Sound Not Working on Windows 10 Troubleshooting Guide
Apart from other bugs, one of the most common and frequent errors in Windows 10 is no sound. This usually happens when you newly upgrade to the latest version of Windows. This error can cause many issues, and if you are among the people who are facing it, then we have got you covered.
Here are the easy ways by which you can easily troubleshoot to fix the no sound issue on Windows 10 :
Solution 1 – Check speaker settings :
- In the bottom right of your desktop, look for the sound icon, then right-click on it, and then click on playback devices.
- A new tab will appear on your screen, make sure there’s a green tick on Speakers. The tick ensures that speakers are set as default device.
- If they are not set as default, then just click on them to set as default and check if you can hear the sound now.
- If your speaker was already set as default and you were unable to hear, then try experimenting with other formats too.
- To do so, click speakers then properties. Then go to advanced tab, check different sample rate and bit depth, then click on test. Repeat this process until a format starts working for you and then click on OK.
Solution 2 – Issues with audio driver :
You won’t be able to hear sound from your speakers if the audio driver gets deleted, encrypt, or gets incompatible when updated to the latest version of Windows. This is a usual error if you upgrade to windows 10.
To check if this has happened with you too, just uninstall the driver. Steps are :
- Press the window logo button and X (at the same time) from your keyboard to open the quick access menu.
- Now click on device manager.
- Device manager window will open, now expand all controllers then right-click on sound card and then click on uninstall.
- Click on delete the driver and then click on Ok. The driver will get uninstalled.
- Now reboot your computer and check if the sound is now working.
Solution 3 – Updating the audio driver :
If the above-mentioned steps didn’t work for you, then most probably you have been using the wrong audio driver. Follow the steps written below to update the audio driver.
- On your keyboard, press and hold the Windows key and then press the R key. This will open the Run dialog box.
- After the dialog box gets opened, type “devmgmt.msc” in the bar.
- Now a window will open. On that expand the “sound, video and game controllers” category by clicking on the arrow adjacent to it. Now, right-click on “Realtek High definition audio” or “Realtek Audio”.
- A menu will open, check and click on update driver software in the menu.
- To update driver software, click on “search automatically”. If your driver would have been up-to-date then you will be notified of that. If not, then click on update.
- Your driver will be downloaded and installed, after that restart your computer.
Solution 4 – Checking audio enhancements settings :
There can be many reasons for no sound issues in Windows 10, and audio enhancements can be one of them. To disable audio enhancements, follow these steps :
- Firstly, open the control panel.
- Then click on, view by small icon and then select sound.
- After that click on the default device and click on properties.
- In that menu, click on enhancements tab and then select disable all the enhancements. Then click on OK.
- Now check if the sound is working now. However, if you use more than one default device, then you would need to repeat the steps written above for every device one by one until the issue gets resolved.
Solution 5 – Using the troubleshooter :
If the above-mentioned settings didn’t work for you, then you would be needing to use windows inbuilt troubleshooter. It is a kind of program which identifies the problem and then fixes them itself. Here are the steps to use troubleshooter :
- Open the start menu.
- In the bar, type audio troubleshooter and then click on ‘Find and fix audio playback problems.
- Now you need to select the audio device which has to go through troubleshoot process and then follow the instructions mentioned over there to fix the issue.
It will now fix the problem on its own, check by playing any media to see if your issue has been resolved.
Solution 6 – Audio driver :
If removing the audio driver didn’t work for you (Steps to do so are written above), then you need to try another feature i.e. rollback. To do so, follow the steps :
- Open device manager.
- Click on ‘Sound, video and game controllers.
- Choose and right-click on your device name and then click on properties.
- Now click on Driver tab and then click on “rollback” driver.
- Now go through the instructions written there and then click on ‘yes’ to roll back your audio driver.
Solution 7 – Going through various formats :
To fix the no sound issue in Windows 10, you can also try different audio formats. Here’s the guide to do so :
- Open control panel.
- Click on ‘hardware sound’ and then select ‘sound’.
- A new menu will open, in that open playback tab and then right-click on ‘default device’ and then select ‘properties’.
- Now go to advanced tab, now see ‘default format’ and then change the setting and then click on OK.
- Now begin checking your audio device. In case, if that doesn’t work go back and update the settings again.
Solution 8 – Rebooting audio services :
Restarting the audio services can also fix the issue. Follow these steps to do so :
- Press the window and R key together from the keyboard to open the run box.
- There, type ‘services.msc’.
- Now, right-click on windows audio services and click restart.
- Now restart your computer.
Solution 9 – Checking cables and volumes :
There is a chance that the cable of your audio device (Speaker or headphone) might have been broken and that’s why you were unable to listen through them.
- Check the cable and try plugging it into another computer. If they work successfully on another computer, then the problem’s reason would be the cable.
- Also, check your computer or the external device’s button if you have muted them by accident.
These were the reasons and easy-to-go through steps if you are -facing the no sound issue in Windows 10. Going through these you can easily resolve your problem.
