How to Fix Google Maps Voice Navigation Isn’t Working on Android

Google Maps voice navigation is an indispensable asset for modern drivers. It provides a hands-free and eyes-on-the-road way to explore unfamiliar territories. Invaluable, the feature can turn the driving experience into a non-distracted and safe drive. Of course, even the most reliable technologies tend to go haywire sometimes. If you are having trouble with unexpected interruptions to Google Maps voice navigation on your Android device, be at peace, as ways exist to resolve them. Going through these troubleshooting steps will get this important tool working again fast, so you're back in control of your journey.

Check Google Maps Navigation Settings

It's possible that you might have turned off the voice navigation in Google Maps by mistake. Turn this feature on by performing the following steps:

Open Google Maps on your phone and navigate to any place. Tap the sound/speaker icon that comes up on the right of the screen to make sure that is not turned off. Make sure, too, that the volume on your phone is turned up.

If there's still no audio feedback, return to the Google Maps home screen. From here, tap your profile icon in the top right corner and go to Settings > Navigation Settings.

Under Sound and voice, slide Unmuted – this just makes sure the sound is on – then Normal or Louder for Guidance volume. Slide all the other switches that you see to On as well.

Also from this menu, you can change the language used for the voice assistant (voice guidance), the color scheme used for the map, and the units used for distances. Now back and start navigating once more; you should hear voice directions.

Ensure Your Phone Is Not on Silent

Ensure that the phone is not on silent or Do Not Disturb mode. Check that the volume is turned up, and there is no granular mute on Google Maps. While the facility of offline maps is useful, they many a times do not include voice guidance. In case you want real-time voice guidance, you should have an internet stable connection. Remember to check the network connectivity on your phone, which often is the reason for malfunctioning in respect of receiving voice guidance.

Check the Sound Output Device

To make the voice guidance from Google Maps work with a wireless audio device, first ensure that "Play voice over Bluetooth" is On in Navigation Settings. If that still doesn't work, then troubleshoot the problem using some kind of structured approach.

First, be sure that you have a stable Bluetooth connection. Make sure your phone is paired and connected with the target audio device. Most of the time, when there are multiple devices connected, turning off the extraneous ones can solve the problem. For more serious Bluetooth connectivity problems, refer to the troubleshooting guide specifically for an Android phone.

First, ensure that the audio from your phone is properly routed to its destination. This may be verifying the earphones, car audio, or any other connected audio equipment.

Lastly, do take into consideration third-party audio enhancements that are affecting the functionality of the feature. Disable these features temporarily to rule out whether they would conflict with Google Maps voice navigation.

This will help you route Google Maps voice guidance to your favorite wireless audio device. Clear the App Cache.

The clearing of the cache for Google Maps is a rather basic operation to do when troubleshooting—it usually fixes voice navigation. By removing temporary data—including probably corrupted files—the app will be able to run more smoothly. Do this by going into the phone's Settings, then Apps > Google Maps > Storage & cache. Tap "Clear cache" to begin.

First of all, don't get the cache mixed up with the storage. Whereas the cache is pretty safe to clear and even might be useful to do, the storage is more of a nuclear option. This deletes all your personalized settings, any downloaded maps for offline use, and the saved navigation history. It actually restores the factory settings of Google Maps, so you will need to set it up again altogether. If you decide to clear storage, be aware that you're going to have to set everything back up again.

For most cases involving voice navigation, the clearing of only the cache usually works. Still, if you're looking for more help beyond this fix and it's really persistent, then clear storage as a last resort.

Update Google Maps

If none of the following troubleshooting steps work and if the problem you're having while navigating with Voice in Google Maps persists, then there may be a larger problem or bug with the app at hand. In this case, the problem will usually be fixed with an app update by Google.

Keep both Google Maps and Google Play Services updated, so make sure that both are always on the latest versions. Google Play Services is a crucial component for many Google apps. For instance, the Maps app keeps receiving new tools and improvements one can use towards solving voice navigation problems.

Restart Your Phone

Having problems with the voice navigation in Google Maps? Believe it or not, this can most often be resolved simply by restarting. If the problem persists, boot your Android phone into safe mode. It turns off third-party apps to help determine if one of them is causing a conflict that leads to your problem. If the voice navigation works okay in safe mode, you should be able to restart your phone normally and function as usual again.

Hereby we conclude this guide on How to Fix Google Maps Voice Navigation Not Working on Android, hoping that it has been of the greatest help possible so that you are able to fix the problem.