Outlook notification sounds do not use selected audio device

Question

I have searched what must be every audio-setting I could possibly find (both from device and application), but I cannot find the root cause of this issue.

I have a headset (set as the default audio device) and 2 monitors with speakers built in.
Outlook plays all of its sounds over the first monitor's speakers, even though I have selected my headset as the audio device. Every other program (as well as system sounds) respects the system-wide device selection, no matter how much I switch between my headset and second monitor.

Still, Outlook only ever uses my first monitor to play its notifications, and I can't find any setting that tells it to do that.

To ask a concrete and clear question: "What are ways to make Outlook sounds play over a different hardware device than all other sounds?"

If there aren't ways to do that or I can verify that I'm not using any of them, I think we can assume we're dealing with a bug.

Answer 1

Hi wessltov,

Welcome to Microsoft Community and appreciate your time taken for sharing detailed information. I understand that Outlook notification sounds do not use selected audio device. I am glad to offer you help on this issue.

You could change your headphones to the output device in Device Manager, which is fine, but Outlook as an application generally defaults to the first monitor as the output device. You need to set your headset as the output device in the application Default device. Here are the steps:

Click Start > Settings > System > Sound > Advanced sound options > Outlook > select the output device you want.

This way makes Outlook sounds play over a different hardware device than all other sounds.

Hope this works. If any update, welcome to share with us.

Best Regard,

Kevin | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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Answer 2

Hi Kevin,

Thank you for taking time to reply! I am afraid however that this setting does not offer a solution to my problem.

Outlook is not amongst the apps listed on the "Advanced sound options" screen, and the few apps that are are all set to use the default input and output device (from which I gather that the default device is my headset, since that's what they all use in actuality).

If Outlook's in- and output devices are supposed or expected to be customizable in the Advanced sound options, could it be that there's a problem with my Outlook installation? I can try reinstalling it if I can find an installer, or perhaps generate a log or overview that could assist you in finding the cause of my problem.

Best regard, wessltov

Answer 3

Thanks for your reply, when you have Outlook open, Outlook will appear in advanced Settings and it will call audio output. You could change the Settings later to see if it works.

Feel free to post back here if you need any further assistance.

Best Regard,

Kevin | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 4

In order to not leave any stone unturned, I have attempted your solution of checking the menu with Outlook running (and even with window focused). However, there is no change in the available settings, not even when I close the settings and open them back up again.

Below I have included a screenshot in which you can see Outlook on my taskbar, and the settings window where specific app devices can be changed to the right.

If there's anything else I can do to try fix or further diagnose the problem, please let me know!

Answer 5

感谢您的回复，这是Outlook的UWP版本，您可以尝试卸载并重新安装，但我认为效果不大。您可以先尝试禁用声音设备，然后再将其打开。

右键单击启动 > 设备管理器 > 扬声器>音频输入和输出 > 双击 扬声器>驱动程序>禁用驱动程序。关机后，您可以通过执行类似的处理来启用驱动程序。然后查看混音器中是否有 Outlook。右键单击任务栏右侧的声音图标，然后选择打开音量混音器。

如果问题仍然存在，您可以尝试更新声音驱动程序以查看它是否出现。或者，您可以卸载驱动程序，然后重新启动PC。

希望这有效。感谢您的耐心和理解。

最好的问候，

凯文·|微软社区支持专家