Starfield’s vast sci-fi universe is thrilling-but nothing kills immersion faster than silence. If you’ve encountered the frustrating audio bug that mutes voices and sound effects on PC or Xbox, you’re not alone. Fortunately, quick fixes like restarting the game, power cycling your console, or updating drivers can restore the soundscape and get you back to exploring the stars with full audio immersion.
The audio issues seem to begin randomly. Sometimes, there will be no dialogue or sound effects at all – just Starfield’s scored music. Other times, I can hear dialogue but it’s totally distorted, like I’m listening to people talking underwater. It’s not a game-breaking bug, but it doesn’t make Starfield a lot harder to play; having no sound effects means I’m missing helpful audio cues, while the echoed dialogue is just absolutely annoying.
Starfield developer Bethesda Game Studios has not commented publicly on the issue, nor has it responded to AELGAMES’s request for comment. Thankfully, there seems to be a quick and easy trick to fixing this issue: Do a hard restart on the game. You’ll want to make sure you fully close Starfield with a hard exit instead of using Xbox’s quick resume feature, which suspends the game rather than actually closing it.
To do the hard close, push the Xbox button on your controller to open the menu. Highlight Starfield in the menu and click the menu button (the small, right-center controller button with three lines). From there, select “quit” to fully close the game. Once you start up Starfield again, the audio issue should be resolved. If it’s not, fully close Starfield again and give your Xbox console a restart, too.
Want to learn the quickest way to restore Starfield’s missing sound
The quickest way to restore Starfield’s missing sound is to perform a hard quit of the game and then restart it. On Xbox, this means pressing the Xbox button, highlighting Starfield, pressing the menu button (three lines), selecting “Quit,” and then relaunching the game; this method has resolved sound issues like missing effects and voices for many players. If that doesn’t work, fully power cycling your console-turning it off completely, even unplugging it briefly-can also fix the problem. For PC users, updating or reinstalling audio drivers, disabling surround sound enhancements, and verifying game files through Steam or the Xbox app are recommended steps to fix audio bugs quickly. Additionally, if you use mods, temporarily disabling them and restarting the game can restore audio functionality.
What is the fastest method to fix Starfield’s sound bug on Xbox
The fastest method to fix Starfield’s sound bug on Xbox is to disable all mods (Creations) in the game’s Creations menu, fully quit Starfield, then restart the game and re-enable the mods. This process forces the game to reload the mod order and restores the audio immediately. Many players on Xbox Series S and X have confirmed this workaround reliably brings back missing sound and music.
If the issue persists, a full power cycle of the console is recommended: quit Starfield, turn off the Xbox, unplug the power cable for about 10 seconds, then plug it back in and restart the console before launching the game again.
Additionally, clearing the game’s reserved space (without deleting save files) via Manage Games & Apps can help resolve audio loss caused by recent mod installations or updates.
