Win 11 application alert sounds go missing after updates

Question

The alerts (notification) sounds come and go after various updates. Other sound functions work--just the alert tones. They disappear after an update and after another random update they return only to stop after another random update.

Troubleshooter function does nothing. Other system sounds seem to work. It's the beep in various apps when closing or warning that come and go randomly.

Answer 1

Today when I restarted the system, and with taking no further steps to try to resolve this problem, the alert sounds spontaneously have returned in the apps where the sounds were missing.

There's a serious problem with Win 11 if random things like this occur.

Answer 2

You don't get it. I'm not trying to turn sounds off. For your Number 1 suggestion, none of the programs where this happens is on the list. For Number 2, all the settings are set as they should be.

The alert beeps which used to sound on four or five of my programs no longer work. They stopped when I got a windows update. After another one, they were back again. After another update, they're gone. All other windows sounds work. Just the alert beeps don't. I made no changes to any of my sounds settings and when I checked the sounds selector settings window, everything is properly set (your No. 2 suggestion).

The win updates are messing with certain app sounds (alerts/warnings). How do I fix that?

Answer 3

The following steps could be applied further to fix the issue:

1. Try to turn off notifications from Settings:

Hold down Windows + I to open Settings > With System selected in the left panel, click on Notificationson the right >  Click on the app whose alert sound you want to disable > Then toggle off Play a sound when a notification arrives.

2. Open Control Panel > Click Hardware and Sound > Sound > Switch to Sounds tab in the pop-up window > In the Program Events section, locate the sound you'd like to disable or change in the drop-down list under the Sounds subsection > Select (None) to disable > Apply > OK.

Answer 4

No effect.

The registry key was already set to yes.

The scans did nothing. I do have system sounds but in several applications, the alert beeps don't sound. After some reboots they do but they're currently not working.

Answer 5

Hi .........,

Thanks for querying in Microsoft Community. It sounds like your Win 11 application alert sounds go missing after updates. System file corruption or registry data being tampered with probably is the cause.

Here are solutions you can apply:

1. Press and hold Windows+X to run Windows PowerShell (Administrator), and execute the following commands respectively in sequence:

sfc /SCANNOW

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth

DISM /Online /Cleanup-image /RestoreHealth

Allow the process to finish and see if it solves any issues. Restart the device afterward.

2. Press and hold Windows + R > Type: regedit and run > Expand the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Sound folder in turn > Check and change the value data of Beep to yes.

(Disclaimer: Generally, modifying registry subkeys or work group is intended for advanced users, administrators, and IT Professionals. It can help fix some problems, however, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For further protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click hereto view the article.)

Keep me posted how it goes.

Best Regards,

Lynn Sun | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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