I do not hear sound through my laptop Windows 11 volume is set as high. I went through the automated troubleshooting and was told my audio drivers had been updated.

Question

I do not hear sound through my laptop Windows 11 volume is set as high. I went through the automated troubleshooting and was told my audio drivers had been updated.

Answer 1

Hi! Let me help you with this issue.

Since you are done with the automated troubleshooting option for Audio, please try to completely remove or uninstall the audio driver.

Here are the steps to completely remove a Device from your computer.

Step 1. Use the Windows key + X shortcut.

Step 2. Select Device Manager.

Step 3. Expand the entry Sound, Video, and Game Controllers. Right-click the problematic device, which is either Realtek Audio, or AMD High-definition Audio, or High-Definition Audio, depending on the audio device installed in your PC, and select Uninstall device.

Step 4. You need to check the option Delete the driver software for this device and then click the Uninstall button.

Step 5. Reboot the computer.

After the reboot, please see if the problem is fixed.

If that still does not work, please visit the support website of your laptop or desktop and then download and install the latest Audio driver, then restart the PC.

Answer 2

Try these steps in order, since the troubleshooter already updated the drivers but there is still no sound:

1. Set the correct default output device
   1. Select Start > Settings > System > Sound.
   2. In the Output section, select the device that should play sound (for example, laptop speakers or the headphones actually in use). Selecting it sets it as the default.
   3. Test sound again.
2. Restart to apply pending audio-related updates
   1. Save work and close apps.
   2. Select Start > Power.
   3. If available, choose Update and restart (or Update and shut down), otherwise choose Restart.
   4. After restart, test sound.
3. Update or reinstall the audio driver manually
   a. Update via Device Manager
   1. In the taskbar search box, type device manager and open it.
   2. Expand Sound, video and game controllers.
   3. Right‑click the laptop’s sound card/audio device (for example, Realtek or similar) and select Update driver.
   4. Select Search automatically for drivers and complete the wizard.
   5. Test sound.
   b. If still no sound, uninstall and let Windows reinstall
   1. In Device Manager, under Sound, video and game controllers, right‑click the audio device and select Uninstall device.
   2. Check Attempt to remove the driver for this device, then select Uninstall.
   3. Restart the PC so Windows automatically reinstalls the audio driver.
   4. Test sound again.
4. Try the generic Windows audio driver
   1. Open Device Manager and expand Sound, video and game controllers.
   2. Right‑click the audio device and select Update driver.
   3. Select Browse my computer for drivers > Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer.
   4. Choose High Definition Audio Device, select Next, and complete installation.
   5. Test sound.
5. Try different audio formats
   1. In the taskbar search box, type control panel and open it.
   2. Select Hardware and Sound > Sound.
   3. On the Playback tab, right‑click the Default Device and select Properties.
   4. On the Advanced tab, under Default Format, choose a different format, select OK, and test.
   5. If still silent, try several other formats.
6. Restart Windows audio services
   1. In the taskbar search box, type services and open it.
   2. Find and restart each of these (right‑click > Restart > Yes):
      • Windows Audio
      • Windows Audio Endpoint Builder
      • Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
   3. Test sound.

If none of these steps restore sound, install the latest audio/sound drivers directly from the laptop manufacturer’s support site and test again.

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References:

• Fix sound or audio problems in Windows
• Troubleshoot Surface sound and audio accessories
• Resolved issues in Windows 11, version 21H2
• Logitech G560 Speakers detect audio (volume bar moves) but no sound comes out - Microsoft Q&A
• Audio issues after win11 25h2 update - Microsoft Q&A
• How to get Win 11 to permanently recognise a sound output source (or not recognise one permanently) - Microsoft Q&A
• My audio inputs and outputs suddenly disappeared, how do i fix this? - Microsoft Q&A
• How to fix this. no audio device is installed - Microsoft Q&A