Cannot enable any audio input devices

Question

Cannot enable any audio input devices

Anonymous

Hi everyone,

I'm running Windows 11 Pro on an HP ProBook 450 G8. It has an Intel CPU which also delivers and controls the RealTek audio output and input.

I don't know how or when, but every single audio input device has become disabled. And no matter what I try, I cannot re-enable any of them. The only one I'm really interested in, is the internal mike that is part of the laptop hardware and uses the RealTek OEM driver.

I've tried the audio troubleshooter, the Intel drivers tool, updating the Windows drivers, stopping and restarting the service. No matter what I try, whenever I go to re-enable the device, the "Enable" or "Allow" button is grayed out and does nothing.

Any ideas how I can force Windows to recognize the internal mike again and allow all my installed apps access to the internal mike?

I'm running the very latest Windows 11 updates as of this morning, 30th January 2025.

Thanks!

Paul

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2 answers

Answer 1

Hi Paul WilliamsIK

Welcome to the Microsoft Community

Understanding that you can't enable any audio input devices

Confirm hardware and driver issues

Check the Device Manager:

Press Win + X and select Device Manager.

Locate the audio device under “Sound, Video, and Game Controllers” and look for any red crosses or yellow exclamation points.

If so, right-click and select “Update Driver”.

Reinstall the audio driver:

Right-click on your audio device (probably a RealTek device) in Device Manager and select “Uninstall Device”.

Check “Remove the driver software for this device” and click Confirm.

After uninstalling, restart your computer and Windows should automatically reinstall the driver. If not, please manually download and install the latest audio driver from HP website or RealTek website.

Check system settings

Confirm the sound settings:

Right-click the volume icon on the taskbar and select “Sound Settings”.

In the “Input” section, make sure the correct input device is selected.

Privacy settings:

Open “Settings” and go to “Privacy and Security”.

Select “Microphone” in the left panel.

Make sure that “Allow apps to access your microphone” is enabled and the apps you wish to use are allowed in the list.

Advanced Commands and Services

Use PowerShell to reset your settings:

Right-click on the Start button and select “Windows PowerShell (Administrator)”.

Enter the following command to reset the audio settings:

Get-AppxPackage -allusers *Microsoft.YourPhone* | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\ AppxManifest.xml"}

Check the audio service:

Press Win + R, type services.msc and press Enter.

Find the “Windows Audio” service and make sure its status is “Running”, if not, right-click on it and select “Start”.

Also, make sure its “Startup Type” is set to “Automatic”.

BIOS Settings:

In some cases, the microphone may be disabled in the BIOS. Reboot your computer, enter BIOS setup (usually by pressing F2 or Del), and check the status of the built-in audio device.

Disclaimer: If you try to modify the BIOS settings, please backup your important data first.

Contact me if you need anything else.

Best wishes

Merek.Z - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 2

Anonymous

Hi there,

I tried all of your suggestions, and none of them fixed the issue. Are there other PowerShell commands I could try? Or could there be something that needs changing in the registry?

Thanks

Paul

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Cannot enable any audio input devices

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