If you are unable to hear audio on Duolingo, please follow the steps below:
0. Before you start, if you are having loading errors or random slowness, please check out "Is Duolingo down right now?" to see if we are experiencing server issues.
On duolingo.com:
1. Try refreshing the page. In many cases, sound issues are only temporary.
2. Check your microphone and sounds settings on Duolingo and make sure your sound effects, speaker, and microphone are "on." Remember to save by clicking on the green button. Refresh the page to check that the change in settings was successfully applied.
3. Make sure the issue is not with the speakers themselves. Make sure they are on, plugged in, that the volume is turned up, and that audio works on other applications and websites. You can also try restarting your computer and browser to see if that helps. Also try using Duolingo with earphones plugged in—sometimes that will work. If it does, this could indicate that your speakers are malfunctioning.
4. Check to make sure you have the latest version of your browser. Clear your browser's cache and cookies, and then restart it.
5. Update Flash. (Skip this if you're using Duolingo on Chrome, which uses HTML5 instead of Flash.)
6. If you have the AdBlock Plus in your Firefox Add-ons do the following: while you have the Duolingo website up, look on the button bar at the top of your browser for the red ABP stop sign button. Click on it and to bring down the menu, then click on "Disable on duolingo.com". The ABP stop sign should turn gray. Now refresh your page.
7. Remove/disable browser extensions. Here are instructions for how to do that in specific browsers:
8. Try a different browser (such as Chrome, or Firefox) to see if there is a local issue on your browser.
9. If audio still doesn't work, turn the sound settings off (see step 2) and consider submitting a bug report. Make sure you have checked out "Is Duolingo down right now?" first, to see if we are experiencing server issues.