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Sound not playing on windows 10 laptop

More often than not, the video card driver crashes. And then the system writes that it was restored. If the sound disappeared in Windows 10, the user is most likely to blame. Very often in programs like Skype, someone cuts out the microphone and speakers, turns off the application and forgets about it. And then they wonder why the sound stopped working. Verification is carried out in completely standard ways.

The first thing to check is the volume. The next logical step is to check the speaker power and the quality of the connection to the analog output connector. Finally, you should turn on the control on the speakers themselves. If all of the above did not help, look at the driver version when installed. Sometimes there is no sound in games after the update.

Step-by-step instruction

Errors are so typical that they can already be classified into groups. That is what we are going to do.

Volume

For most of the population, I / O ports are located on the back of the system unit, facing away from the user. Therefore, the first step is to click on the tray to see if there is such an icon as on the screen.

In 95% of cases, this completes the system restore.

Cable not plugged in

Another thing happens - someone cut down the speakers so as not to interfere. In this case, the keyword "dynamics" will be missing.

More verification needed! Right click on the speaker icon and go to playback devices.

Instantly everything becomes clear: not connected!

Fix this problem by inserting a "jack" into the green audio output connector on the motherboard. The screenshot shows only 3 ports, in modern models they will make up the bottom row of the two available.

Pink microphone input. Pay attention to this if the headset has two "jacks". After that, make sure that the speakers are connected as described above.

Driver

A sign of the need to install the desired driver will be the absence of any active system devices in the menu.

An empty list is a clear indication that the disk with firewood was attached to the motherboard for a reason. Install the required software. Typically, changes take effect without a reboot. If no sound devices are installed, check the task manager first. Most likely the driver is missing. If the sound does not work after updating Windows 10, work in the same direction. The drivers are too old.

Device disabled

From time to time, sound does not work on Windows 10 for the reason that someone turned off the device altogether. This can be done in two ways:

program intervention.
Manually.

The authors cannot prove this in any way, but it seems that devices may disappear due to the installation of crooked drivers. This happens from time to time with USB. In early December, when removing any device and installing a new one, the system did not see it. The authors had to turn off the power because the PC became unmanageable, devoid of a keyboard and mouse. One reason for no sound in headphones is usually more prosaic. We go back to Sound and look.

Everything is seen. It says in black and white that the speakers are disabled. To restore the sound, right-click and select the desired option.

Just in case, always select the checkboxes shown on the screen, this sometimes saves a lot of time.

Sound level

Not only on the speakers you can set the sound level, but also on the system mixer. If you've lost sound after installing Windows 10, don't be so quick to blame Billy Gates and Microsoft. Check the sound level of all devices to the end.

Each object has this tab. Don't waste decibels for nothing.

In Game

If the game world does not want to play, the answer to the question of why there is no sound lies somewhere in the area of \u200b\u200bthe settings of the application itself. There are simply no options here. This is not some emulator that has incompatibility issues. All releases are tested on a Windows 10 computer. This is part of the marketing strategy. Some games, when terminated incorrectly, knock down the settings of the operating system. You have to set everything manually.

We know for sure that fresh firewood immediately gets into the list of the Microsoft server, but we recommend updating from the official hardware manufacturer. Windows has too many system devices, among which nothing is worth getting confused. Before updating the software, check:

Motherboard model.
Sound card model (if any).

Just in case, we show how to do the same through the Device Manager (although we do not recommend using it).

Everything in the Sound folder needs to be updated. Perhaps the turned on heaped display is incorrectly perceived by the system. In this case, the Dispatcher will contain question marks. This is a clear indication that you need to visit the official website of the manufacturer. Some displays can play sound, and we are updating the corresponding driver.

Often, Windows users are faced with a problem: suddenly the sound completely disappears on the computer or a distorted sound appears that cuts the ear. How to get everything back in place as soon as possible? What causes such problems on the PC?

What to do if there is no sound on Windows 10

There are many reasons for the sudden loss of sound. Before performing the steps below, you must first make sure that your speakers or headphones are working: connect them, if possible, to another gadget, such as a smartphone. If everything works, proceed with the instructions.

