How to fix Netflix audio out of sync

Looking to learn how to fix Netflix audio out of sync? There’s not much worse than sitting down after a long day’s effort to watch your favorite TV show, only to have the experience ruined with latency, in this case, an audio delay (issues with the audio sync).

You might have an awesome and expensive surround sound system but you notice a clear lip-sync issue of the actors. You won’t solve this by changing a simple audio setting.

This is not an issue with your sound bar, your iPhone, the home theater system, or even your HDMI cable. It’s also not a problem with your smart TV or Android TV; it really is an audio sync issue with Netflix.

If you use the Netflix app and you’ve been through this audio lag issue, then you’re not alone. We’re not just talking about those long-day-at-work people.

Whether you’re looking to relax, really get into that new movie, or even just have Netflix play for some background noise, the audio being out of sync would ruin it. Well, no more!

In this article, we’ll be telling you simple ways you can use to fix Netflix sound being out of sync with the video. As you go through the different methods, do keep in mind that you may need to adapt what you do according to the device you are using.

We’ll mainly be focusing on fixing the issue on your computer, but the same logic can be applied to other devices.

How to fix Netflix audio out of sync
Wrap Up

How to fix Netflix audio out of sync

Restarting your device

This method is not only the simplest but the one that Netflix itself recommends!

It may often be overlooked or sound too simple, but sometimes all you need is to turn your device off and then on again to solve the audio issue.

If you’re experiencing the out-of-sync problem on your phone, uninstalling and then reinstalling the app may do the trick.

Check for connectivity issues

Although fixed in most of Netflix’s recent updates, it isn’t unheard of that your Internet could be causing the problem.

Understandably, nobody wants their connection to be “not good enough” so you might want to consider conducting a speed test and check for upload and download speeds.

It’s not all bad even if your Internet speed isn’t as fast as required. One potential way of fixing the audio being out of synch is to turn off HD streaming on Netflix.

Since higher quality video streaming consumes more bandwidth, it would help your connection to become stronger if you streamed at a lower quality.

It may not be as sharp on the screen, but at least you can match video to sound.

If you’re streaming using a mobile device, you should try switching to a PC where you can connect a LAN cable. This will help provide a stable connection that is usually faster than connecting to a wireless provider.

Try a different browser

While there isn’t a proven theory that suggests a certain browser causes this error, users have reported that switching their browser did help with the problem.

It may easily be the case that certain browsers may not be fully compatible with the device they’re using.

Disable hardware acceleration

This is a feature that is most commonly found in Google Chrome. If you’re using this browser and don’t want to switch, this option might be your way out and fix the Netflix audio out-of-sync issue.

All you need to do is open “Settings” on your browser. For Google Chrome, you can see this option on the top right of your screen as “three vertical dots”;

From the pop-up menu, select “Settings”;
On the left side of your screen, you will see another menu. Close to the bottom, you will find an option here called “Advanced”. Bringing your cursor here will open up another pop-up menu;
Select the “System” option there. On your screen, you should now be able to see the option for hardware acceleration. This is turned on by default in Google Chrome, and could potentially be interfering with your Netflix experience;
Click on the slider to turn it off. The below screenshot points this out for you.

Note: This feature may be under a different name in the browser you’re using, so do try to look for it!

You may need to restart your browser after you apply these settings for the changes to take effect. Simple close all tabs and start the browser again.

You can even restart your PC for this and combine Method 1 and then see if your Netflix audio is now in sync with the video.

Update your Windows Software

That’s right. The audio issue could be caused by your own software. Go to the settings on your PC and make sure you have the latest software update installed.

Netflix is recommended for Windows 10, but even having the latest software for previous versions could help solve the issue.

If you’re on a mobile device, check to see if you’re running the latest version of software like Android or iOS. You can download an old version of Netflix on older software, but it may be unstable and have bugs that were fixed in later updates. So it’s always good to keep yourself with the latest stuff!

Play a different title

You may not want to hear this as we watch Netflix for our own favorite shows, but you might want to consider watching something else for a while.

The people at Netflix themselves have said that sometimes the audio being out of sync is just an issue with the particular title you’re trying to watch.

Start playing a few others and it should be fine! Hopefully, when you return to the one you want to watch, it’ll be worthwhile.

Wrap Up

Some people spend hours going around sound settings and tweaking audio output but they still notice the lip-sync error coming out of their tv speaker.

So to conclude, the Netflix audio out-of-sync issue isn’t extremely rare. All you need to do to solve it is to keep a check on your own software, and you’re back to streaming in no time!

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Table of Contents

How to fix Netflix audio out of sync

Restarting your device

Check for connectivity issues

Try a different browser

Disable hardware acceleration

Update your Windows Software

Play a different title

Wrap Up