How To Mute Someone on FaceTime on iPhone and iPad

If you need some privacy during a FaceTime call, you have two options. You can either mute FaceTime audio or pause FaceTime video during a call on your iPhone or iPad. In this article, I will share a complete step-by-step guide on how to mute someone on FaceTime on iPhone and iPad easily.

The below-mentioned guide will help you to mute someone on FaceTime audio or video call, regardless of whether you are attending the call from your Mac computer, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, etc., or using FaceTime on a web browser on a Windows PC or Android device. So, let’s get started. 

What is FaceTime?

FaceTime is an audio and video calling app developed by Apple Inc. that comes with all supported iOS devices like iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac computers running OS X 10.6.6 and later. FaceTime allows you to make video calls and audio calls with your friends, family, colleagues, and more over Wi-Fi and cellular data.

FaceTime is one of the most popular video-calling apps. The app also allows you to make group audio and video calls. To make a FaceTime call, just open the FaceTime app on your device and tap the “+” button on the FaceTime option and choose “Video” or “Audio”.

Read: How To Turn On Privacy Screen on iPhone and iPad

FaceTime System Requirements

See the requirements below to learn what you need to make and receive FaceTime calls or phone calls on your Mac, and what the someone you’re calling needs. Also, see what you need to join a call with a FaceTime link.

To make FaceTime audio and video calls on your Mac (OS X 10.9 or later required), you must meet the following requirements:

• Active internet connection
• Signed in to FaceTime with your Apple ID
• Have a built-in or connected microphone
• For FaceTime video calls, you also need a built-in or connected camera

The person you’re making a FaceTime video or audio call to must be signed in to FaceTime and have any of the following:

• A Mac Computer running OS X 10.9.2 or later
• A built-in or connected microphone
• An iOS device with iOS 7 or later
• An iPadOS device

When you receive a link to a FaceTime call, you can join the call from your web browser (no login is necessary) unless you’re using macOS Monterey, where you join using the FaceTime app. Whereas, Windows or Android devices must meet the following requirements:

• Have the latest version of Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge installed on the device
• Active internet connection
• Built-in or connected microphone
• For FaceTime video calls, a built-in or connected camera (H.264 video encoding support required)

Advantages of FaceTime

Some awesome things or pros about FaceTime are as follows:

• It’s free and easy to use
• It comes built into almost all Apple devices
• It allows for both voice and video calls
• It’s convenient that you don’t have to have cell phone service to use it, as long as you have Wi-Fi or an Internet connection available.

Disadvantages of FaceTime

On the other hand, some of the disadvantages or cons of FaceTime are as follows:

• It’s only available on Apple devices
• It can’t be used to call CDMA or landline phones
• It does not offer group/conference calling features

5+ Best FaceTime Alternatives

Following are some of the best alternatives for FaceTime:

1. Skype
2. ooVoo
3. Google Duo
4. WhatsApp
5. Facebook Messenger
6. Viber, etc.

How Do You FaceTime For The First Time?

Looking to get started with FaceTime for the first time on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac computers to have audio or video calls with your family members, friends, etc? If so, you’re in luck. Here’s how to start a FaceTime audio or video call, as well as information about how the FaceTime app works, including how to use FaceTime.

Using FaceTime on your iOS device is easy. To Make a FaceTime Call for the first time,

1. Launch the FaceTime app on your device (it’s green like the one for your normal phone) and choose a contact to call.
2. You can also select a recipient from Contacts. 
3. Now, select FaceTime, or tap the camera or phone icon to start a video or audio call.

If FaceTime isn’t working on your device, there might be several reasons why it is not working when you try it, but the first thing you should check if it doesn’t work is whether FaceTime is actually enabled in Settings. To do so, go to Settings > FaceTime and make sure the feature is turned on.

FaceTime works using your Wi-Fi connection or Apple device’s mobile data to allow you to make voice and/or video calls to your contacts who also have an Apple device. Just open the app, select the type of call you’d like to make, and type in the name or phone number of the person you’d like to call.