Adjusting the sound volume

The user may not hear the sounds of the system due to the fact that the minimum volume level is currently set in the "OS". The sound can also be turned off. This problem has a very simple solution:

Pay attention to the lower right corner of the display. Among the icons in this area, look for the loudspeaker icon. Its name is Dynamics. Click on it with the left mouse button. Click on the loudspeaker icon next to the clock and date in the lower right corner of the screen
If there is a cross next to the icon, it means that the matter is only inadvertently turned off the sound. Enable it in the panel that appears.
To do this, click on the slider with the left key and hold your finger on it. Move the slider to the right to the desired volume level, but we recommend that you make the maximum and check the sound right away. If there was no cross, try lowering the volume first by moving the slider to the left, and then increase it again.
Move the slider all the way to the right to increase the volume
If the sound is barely audible, right-click on the same "Speakers" icon. In the list, click on the first item "Open Volume Mixer".
In the context menu, click on the item "Open Volume Mixer"
Check the volume level for individual utilities that are currently open on your PC. The volume of the browser can be, for example, much lower than the system sounds. Set it to maximum and make sure that the sound now works as before.
Turn up the volume for every kind of sound

Running the troubleshooter

Perhaps some single failure occurred in the system - because of which the sound disappeared. In this case, a simple restart of the device through the Start menu can help. If it does not give any results, run a special Windows tool to fix sound problems:

Right click again on your speaker icon. This time, opt for the last option "Troubleshoot audio".
The system will immediately start looking for existing problems. Wait a bit.
Wait for the system to detect sound problems on your PC
The tool may find some problems. The message will provide specific recommendations for solving the problem. They can be different (depending on the cause of the problem). Follow the guidelines. For example, the tool may advise you to simply turn up the volume. Follow the instructions in the previous section of this article.
Troubleshooter asks to increase audio volume in mixer
Click on "Next". The tool will continue looking for problems.
The tool can detect other problems that are related to the lack of sound
The tool may also detect an issue with the audio driver. In this case, you will be prompted to reinstall it. Click on Play Test Sounds.
Click on "Play Test Sounds"
The system will try to play sounds. Depending on their quality, select an assessment in the next window. If it was hard to hear or there was no sound at all, the system will reinstall the driver. After that, restart your PC and check the sound. If it was heard well, the "OS" will continue to use the current driver.
Rate the sound the system has just played
After checking and performing troubleshooting steps, the tool will provide you with a short report on the work done.
Check out the tool's progress report: it will contain information about the problems found and their resolution

Missing or outdated driver

A common reason for the lack of sound is the outdated audio driver. In this situation, it is necessary to update it in order to return the sound. You can do this in the standard Windows window called Device Manager, through special update utilities, for example, DriverPack Solution, DriverBooster, SlimDrivers and others (download them only from official sources). It is also possible to download audio drivers from the official resource of your PC manufacturer. Let's analyze the installation of new drivers on the example of a laptop from Asus:

In any browser, we will open the official page of Asus. In the upper right corner, click on the magnifying glass icon and start typing the model name in the line. Our device is called X555UB. We click on the desired model in the search results.
Enter your PC model name in the search box
Switch to the third tab "Support".
Switch to the "Support" tab in the upper right corner
Now we need the first section "Drivers and Utilities". We click on it with the left button.
Go to the "Drivers and Utilities" section to open a list of available "firewood"
Select your OS version from the dropdown menu. In most cases, this is a ten. Do not forget about bit depth - it also needs to be taken into account.
Select your operating system from the drop down menu
In the list we are looking for Audio. The driver will be located almost at the very beginning of the list. We click on the corresponding blue "Download" button and wait for the download to finish - it will take some time, depending on the speed of your Internet.
Find Audio in the list of available drivers
We launch the downloaded archive with the audio driver suitable for your model. We find in it a file called Setup.exe - an installation document.
In the downloaded archive, find and run the Setup.exe file
Click on "Yes" to launch the installer and allow it to make changes to the device.
Click on "Yes" to allow the driver installer to make changes to the PC
Click on "Next" on the initial screen of the audio driver installer.
In the initial installer window, click on "Next" to proceed to the next instructions
Click on "Next" again to start uninstalling the previous driver.
First, the installer will remove the old driver, and after restarting the system, it will install the new one.
We are waiting for the completion of the uninstall procedure of the old driver.
The installer will take some time to remove the old audio driver
After that, we immediately reboot the system through the appropriate item in the installer window.
Check the box next to "Yes, restart my computer now" and click on "Finish"
After restarting the PC, the new driver will be installed automatically.

