The microphone on my Surface Pro 8 is no longer available

Question

Suddenly, the microphone of my Surface Pro 8 no longer exists, and it disappeared after installing the latest Windows 11 update. Is this a common problem, or has my microphone disappeared at the same time as the update purely by chance?

Update Nov 10:

Last update did not complete properly, I redid it and when it rebooted, device manager showed a microphone, which promptly disappeared. How does this built-in device come and go? How could Windows 11 find it, and then change its mind?

Answer 1

Hi trippap,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community.

I understand how frustrating it can be when your microphone suddenly vanishes after an update installed. Though it's unclear if this is a typical issue or just a coincidence. I am here to help and let’s explore some possible solutions to get your microphone back up and running:

1. Force the device to shut down and restart Press and hold down the power button until your Surface shuts down and restarts and you see the Windows logo screen (about 20 seconds), then release the power button.
2. Restart the Windows Audio service.
   • Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box.
   • Type services.msc and click OK.
   • In the Services window, locate Windows Audio and right-click on it.
   • Choose Restart.
3. Check device manager for hidden driver.
   1. Open Device Manager
   2. Click View > Show hidden devices.
   3. Expand the Sound, video and game controllers.
   4. Find the Audio driver in the list.
   5. if you see the audio driver, Right click on it and select Uninstall device.
4. Manually update the drivers and firmware for your Surface.
   1. Go to Download driver and firmware for Surface, choose Surface Pro.
   2. Then click the link next to Surface Pro 8 then click Download on the next page.
   3. Choose the .msi file that matches your current OS Build and click Next.
   4. After downloading, run and install the .msi then Restart.

For other troubleshooting guide, see Fix microphone problems - Microsoft Support.

If none of these steps resolve the issue, kindly give answers to the following questions so we can further isolate your issue and formulate appropriate troubleshooting steps.

• May I know what build version of Windows you are currently running?
• Will you check device manager for any driver error?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Lavenia

Answer 2

I performed all of the steps to reinstall drivers via the .msi file. Result was no change. Computer complains the "No audio device available". Info on computer and OS versions below. I opened Device Manager and enabled showing hidden devices. There were two entries for RealTek microphone array. Both showed "no connection". To see if I could connect one I tried booting to the UEFI screen and there was nothing related to that. So I rebooted to Windows and opened Device Manager again, but this time no microphone input device showed even with show hidden devices was enabled. Could an internal connection to a Realtek card have failed? Speakers work. It's very curious. Any additional thoughts?

EDIT: Removed personally identifiable information (PII) from post.

Answer 3

It's possible that a Realtek card's internal connection failed, but without more research, it's hard to say for sure.

• Is there any way you could test it with any external microphone accessories?

I recommend resetting your Surface back to its factory settings using a USB recovery drive. These will assist us in determining whether the issue is with the microphone's hardware or software.

This option will reimage the entire device and reload Windows including the drivers and firmware. It is the most complete form of Reset and it will wipe out everything on the device. Ensure to back up all your files prior performing this step. You will need also a 16GB/32GB of flash driver that must be formatted into FAT32 prior to downloading the Recovery image. See steps below for guidance.

To download the Recovery Image:

1. Visit the page to Download the recovery image for your Surface
2. Sign in with your Microsoft Account
3. From the list of Surface devices available, select the device that you need a recovery image for
4. Please note that while you will only be presented with devices that are currently registered on your account, you will also be presented with the option to get an image for a different type of device. If you try to use this option, you will be prompted to enter the serial number for that device.
5. Download the recovery image using the button on the page
6. When the download bar pops up at the bottom of your screen, save the file in a location you will be able to find it.

Note: Formatting a recovery drive will erase anything that is already stored on your USB drive. Make sure to transfer any important data from your USB drive to another storage device before using it to create a Surface USB recovery drive.

 Format USB Drive:

1. Insert your USB drive into the USB port of your PC.
2. From the desktop, open File Explorer
3. Tap and hold or right-click on the USB drive and choose Format.
4. Select FAT32 as the file system and enter a Volume label to name the USB drive, such as RECOVERY, and then tap or click Start
5. Tap or click OK to erase the contents of the USB drive
6. Tap or click OK when the format is complete

Create a recovery drive:

1. On your Surface or PC, open recovery image that you downloaded by double-clicking it or right click then select Extract and then Extract all.
2. Select the USB drive you formatted earlier for the location and click Extract.

Use a USB recovery drive to reset your Surface:

1. Shutdown the Surface
2. Insert the USB recovery drive into the USB port
3. Press and hold the volume-down (-) rocker
4. Press and release the power button
5. When the Surface logo appears, release the volume-down (-) rocker
6. Surface will start the recovery software on the USB recovery drive
7. When prompted, choose your language options and keyboard layout.
8. Select Troubleshoot
9. Select Recover from a Drive. Choose Remove Everything and Fully Clean the Drive. Recovering this PC.
10. If prompted, select Repartition the drives
11. If prompted for BitLocker Key, tap Skip this Drive.

Answer 4

Hi trippap,

We haven't heard from you, so we assume that your issue has already been addressed. We will not be monitoring this thread moving forward so, if you need further assistance, please create a new thread to discuss these concerns by clicking this link: Create a new question (microsoft.com).

Thank you for understanding. 

Kind regards,

Lavenia