How To Mute Yourself on FaceTime Video Call

Follow the below-mentioned steps to mute yourself during a FaceTime video call:

1. Tap the FaceTime call window, then tap the Microphone button.
2. You can still hear the voice or audio of the other person on the call, but they won’t be able to hear you.
3. To un-mute yourself, tap the Microphone button again.
4. The Mic button will be white when the mic is on and gray when it is off. 

How To Pause FaceTime Video During a Call

Follow the below-mentioned steps to pause your video during a FaceTime video call:

1. Tap the FaceTime call window, then tap the Video Camera button to pause your video.
2. You will still be able to see the other person on the call, but they are no longer able to see you.
3. Tap the Video Camera button again to restart your video.
4. Remember, the button will be white when the camera is on and gray when it is off.

How To Mute Someone on FaceTime Calls (Audio / Video)

Unfortunately, FaceTime doesn’t allow you to mute someone on FaceTime during a call. You can only mute yourself so that the other person does not hear your voice but you will be able to hear their voice/audio.

However, there are some alternative ways to mute another person on FaceTime during a call. Here’s how to mute the audio/sound or stop the video feed during a call in the FaceTime app:

1. Use headphones
2. Low down the volume of your device
3. Ask another person to mute their audio or sound

Use Headphones To Mute Someone on FaceTime Call

Whichever Apple device you’re using for the FaceTime call, you can always plug in a hands-free, headphone, or headset and put it away instead of your ears. However, it won’t be effective if there are many people on the call and you only wanted to block one attendant or a few.

Follow the below-mentioned steps to mute someone else on FaceTime calls using your headphones:

1. If you’re making a FaceTime call on your iPhone or iPad, you can stop the other person’s sound by plugging your hands-free or headphones into your iPhone or iPad.
2. You may still be able to hear the call coming faintly from your headphones, but the volume will be very low.
3. When you want the call to continue as normal, simply unplug the headphones from your iPhone or iPad.

Low Down The Volume of Your Device

It’s always a useful option to reduce your device’s volume in case someone’s voice annoys you, during a FaceTime call. If you’re looking to only mute certain call attendants, you can manually take the volume down each time they speak. 

If you’ll have to repeatedly tweak your device’s volume, using a shortcut would be a productive solution. Here we’ve listed the shortcut keys to tweak volume for different devices below:

Device	Mute Volume	Decrease Volume	Increase Volume
On Mac	F10 Key	F11 Key	F12 Key
On Windows	Fn + F6 Key	Fn + F7 Key	Fn + F8 Key

Some keyboards offer separate shortcut keys for sound adjustment. If your keyboard supports them, go for them. 

For smartphone devices, you can adjust the speaker volume using dedicated volume buttons. You can also adjust the Media settings from the Settings app to set a specific volume for calls. 

Follow the below-mentioned steps to mute someone on FaceTime calls using volume controls:

1. If you’re using FaceTime on your Mac, you can mute the other person by turning off the volume on your Mac using the Mute key.
2. You won’t be able to hear any sound coming from your Mac, including the person you’re calling.
3. To hear the other person again, tap the Mute key again to unmute your Mac.

Note: This volume down method doesn’t work on iPhones or iPads. You can turn down the volume of your iPhone, but during a FaceTime call, your iPhone won’t let you turn the sound completely off.

Ask Another Person To Mute Their Audio/Sound

One of the main reasons we mute someone’s volume is because of their background noise that disturbs a call. If that’s the case, you can simply ask the other person to mute their volume. To do that, they’ll have to tap the call window, drag up the gray area and select the Mute button.

This way, the other attendants in the call won’t hear that person, including you. But, that person would still be able to hear other call attendants and watch their video. The audio can be unmuted anytime if that person wants to talk. 

Follow the below-mentioned steps to mute someone on FaceTime calls by asking them to mute themselves:

1. One of the best ways to mute someone else on FaceTime is to ask them directly to mute themselves.
2. If they’re willing to, they can follow the steps listed above to mute the call from their device.
3. When you’re ready to carry on the call, ask them to unmute themselves, and the conversation can continue as normal.

Conclusion

Knowing how to mute someone on FaceTime call on iPhone and iPad is a useful trick to learn. We have some other FaceTime tips and tricks that are worth knowing, too. For example, did you know that you can FaceTime with Windows and Android users? You can also record FaceTime calls on your iPhone and Mac.