Video: how to update the audio driver for a Realtek sound card

Roll back or remove sound drivers

If you're having problems with sound after any system updates, such as an audio driver update, it's possible that the driver wasn't installed correctly, or that it didn't work for your audio hardware. In this case, it is recommended to roll back the sound "firewood":

First, call the necessary window - "Device Manager". In the tenth version of Windows, this is easiest to do: right-click on the Start icon - select the appropriate item in the list.
From the context menu of the Start button, select Device Manager
If the Start context menu does not appear, use the Search panel (the magnifying glass icon on the Taskbar). Start typing a query corresponding to the name of the window - the system will immediately begin to select options for you. Click on the desired result.
You can open the "Device Manager" through the panel "Search Windows"
In the list of hardware parts we find the item "Sound, game and video devices". Open it by double-clicking with the left mouse button.
In the "Device Manager" expand the item "Sound, game and video devices"
Right-click on Realtek High Definition Audio or something that matches your audio hardware, such as Conexant SmartAudio HD. In the gray menu, click on "Properties".
Open the driver properties using the context menu
In the second section "Driver" click on the "Rollback" button, if it is clickable. If not, then this option is currently not available to you.
If the "Rollback" button is not clickable, it means that you will not be able to return the previous version of the driver
The system will roll back the driver to the previous version. After that, we check the sound. If it does not appear, remove the device through the same context menu that is called by right-clicking.
Now on the top panel, click on "Action", and then select "Update hardware configuration" - the driver will again appear in the list. Again, we check the presence and quality of sound.
Click on "Update hardware configuration"

Viral activity

Problems with system components can be caused by malware that settled on the device earlier despite the presence of antivirus utilities. There may be problems not only with sound - there will be a general "braking" of the OS.

To rule out this explanation, or, conversely, to make sure that the matter is in the virus, conduct a full scan. You can use both a third-party antivirus and the built-in standard one - Windows Defender. Consider testing and treatment using his example:

Running Defender is very simple: it always runs in the background, so its icon is in the Windows tray. Open it and find the icon in the form of a white shield.
Find the white shield icon in the Windows tray and click on it once with the left mouse button
In the Protection Center, open the "Virus and Threat Protection" section.
Click on the "Virus & Threat Protection" tile
On the next page, you can start a quick check, but unfortunately, it may not return any results. It is still recommended to use a full scan, so click on the "Start a new advanced scan" link.
Give preference to advanced scanning, which will definitely help neutralize the virus
Now choose one of the three types. A custom scan will look for viruses in certain directories that you yourself point to. The offline Windows Defender scan will take approximately 15 minutes, but in this case the system will have to reboot. This option is suitable for removing threats that are best able to disguise themselves. The first item - "Full Scan" - will take a lot of time, but at the same time you can safely work on your PC further. After selecting, click on the "Scan Now" button.
Select "Full Scan" if you are not worried about the time it will take and if you want to work on PC during this time
We are waiting for the completion of the virus scan process. The system will present a report to you: if malicious files are found, you will be given the right to choose the action to be performed with this file. Choose delete. After that, restart the device and check if the sound works. If necessary, update the PC configuration (remove and restore the driver) using the instructions in the previous section of this article.
Wait for the system virus scan to complete

Enabling or restarting a service

The system service that is responsible for the operation of sound may be deactivated for some reason. If it is disabled, the sound, of course, will not work. You can activate it in a special window:

We call it on the display through the "Run" window: immediately press the two buttons Win and R, and already in the field we paste or print the services.msc code ourselves.
Write in the "Open" line the command services.msc
Another way is the "Search" panel. We click on the magnifying glass on the "Taskbar" (usually it is located next to the "Start" button). We are writing a request already in Russian - “Services”. Click on a section in the search results. Type "Services" into the search box
In the right part of the window, look for the item Windows Audio. If this service is disabled, there will be a Start link in the middle of the window. We click on it - it will start working in a few seconds.
Using the "Start" link, you can activate the Windows Audio service
After that, double-click on Windows Audio to open another window. If this click does not work, right-click and click on "Properties".
Click on "Properties" in the context menu of Windows Audio
In the new window, we need the Startup Type dropdown menu. In it, we select "Automatically" so that the service starts working immediately with the loading of "Windows". Checking the sound.
Set the "Startup Type" to "Automatic"
After that, also make sure that three more services related to audio playback are running on the PC: "Media Class Scheduler", "Windows Audio Endpoint Builder" and "Remote Procedure Call". For all of them, you need to set the "Automatic" value for the "Startup type" parameter.

