Troubleshooting an audio loopback issue with my Windows 11 Home desktop

Question

I have used this pc for years with no audio issues, however recently I noticed that my input audio is slightly picking up the output audio. It happens across multiple applications, while using multiple input and output devices (also while none are connected), and if I watch the input volume bar in settings, it doesn't show up as input. However if I use an app that uses my input audio the loopback can be heard, examples: in a Discord call, or if i record audio using Sound Recorder. The way I have been testing checking it is recording briefly in Sound Recorder while I have music playing via Spotify while my physical microphone is either muted or disconnected. The music that was playing can be heard in the playback of the recording.

I have tried all that I could think of plus some help from Windows support and ChatGPT's recommendations, and it is still here. Any help would be much appreciated!

Answer 1

Hi Wyatt R,

Thank you for clearly explaining what you’re experiencing.

Based on the behavior you described, this appears to be a Windows audio routing issue where system (output) audio is being internally routed into recording apps, even when no microphone input is active. This can occur due to hidden audio settings or driver-level loopback paths.

To resolve this issue, please try the checking steps below in order:

1, Disable hidden loopback input devices

• Go to Settings > System > Sound > More sound settings
• Open the Recording tab
• Right‑click in the list and enable Show disabled devices
• If you see Stereo Mix, What U Hear, or similar, Disable it

2, Turn off “Listen to this device”

• In Recording tab, open Properties for each listed input device
• On the Listen tab, ensure Listen to this device is unchecked
• Select Apply

3, Restart Windows audio services

• Press Windows + R, type services.msc
• Restart:
  • Windows Audio
  • Windows Audio Endpoint Builder

4, Reinstall (not update) the audio driver

• Open Device Manager
• Expand Sound, video and game controllers
• Right‑click each audio device > Uninstall device
• Restart the PC to allow Windows to reinstall clean drivers

5, Set app-specific input devices

• In apps like Discord, avoid using Default for input
• Manually select the intended microphone (or a dummy input if needed)

I appreciate you taking the time to troubleshoot this. Let me know if you need further assistance, feel free to ask me by clicking "Add Comment" or "Add Answer" if you cannot add comment so your response will be visible. Thanks for your effort.

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Answer 2

Hello,

hmmmm,

Check Sound Settings once again and disable the below:

Otherwise, you have a bad Audio driver:

• Do a CLEAN re-install (Open Device Manager --> Delete every single audio driver --> Download the Driver from the manufacturer website and install it ----> Restart).

Worth to check the Sound Mixer:

I hope that helps (Try to test to isolate the issue)

Do you remember when exactly issue occurred?

Regards,
Mustafa