Audio Driver issues/ No Audio

Question

I believe I accidentally disabled my audio driver and now when I got to select an audio driver to re-enable it, it's not showing up. I'm almost positive I didn't uninstall it, and it is the pre-installed Realtek Audio Device/Driver built in to the system. How do i go about locating the driver and either reinstall it or re-enable it?

Answer 1

Hi ,

Search for msinfo32.exe in the search bar, take a screenshot, and post it here so we can see the correct laptop model or desktop configuration.

If you take a screenshot of the device manager, take a screenshot and post it here.

Thanks

Answer 2

Use Device Manager and Windows’ built‑in driver handling to bring the Realtek device back.

1. Check if the device is just hidden/disabled
   1. Select Start, type Device Manager, and open it.
   2. Select View > Show hidden devices.
   3. Expand Sound, video and game controllers.
   4. If the Realtek device appears with a down arrow icon, right‑click it and select Enable device.
2. Reinstall the audio driver (if it doesn’t show or won’t enable)
   1. In Device Manager, under Sound, video and game controllers, right‑click any existing audio device (e.g., Realtek, Intel SST, or similar) and select Uninstall device.
   2. If prompted to confirm, select Uninstall.
   3. Restart the PC. Windows will automatically reinstall the audio driver after reboot.
3. Update the audio driver via Device Manager
   1. Open Device Manager again.
   2. Expand Sound, video and game controllers.
   3. Right‑click the Realtek (or main audio) device and select Update driver.
   4. Select Search automatically for drivers and follow the on‑screen instructions.
   5. Restart the PC when finished.
4. If Realtek still doesn’t appear
   1. Go to Start > Settings > Windows Update and select Check for updates. Install all updates, including optional ones, then restart.
   2. If the device still does not show, download the latest Realtek/audio driver from the PC manufacturer’s support site for the exact model, install it, and restart.

If sound problems persist after these steps, continue with the additional checks in “Fix sound or audio problems in Windows,” including using the generic audio driver or rolling back a recent audio update if the issue started after Windows Update.

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References:

• Update Audio drivers in Windows
• Fix sound or audio problems in Windows
• No audio with Windows 11 - Microsoft Q&A
• cannot increase volume even if trouble shooter updates it - Microsoft Q&A
• How to fix this. no audio device is installed - Microsoft Q&A