the list below the volume slider shows every output, with a check mark next to the current one.

If you see more than one entry with your headphones' name, or an aggregate or multi-output device made by audio software, choose the plain headphones entry.

Check the app's own output

Many apps choose their speaker separately from macOS. Video-call apps such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Webex, audio production apps and some games have an output or speaker setting of their own, and they keep using the old device even after you change the system output.

• Open the app's audio settings and set the speaker or output to your headphones, or to the system default.
• Quit and reopen apps that were already playing before the headphones connected. Some only pick up a new output when they start.
• Try a second app, such as a video in Safari, to see whether the problem is one app or the whole Mac.

Check the volume and mute

• Press the volume-up key or drag the slider in Control Center → Sound.
• Check the volume and mute in the app or the web player.
• Check the headphones' own volume control, which can be set separately.

If you hear sound, just very quietly, that's a different problem: see Sony headphones too quiet on a Mac.

Look for another device holding the audio

The WH-1000XM4, WH-1000XM5, WH-1000XM6 and WH-1000XX can be connected to two devices at once, and they play from one at a time. If your phone or another computer is still playing, or was playing last, the Mac can be connected but silent.

• Pause playback on the other device, then start it on the Mac.
• On the WH-1000XM6, starting playback on a device makes it take over.
• With Open Sound Connect, the Wearing page (⌘4) shows the headphones' device list under Connectivity, marking which device is Connected · playing, if your headphones report it. On models that report it, the Playback device control there can move playback to the Mac, and Pin to this Mac keeps it there. See Sony headphones with a Mac and an iPhone.

Check the headphones themselves

• Taken off: the WH-1000XM4, WH-1000XM5, WH-1000XM6 and WH-1000XX pause music when you take them off, using a sensor in the left ear cup. If you're testing them in your hand, put them on. This is the Pause When Taken Off setting.
• Charging: the WH-1000XM4 and WH-1000XM5 can't play music while connected to a charger or computer.
• Cable: Bluetooth turns off while the 3.5 mm cable is plugged in.
• Battery: if they're nearly empty, charge them (on the WH-1000XM4 and WH-1000XM5, then unplug to listen). Open Sound Connect shows the battery level on My Device and in the menu bar.

Reconnect

If everything looks right and it's still silent:

1. In Control Center → Sound, select the Mac's speakers, then select the headphones again.
2. Disconnect the headphones in Control Center → Bluetooth and connect them again.
3. Turn the headphones off and on.
4. Restart the Mac.
5. If none of that helps, choose Forget This Device in System Settings → Bluetooth and pair them again.

Open Sound Connect doesn't route audio; macOS does. The app controls the headphones' settings over a separate connection, so it can't send sound to them, but it can't block it either. If the headphones won't connect at all, see Sony headphones not connecting to a Mac.