no sound, settings say no output devices found

Question

no sound, settings say no output devices found

Jorge Vila 5

no sound, settings say no output devices found, no device installed

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3 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Kapil Arya 37,951 Volunteer Moderator

Try this:

Open Device Manager, and make sure you've audio drivers installed and properly working.

If no audio driver is listed, you can visit your device manufacturer's website to download and install audio drivers for your system model.

If audio driver is present, you can try updating audio drivers to latest version.

Or if you've already updated them, try to roll back previous version to see if that works.

Also, run Playing Audio troubleshooter from Settings app > System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters. Let us know what it reports back.

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Answer 2

Hello, thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A.

1

Run the Audio troubleshooter - ****

Go to Start > Settings > System > Troubleshoot > Other Troubleshooters.

Locate audio in the lists, and click Run.

Once the troubleshooter is finished running, restart your computer and test the audio output.

2

Reinstall audio drivers -

Open the Device Manager.

Expand the arrow next to sound, video, and game controllers.

Right-click your default audio output device, -Realtek (R), select Uninstall device, select 'Attempt to delete the driver software for this device check box' and then click Uninstall.

Once uninstalled, restart your computer and check the audio output.

Let me know if you still need more help.

Answer 3

Use the following steps to restore an audio output device in Windows 11 when Settings shows “No output devices found” or “No audio device installed”:

Confirm the device is not just muted/hidden

Select the Speakers icon on the taskbar.
If Speakers is not visible, select Show hidden icons and look for it there.
Select the arrow to the right of the volume slider to open the list of audio devices and confirm none appear. If a device appears, select it and test audio.

Check that devices are enabled in Sound settings

Select Start > Settings > System > Sound.
Under Advanced, select More sound settings.
On the Playback tab, select the expected output device (if any are listed), then select Properties.
Next to Device usage, ensure Use this device (enable) is selected.

Set the correct default audio device (if one appears)

In Start > Settings > System > Sound.
Under Output, select the device to use for playback; this also sets it as the default.
If using USB/HDMI audio, ensure that device is selected instead of an external monitor with no speakers.

Install or repair audio drivers If Settings shows no devices at all, the audio driver is likely missing or not working.

Update the audio driver automatically:

In the search box on the taskbar, type device manager, then select it.
Expand Sound, video and game controllers.
Right-click the sound card or audio device (for example, laptop speakers or headphones), select Update driver, then Search automatically for drivers.
Follow the prompts and restart the PC.

If Windows does not find a driver:

Visit the PC or motherboard manufacturer’s support site and install the latest audio/sound driver for the exact model.

Reinstall the audio driver If updating does not help or the device is missing:
Open Device Manager.
Expand Sound, video and game controllers.
Right-click the audio device and select Uninstall device.
Select Attempt to remove the driver for this device, then Uninstall.
Restart the PC. Windows will attempt to reinstall the audio driver automatically.
Use the generic Windows audio driver If the vendor driver still fails:
Open Device Manager.
Expand Sound, video and game controllers.
Right-click the audio device, select Update driver > Browse my computer for drivers > Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer.
Select the generic audio driver that comes with Windows and complete the installation.
Run the Playing Audio troubleshooter

Open Settings > System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters.
Run Playing Audio and apply any fixes it suggests.

If, after reinstalling or updating drivers and enabling the device, Windows 11 still shows no output devices, the issue may be hardware-related and require support from the device manufacturer.

References: