First, check whether the Mac is mute, press and hold the F 12 shortcut key or slide the sound slider in the menu bar to adjust the volume. At the same time, check whether the Mac audio port is connected with headphones or other audio equipment.

Check the audio settings.

If headphones or other devices are connected, you must check the input/output audio device settings. Sometimes, due to the wrong settings, the driver will make an error.

Start System Preferences, select Sound, enter the Output tab, and make sure that you have selected the correct audio output device. In case you connect a Bluetooth device by mistake, instead of playing it through a Mac speaker.

You can set the audio channel, bit depth, format and rate in the built-in output. Exit the application after adjustment, and then try to play the audio again.

Reset core audio

If there is a problem with the core audio coreaudiod, it will also cause the system sound to stop working or distort. At this point, you can try to restart Coreau Audio.

Open Activity Monitor, search for coreaudiod, select it, and then click Force Exit. Coreaudiod will automatically restart after exiting.

If it doesn't restart (which rarely happens), turn off and restart the Mac. If the Mac cannot be restarted, you can also use the launchctl command to start the daemon and reinitialize coreaudiod.