Video: How to Start the Windows Audio Service

Wrong speaker format

The sound may disappear if you install the wrong speaker format. Switching it will help fix the situation:

You can also open the desired window in two ways. Call the Run panel again (via the Win + R combination): write or paste the mmsys.cpl query on it, and then execute it using the OK button.
In the "Open" line, write the code mmsys.cpl and click on OK
The second method is as follows: right-click and in the list on a dark background, click on "Sounds".
In the "Sound" window, we need the first tab. Right-click on "Speakers" and select "Properties" from the menu. Another way is to double-click on the "Speakers" item or a special button under the panel on the right.
In the context menu of the "Speakers" item, select "Properties"
In the next window with the properties of the speakers, go to the penultimate section "Advanced". In it, in the drop-down menu, select the format suitable for your speakers (if it was 24 bits, put one of the items with 16 bits). The "Check" button will help you determine the formats.
Choose the right sound format for your speakers or headphones
Also uncheck all boxes in the "Exclusive Sound" section.
Disable all options under "Exclusivity"
After setting, apply the changes using the button in the lower right corner and click on OK.

Deactivating sound effects

Your audio output device may not work when sound effects are enabled in the speaker settings. To turn them off, do the following:

Restoring or reinstalling the system

If none of the above methods got you out of the problem, try a system restore. First, let's look at how to use the restore point, if it is on the PC:

To start recovery using a point, we need the "System Properties" window. You can open it in several ways. The fastest is through the Run panel. Hold Win and R, paste the systempropertiesprotection code and press Enter.
Paste the systempropertiesprotection command into the field and click OK
If it does not work, open the "Control Panel" through the "Start" menu and find the "Recovery" section there.
You can also use Windows Search. Use the single word "Recovery" as a query.
In the search bar, type the query "Recovery"
Now click on the "Restore" button.
In the "System Properties" window, click on the "Restore" button
On the initial screen of the tool, select either the most recent point (recommended value) or check the box next to the second item to select a state from the list yourself.
Select the last restore point or check the box next to the second item
In the latter case, select a state from the list that appears and click Next.
Select the desired restore point from the list
Before that, you can also review the list of components that will be restored.
The tool can show which programs and drivers will be affected by the rollback
Now click on "Finish" so that the tool starts restoring the "OS" to the previous version - the state when the sound on the PC was present.
Confirm the restore point by clicking "Finish"
Confirm your intention to restore by clicking the "Yes" button. The process of preparing for the procedure will immediately start. After that, the PC will immediately reboot - you will not be able to work on it. It remains only to wait until the procedure is completed. After that, check the sound.

If you have previously made a backup copy of your “OS”, you can restore it using it:

Restart your device. When it starts to turn on again, hold down the key called F8. On the blue screen, click on the "Restore" button.
Select a keyboard layout.
Choose your keyboard layout
In the next window, click on "Diagnostics", and then on the "Advanced Options" section.
In the "Diagnostics" section, open the "Advanced options" block
Now select the System Image Recovery tile.
In "Advanced Options" select "System Image Recovery"
"Operation" will perform the preparatory phase. Wait for it to complete.
Wait for the preparation to restore the system from the image
Select your account from the list if there is more than one. If necessary, enter the password for it.
Select your "account" and enter the password for it, if any
You will see on the screen the windows of the step-by-step wizard for restoring Windows from a system image. The tool will default to the last created image. If you want to install another file, specify the path to it manually. Click on "Next".
Select the latest image or specify the path to the image stored on your disk yourself
Click "Next" again in the next window.
Click on "Next" to proceed with the recovery
The tool will tell you the date and time the image was created from which the system will be restored. Click on "Finish".
Click on the "Yes" button and wait for the tool to finish restoring
Click on "Restart now" to restart your PC for all changes to take effect.
Click "Reboot Now" to restart your device

If you do not have a restore point or backup, perhaps the only way out here is to reinstall the operating system. If you are a beginner, it is not recommended to perform it yourself - contact the specialists at the computer service center.

