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Sound won't play from a device when I launch games and change output device to that new device - require re-launching the game to change sound output to the new device

Anonymous
2024-07-24T00:17:15+00:00

If I launch a game with my headset turned off, then turn the headset on while a game is already running, no sound will play. I must restart the game to get sound to play from the desired device.

This happens with speakers, headsets, ear buds, etc. bluetooth and/or wired sound devices. Any combination of devices on/off before/after a device switch sees the same result.

When a game is running and I want to switch output device from speakers to headphones, I must restart the game to trigger the output change. I've tried a few combinations of changing settings for default device, disabling devices, etc. with no luck.

Looking for a solution to allow switching sound devices without having to restart games or other apps.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Devices and drivers

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-07-24T07:56:35+00:00

    Hi N R.

    Thanks for reporting this issue in Microsoft Community.

    In your description, you were playing a game and after switching the audio output device, there was no sound from the new device, only after rebooting.

    I noticed that you tried many kinds of attempts, including changing the default device, disabling the device, etc. Thank you for your efforts in resolving this issue, your efforts deserve to be recognized. I do understand the frustration of having to restart the game when you try to change the output device at the moment.

    Can I ask if this issue is occurring on a particular game? Or is it occurring on more than one game?

    We suspect that this may be related to the volume mixer settings, so please right-click on the speaker icon in the taskbar after changing the output device while playing a game and select Open volume mixer

    In Volume mixer, check if the game uses your new device as the output device, if not, please use the new output device as the output device of the game and try again.

    In addition, please download the corresponding sound card driver from your device manufacturer's website and install it on your computer to see if the same problem occurs after that.

    Meanwhile, some third-party software conflicts may also cause this problem. To troubleshoot this possibility, I recommend trying a clean boot which starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. It can be used to determine whether a background service or program is interfering or causing a problem.

    These steps of "clean boot" might look complicated at first glance. However, to avoid any trouble for you, please follow them in order and step-by-step.

    Please open just one game in the clean boot and see if the same problem occurs.

    Please let me know the results of your test above and I look forward to your reply.

    Best regards,

    Zev - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-07-26T09:51:20+00:00

    Hi N R.

    Thanks for your reply. I understand that this is happening with all of your games and the same problem exists in clean start.

    It seems that some of your games are not showing up in the Volume Mixer, while some do not seem to have the correct output selected in the Volume Mixer.

    Please, after you open your game, open Volume mixer, check the Apps section and turn on the drop down box for the list of games and provide me with a screenshot of this section.

    For the games that don't appear in Volume mixer, could you please uninstall them and re-download and install them to see if they can appear in Volume mixer.

    We suspect that there may be some problems with your system files or components, please refer to the following steps and perform a system file check

    1. Search for Command Prompt in the taskbar, right-click it, and select Run as administrator mode.
    2. Enter the following commands one by one, please make sure to execute the next command after the previous one is completed. DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth SFC /Scannow
    3. After the scanning is completed, you can check the scanning information to see if the problem has been detected and fixed.

    If the problem is still not solved, please refer to the following link and try to perform an in-place upgrade, which will fix the system while preserving your application data.

    Disclaimer: Let’s try performing an in-place install or in-place upgrade which will refresh your Windows files and operating system without removing files or applications. That being said, we always recommend that if you have important data, you should back it up before making large system changes. If you want to back up your data first, please do so. Once you are done backing up, you can follow the steps in the following guides:

    How to perform an In-place Upgrade with Windows 10 Step-by-Step Guide - Microsoft Community

    If the problem persists after the in-place upgrade, make a backup of your apps, games, and data, and then perform a fresh install of the system as described in the following link

    How to: Perform a Clean Install or Reinstall of Windows 10 - Microsoft Community

    Disclaimer: At this point, we have exhausted all troubleshooting and I recommend that we try to perform a clean install to get your computer back into a working condition. Please ensure that you backup any important data, including Documents, Pictures, Videos, and more. 

    Thank you for your understanding and support.

    Best regards,

    Zev - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-07-25T00:33:58+00:00

    Hi N R.

    Thanks for reporting this issue in Microsoft Community.

    In your description, you were playing a game and after switching the audio output device, there was no sound from the new device, only after rebooting.

    I noticed that you tried many kinds of attempts, including changing the default device, disabling the device, etc. Thank you for your efforts in resolving this issue, your efforts deserve to be recognized. I do understand the frustration of having to restart the game when you try to change the output device at the moment.

    Can I ask if this issue is occurring on a particular game? Or is it occurring on more than one game?

     

    We suspect that this may be related to the volume mixer settings, so please right-click on the speaker icon in the taskbar after changing the output device while playing a game and select Open volume mixer

    In Volume mixer, check if the game uses your new device as the output device, if not, please use the new output device as the output device of the game and try again.

     

    In addition, please download the corresponding sound card driver from your device manufacturer's website and install it on your computer to see if the same problem occurs after that.

     

    Meanwhile, some third-party software conflicts may also cause this problem. To troubleshoot this possibility, I recommend trying a clean boot which starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. It can be used to determine whether a background service or program is interfering or causing a problem.

    These steps of "clean boot" might look complicated at first glance. However, to avoid any trouble for you, please follow them in order and step-by-step.

    Please open just one game in the clean boot and see if the same problem occurs.

     

    Please let me know the results of your test above and I look forward to your reply.

    Best regards,

    Zev - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

    Hi Zev thanks for the assist, I'll answer below:

    1. This occurs for all game titles, not specific to any one game.
    2. Right click Volume Mixer - check that the game is listed in the new device's volume mixer 
      - For the game Fallout, the Fallout app does not appear in the volume mixer window (when turning on the headphones and attempting device switch, after Fallout is launched.

- Other game, Enshrouded, when turning on the headphones after game is launched, is listed in the headphone's volume mixer window, but no sound is being registered for output.  Enshrouded app is present in Volume Mixer for the headphones, but no green sound indicator pulses on the slider bar are registering at all (game is not muted or volume lowered in in-game settings).
    3. Fallout does not have an in-game menu selection to change audio output device. I checked a couple other games and they do not have in-game settings to change output device either.
      • is there another app I need to configure for the game specifically? I checked right click speaker icon -> sound settings -> default output is set to the correct device, headphones. I also tried jumping between default output devices while a game is launched to no effect.
    4. Right click speaker -> Sounds -> I tried disabling all other output devices except the headphones, no effect.
    5. I checked device manager -> sound, video, and game controllers -> checked for updates on all sound devices, no updates or installs needed according to windows, "the best drivers for your device are already installed"
    6. Clean Boot had no effect
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