how to load speaker drivers on my windows 11 laptop

Question

I recently ran updates on my windows 11 laptop and when it was finished my speaker drivers were completely GONE! Ho can I fix that?

---

Moved from: System Center Orchestrator

Answer 1

Hi @curtis fleenor, 

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. 

Thank you for reaching out regarding your speaker drivers appear to have gone missing following a recent Windows 11 update. This is an occurrence where the update process may fail to properly re-initialize audio services or hardware handshakes. 

Please try the following steps to try to restore your sound: 

1/ Firstly, try with restart Audio Services 

1. Press Win + R, type services.msc, and press Enter. 
2. Locate Windows Audio and Windows Audio Endpoint Builder. 
3. Right-click each and select Restart. 

2/ Then scan for hardware changes 

1. In Device Manager, let highlight your computer name at the top, click Action in the menu bar, and select Scan for hardware changes. 
2. Check under Sound, video and game controllers to see if your device reappears. 

3/ Install optional driver updates 

1. Go to Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options. 
2. Select Optional updates and expand Driver updates. 
3. If any audio-related drivers (e.g., Realtek, Intel SST) are listed, select them and click Download & install.

If the issue persists, please reply with your laptop model name, and I can provide the direct link to the specific manufacturer driver for your hardware.

---

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".          

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Answer 2

To load speaker drivers on your Windows 11 laptop, you can follow these steps:

1. Open Device Manager: Right-click on the Start button and select "Device Manager" from the menu.
2. Check for Audio Drivers: In Device Manager, expand the "Sound, video and game controllers" section. Look for your audio device. If you see a yellow exclamation mark, it indicates a problem with the driver.
3. Update Drivers: Right-click on your audio device and select "Update driver." You can choose to search automatically for updated driver software. This will check for the latest drivers available through Windows Update.
4. Visit Manufacturer's Website: If Windows doesn't find a new driver, visit your laptop manufacturer's website to download the latest audio drivers specific to your model.
5. Roll Back Drivers: If the issue started after a recent update, you might want to roll back the driver. Right-click on the audio device in Device Manager, select "Properties," go to the "Driver" tab, and click on "Roll Back Driver" if the option is available.
6. Run Troubleshooter: You can also run the audio troubleshooter by going to Settings > System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters and selecting "Playing Audio."

If you continue to experience issues, it may be necessary to contact your device manufacturer for further assistance.

---

References:

• How to fix this. no audio device is installed - Microsoft Q&A
• Resolved issues in Windows 11, version 21H2