What to do if the sound on Windows 10 wheezes or automatically changes the volume

The sound on the computer may be present, but its quality may not please the user: wheezing, interruptions, and an arbitrary change in volume are heard. What to do in these cases? You can use some of the solutions in the previous sections of this article, such as disabling sound effects, updating drivers, and restoring the system using a point or backup. The first two will be effective for constantly changing volume. Recovery will be a universal method for most problems.

Solving the problem using the "Command line"

If the sound on your computer is wheezing, follow these steps:

Setting in the "Communication" tab

In the top ten, by default, the function is activated to reduce the volume of sounds that are played on the PC while using the device as a phone, that is, for talking. In some cases, the option may not work correctly. As a result, you have muffled sounds on the device, even when you do not use it as a mobile device. In this case, you can do the following:

Through the "Run" window (Win + R combination) and the mmsys.cpl command, call the "Sound" panel on the display. You can also open it through the "Control Panel".
Open the "Communication" tab in the "Sound" window
Set the last value to "No action required" and click on "Apply". Check the sound.
Set to "No Action Required" and click on "Apply"

Update Flash Player for Browser

If you are listening to music or watching videos through the browser and the sound is constantly interrupted, it may be due to the outdated Flash Player. Despite the fact that this technology is now being replaced by HTML5, there are still sites that work on the basis of the Flash Player component. How to update it, we will tell in the instructions:

In the browser in which you are listening to the audio, open the official Adobe Flash Player resource. Select your OS type from the first drop-down menu - Windows 10/Windows 8.
In the second step, choose one of the player types depending on your browser. Before downloading, make sure that in the middle of the page you do not have a checkmark for installing additional software, in particular, McAfee antivirus. Click on "Download".
Select your OS and browser type and click on "Download"
Now wait a while while the browser downloads the setup file.

Open the downloaded file through the "Downloads" panel
In the installer window, check the box next to "Allow Adobe to install updates" or, in extreme cases, select the second option with notifications about the need for an update. Click on "Next".
Select the first or second value and click on "Next"
Wait again for the download and installation process to complete.
Please wait while the Adobe Flash Player component is installed on your PC
Click "Finish" to close the installer window.
Click "Finish" to close the installer window
In the browser that you have in your system as the default browser, a page will open with thanks for downloading and installing the component. Check if the sound quality on the PC is working.
The browser will open a page with thanks from the developers for installing Adobe Flash Player
If this does not help, update the browser itself if the sound does not play well only in it. This can be done through the "About the browser" section, which can be found in the program menu itself.
Find the section "About the browser" in the browser menu
The utility itself will start searching for available updates and download them if necessary. Wait for the end of the procedure - it will take a minimum of time. If there are no updates on the network, the browser will report that the current version of the program is currently being used.
In the “About Browser” section, the program itself will start searching for updates and, if available, will install them on its own

Video: How to update Flash Player

Heavy load on the processor or other hardware components

If you have sound stuttering on your PC, it may be due to excessive load on hardware resources. The processor may not have time to process all the tasks assigned to it. In this situation, you need to reduce the load by disabling unnecessary programs and processes:

If you suddenly lost sound on your PC, first of all you need to make sure that the volume is at the maximum and then run the troubleshooter. Check if the corresponding audio service is enabled on the device. Update your audio drivers or roll them back if problems occur after updating them. Setting a different speaker format and turning off all sound effects can also help. Check your PC for viruses and if there is no result, restore the system using a restore point or OS backup. If the sound quality deteriorates, execute special codes in the "Command line" and update the programs for sound playback.

1. Reasons for loss of sound
2. Sound not working after Windows 10 update
3. Quiet sound, wheezing or automatic volume reduction
4. No sound in games
5. Conclusion

To date, a huge number of users have already encountered a lot of various problems after updating the operating system to Windows 10, and the most popular software flaw, perhaps, was the lack of sound on a personal computer running the new OS.

