How to Turn Off Audio Description on Samsung TV

How to Turn Off Audio Description on Samsung TV

I was watching TV with my family a couple of days back when we had a sudden scare as the TV suddenly started talking.

It took us a few seconds to realize what it was and it was pretty funny when we did.

The ‘Voice Guide’ or audio description function had been turned on.

This function is extremely useful for visually impaired people as the TV will narrate what is on the screen as the user navigates through it.

However, it can be annoying for regular users and in some cases give you a quick fright, so you might want to turn it off.

Audio description or ‘Voice Guide’ can be switched off on ‘Samsung TVs by navigating to ‘Menu’>>’Settings’>>’All Settings’>>’General Settings’>>’Accessibility.’ From here, you can enable or disable audio description.

Change the Accessibility Settings of Your Samsung TV

You can turn off audio descriptions on your Samsung TV by following the steps below.

The easiest way is to use voice commands if your TV has it enabled. 

Hold down the microphone button on your TV and say ‘Turn off Voice Guide.’ It should take a second to register the command and make changes to the settings.

If your TV doesn’t have voice commands or you’re facing issues with the mic, you can change it from the accessibility settings.

Click on the ‘Home’ button on the remote and navigate to ‘Menu’>>’Settings’>>’All Settings.’

From here, click on ‘General & Privacy’>>’Accessibility’>>’Voice Guide Settings,’ and turn off the setting.

You can also change the ‘Voice Guide Settings’ from the ‘Accessibility Shortcuts’ on your Samsung TV remote.

Hold down the volume (+/-) button for 2 seconds to bring up the ‘Accessibility Shortcuts’ and turn off ‘Voice Guide.’

It’s important to note that ‘Voice Guide’ is always on for the accessibility shortcuts even if it’s turned off in the system settings.

Turn Off Audio Descriptions on Streaming Apps 

If you’re facing issues with audio descriptions playing on streaming apps such as Netflix, Disney or Hulu, it might actually be related to the audio settings within the app.

Open the app on your TV and start playing a video.

From the playback screen, open the ‘Settings’ icon and click on ‘Audio Settings.’

You’ll see two options. One for language and one for ‘Audio Description.’

Select the language you want on the language tab and select ‘Off’ in audio description.

Go back to the video and audio descriptions won’t play over the video anymore.

Update or Reset Your Samsung TV

If none of these fixes worked, you might need to check if your TV is updated to the latest firmware.

Click the ‘Home’ button on your remote and navigate to ‘Menu’>>’Settings’>>’Support.’

Open ‘Software Update’ and click on ‘Update Now’ to check if there are any updates.

If there is, continue to install the updates and wait for your TV to restart automatically.

Now change your ‘Voice Guide’ settings to your preferences and it should work without any issues.

Additionally, if there is no update and the issue isn’t resolved, you can try to factory reset your TV to fix any issues or bugs in the software.

Go to ‘Menu’>>’Settings’>>’General’>>’Reset.’ Enter the 4 digit PIN or if you’ve never set it, the default is 0000.

Follow the on-screen prompts and once the reset is complete your TV will guide you through the initial setup.

Using Voice Guide on Your Samsung TV

‘Voice Guide’ can be particularly useful if you have family members or roommates with visual impairments.

While the feature may be annoying for us, being able to quickly access ‘Voice Guide’ by pressing the volume (+/-) button is extremely useful for people with said disabilities.

It allows them to be able to navigate and enjoy entertainment without needing someone to help them out all the time.

To wrap up, if none of the fixes we mentioned worked for you, you’ll need to get in touch with Samsung support or the retailer that you purchased the TV from to diagnose the problem.

Frequently Asked Questions 

How to turn off audio description on Samsung TV?  

Hold down the volume (+/-) button for 2 seconds and you can turn off ‘Voice Guide’ from the ‘Accessibility Shortcuts.’

How to get subtitles on a Samsung TV screen?

Go to ‘Menu’>>’Settings’>>’General Settings’>>’Accessibility’ and click on ‘Closed Captions.’ Turn on this setting to force subtitles on video playback.

About the author

Maria Chan, or MC, as we call her, is the genius girl-boss who gave up on her cushy silicon-valley job to grind it out with us. Her undying pursuit of wanting Zeebox to the best makes it very clear that she has no interest in running a generic tech-site.

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