Although the “top ten” has been out for a relatively long time, nevertheless, many users still drive the phrase “Windows 10 no sound” into the search box, which means that our material today can be very useful for you.

Reasons for loss of sound

There are not so many potential sources of this problem, and therefore each owner of a new operating system is able to independently identify the root of the trouble. As a reminder, no matter how funny it may sound, the most common cause of no sound is unconnected speakers, so be sure to check the working condition of the devices that output sound on your PC. It is also common that the owner of the computer or someone in the household turned off the sound and simply forgot to return the settings to their original state, and therefore be sure to check the status of the volume icon in the quick access panel.

Another potential technical cause of trouble is a damaged speaker cable, before attributing everything to software problems, try testing the device on another PC or other sound source. If you have no sound in the headphones, then it is also recommended that you first try them on another gadget.

As for the software component, here it is worth starting the system check with the sound driver, it may turn out to be faulty or outdated. You can update the “firewood” on the website of the manufacturer of your sound card, but we strongly do not recommend using third-party resources, otherwise, when solving problems with sound in Windows 10, you run the risk of acquiring a lot of new ones caused by picked up malware.

By the way, you can easily avoid searching for suitable drivers by simply selecting all the items in the control panel menu “Sound, game and video devices” and calling the context menu by right-clicking the mouse, in which you need to activate the hardware configuration update function.

Sound not working after Windows 10 update

In the most common case, after updating the OC, the speaker icon does not display any problems, in the task manager opposite the sound card the status is “The device is working properly”, and the driver does not need to be updated.

In order not to prematurely proceed in such a situation to search for a different answer to the question of why the sound on the computer disappeared after installing Windows 10, take a close look at the name of the sound card in the device manager, if the “High Definition Audio capable device” design is displayed there, you can be sure - the problem is in the drivers. Most often, this problem occurs with Conexant SmartAudio HD, Realtek, VIA HD Audio sound cards. Also, if you have lost sound on a Sony or Asus laptop, then the problem should be looked for first of all here.

The algorithm of actions to correct the current situation is as follows:

We enter the name of your laptop or motherboard model in the search box and add the word support, the device manufacturer's website should be at the top of the search results, where you can update the driver you are interested in.
We find the drivers we need in the support section, if there is no suitable software specifically for Windows 10, then this does not matter - firewood for a seven or eight will suit us, the main thing is that the bit depth of the system matches.
Install the downloaded drivers and reboot the PC, after that the sound should work.

A common situation is when the user has traveled this path, but a positive result has not been obtained, as a rule, this is the result of incorrect installation of the software, and the driver installer does not report this. Check in the manager if the information about the driver has changed after installation, and if not, then follow the instructions below:

In most cases, running the installer in compatibility mode with the previous version of the operating system will help you;
If the first option did not help, then you should try to remove the sound card in the manager, as well as devices from the list of “audio inputs and audio outputs”, preferably together with the drivers, and immediately after that run the installer;
If the old driver is installed, then you need to right-click on the sound card, select "Update driver" - "Search for drivers on this computer" and check if new compatible drivers for your sound card appear in the list of already installed drivers.

Quiet sound, wheezing, or automatic volume reduction

Sometimes there is sound, but its quality leaves much to be desired. In such a situation, you need to configure the sound on a computer with Windows 10, which is done as follows:

We click on the speaker icon in the quick access panel with the right mouse button and go to playback devices;
We select the device with which there are problems - speakers or headphones, after which we right-click on its properties;
In the advanced features tab, disable all effects and apply the updated settings;
Now open the Communication tab and uncheck the box to reduce the volume or mute the sound during communication, selecting the item “No action required”.

After applying all the settings, it’s worth checking the status of our problem with sound not working on Windows 10. Most likely it is solved, but if not, try again to turn to the drivers and install not the native driver for your board, but one of those that the operating system itself will offer system. Often, third-party drivers can restore high-quality sound.

No sound in games

If the game process does not have sound, then you need to answer the question of how to set up sound in the application itself. As a rule, the menu item responsible for sound settings is not difficult to find, but if the sound disappeared after updating the operating system, you may need to manually reinstall the game. In this case, don't forget to copy all saved progress before deleting the app.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are not so many reasons why the sound stopped working - these are technical flaws in devices or connecting cords, user inattention, or software problems caused by driver mismatches or their absence. Dealing with any of them is quite simple, you just need to follow the instructions carefully and check if the software update has actually been installed.

In the event that no defects were found on the output devices, and the drivers are in order, there is a small probability of a malfunction of the particular sound chip or problems with its interaction with the motherboard, in this case we recommend that you contact the service center if you do not have the proper experience in work with microelectronic boards. We hope that our material helped you solve the problem and your PC again pleases you with your favorite music or sound.

If the sound disappeared in Windows 10, then the problem is most likely related to the Realtek HD audio driver, which stopped working after the next update of the operating system on the PC. A similar malfunction occurs quite often on systems with a bit depth of 32 and 64 bits. In this case, the system may complain about the lack of a sound card. It is not uncommon for a sound problem in Windows 10 to occur after installing this system instead of Windows 7, 8, or 8.1. There are at least 3 effective solutions to restore sound in a new operating system.

Sound problems and their possible causes.

Windows 10 sound problems can be as follows:

The PC does not play any sounds regardless of the volume setting;
sounds are interrupted or distorted;
missing HDMI after upgrading to Windows 10;
the computer does not perform tasks, freezes or spontaneously restarts during playback;
you get an error message when you try to play ("WAV cannot be played", "CD device in use by another application", "MIDI output error detected", "Your equipment cannot play files", "Unknown file format", etc.) ;
headphones don't work.

If the sound disappeared on a Windows 10 computer, then this can be caused by one of 3 reasons:

The audio driver was corrupted or removed during an operating system update. Microsoft has officially confirmed that the update removes any applications or drivers that are incompatible with the PC.
The sound card driver is outdated and may not work properly.
When installing Windows 10, the sound disappeared because there was an inadvertent change in the settings.

It must be borne in mind that an audio driver and a sound card driver are practically the same thing. If there is no sound on Windows 10, then the problem can only be solved by changing the settings or fixing the driver. If you are wondering how to repair sound, then the troubleshooting process will be the same for desktops and laptops from various manufacturers (Asus, Acer, Dell, Lenovo, HP, ThinkPad, Toshiba, IBM, Sony, Gateway, Samsung, etc.) .

Installing the most appropriate driver

If you're having trouble with sound on Windows 10, the first and most important step is to check if your sound driver is compatible. If a driver is found to be incompatible, it will need to be replaced. Sometimes it happens that the user installs special software from the sound card developer, but this does not help solve the problem.

In this case, the conclusion suggests itself that the installed driver is not working correctly.

If you do not know what to do when there is no sound on your Windows 10 computer, then this problem can be solved using the Driver Talent application, formerly called DriveTheLife. Such a tool will help you find out why the sound is missing and select the most suitable software for your Windows 10 system. Driver Talent has all the official sound drivers from sound card manufacturers and knows how to select the best option for a particular computer system. The interface of the DriveTheLife program has noticeably changed when it was renamed Driver Talent. This tool will automatically download and update the necessary software for your PC.

If you have installed Windows 10 on your Mac, then you can use the Driver Talent tool to fix the “sound not working windows 10 bootcamp” error. To do this, run the program and click "Scan". This will run a safe, automatic scan that checks your computer for driver problems. Then you should click "Repair" to fix the problem. The Driver Talent app will download and install the best driver for Windows 10.

After installation is complete, you must restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Speaker setup

In most cases, installing the proper software will fix audio issues. If there is no sound in Windows 10 and you do not know what to do, then you can try changing the properties of the speakers. To do this, follow these steps:

Right-click on the sound icon in the lower right corner of the taskbar and select Playback Devices.
Open the "Playback" tab and double-click on "Speakers" to open their properties.
Go to the "Advanced" tab in the "Speaker Properties" section and change the bitrate to 24 bit/44100 Hz or 24 bit/192000 Hz (depending on your speaker configuration).
Click "Apply" and OK to save the changes. Check the sound on the device.

Updating a Driver Using Device Manager

You can also open Device Manager to uninstall and reinstall the sound driver. Some users note that this method does not help to return the sound. This is due to the fact that the software that is installed using the Device Manager cannot work properly for some reason. In such cases, I restore the sound using Driver Talent, which was already mentioned above.

To update the software using the manager, you need to follow these steps:

open the "Start" menu, find and open "Device Manager";
find and open the list of sound devices;
right-click on the current sound driver and remove it;
Click "Scan for hardware changes" to update the driver.

The above solutions should help make sound under Windows ten. If the sound disappeared on a laptop or PC, and the problem could not be fixed, then the cause is a hardware failure of the computer.

In this case, you should use the right to warranty repairs or contact a specialized workshop for the repair of digital equipment.

Sound problems with computers running Windows 10 may be similar to other versions of this operating system. But the disappearance of the sound of the "dozens" quite often happens after upgrading to it previous versions of Windows - 7 or 8.

If, after installation or updating, sound does not work on Windows 10, then it is recommended to try to restore it in the following sequence:

built-in automatic tool;
checking the health and contacts of playback devices;
verifying that the audio service starts correctly;
correct installation of drivers;
correct settings for playback devices.

The first 3 points require a minimum of time. First, you should try to restore the sound automatically with a built-in recovery tool specially designed for this. To do this, right-click on the speaker icon on the taskbar, and click on the line "Detect problems with sound."

If there are no changes, the possible causes of the lack of sound should be ruled out one by one. And you need to start by carefully checking the reliability of connecting speakers or headphones to the appropriate computer jack. You need to make sure that playback devices are working by connecting them to other sound sources (to another computer, smartphone, player).

The next step is to verify that the Windows Audio service is functioning properly. To do this, in the control panel, select "Administration" and "Services". The startup type of the Windows Audio service should only be "Automatic".

Driver Issues

Quite often, especially in laptops, the sound disappears after the usual automatic sound card driver update. The best, according to the system, driver in fact is not. In such cases, you should prevent the system from automatically loading drivers. To do this, in the control panel, select "Devices and Printers" and right-click on the computer icon. In the list that appears, select the "Device Installation Options" item.

Then, in a new window, disable automatic downloads.

The manual installation of drivers is discussed below.

If you lose sound on a computer or laptop with Windows 10, you need to right-click on "Start" and go to "Device Manager", where you select the appropriate sound card. Soothing inscriptions about the normal operation of the device and the driver that does not need to be updated should not be trusted in the absence of sound. The inscription “High Definition Audio capable device” is much more informative instead of the name of a specific sound card. Such an inscription, as a rule, indicates that the optimal drivers for the board are not installed.

In this case, you should first try reinstalling the drivers from the motherboard disc that came with your computer when you bought it. If they are missing or outdated, you need to find out the model of your motherboard. To do this, you can look at the documentation or the board itself. Then you need to visit the website of the manufacturer of the motherboard (not the sound) board, download the latest sound drivers and install them. If they are not yet available for Windows 10, then drivers for the "seven" or "eight" will do. But the bitness of the driver (64 or 32 bits) must necessarily match the system one.

If the motherboard model could not be determined, then you need to use the special Driver Pack Solution program. It will automatically download the necessary drivers.

The described sequence of actions does not always solve the problem with the lack of sound. In this case, the "Device Driver Installation Wizard" must be run in compatibility mode with the previous version of Windows. To do this, right-click on the shortcut or executable file of the installer program, select "Properties" and the "Compatibility" tab.

If the sound still stubbornly does not play, then a global reinstallation of the audio path can help. To do this, in the “Device Manager”, first remove the sound card and all devices from the “Audio inputs and audio outputs” item.

Then run the installer again. If the driver is not installed in this way, then select "Action" in the manager, and then - "Update hardware configuration".

Checking playback device settings

Sometimes sound problems are due to misconfigured audio devices. For example, if there is no sound in the headphones, then you should check the default playback device and make sure that it is not disabled. To do this, right-click on the speaker icon on the taskbar and select "Playback devices".

In addition to the lack of sound, its defects are possible. For example, the sound stutters or wheezes. Sometimes sound effects interfere with normal playback. To exclude them, you need to right-click on the speakers, select "Properties", go to "Additional features" and check the corresponding box.

If the sound is too quiet on a laptop or computer, then you will need to check the volume settings. To do this, right-click on the icon of the audio device being checked, select "Playback devices" and go to the "Communication" tab. In the window that appears, if necessary, select the "no action required" item. This will increase the volume on the laptop while using it to talk on the phone.