If you find that your headphones are suddenly not working, read on as this post will help you sort out the problem. There could be several reasons why your headphone is malfunctioning, it could be due to an update you just installed, or it could also be due to incompatible operating system, drivers, and so on.
Although updates are created to fix bugs on a computer, there are times when it also causes some issues in the computer. One of the issues it causes is the broken headphone. When this happens, the computer will stop playing any audio using the headphones. The problem, as pointed out, could be due to Windows Updates or incompatible or corrupted drivers in the system.
To resolve this problem with the headphones, there are several fixes you can check out. Make sure that you follow each one of the given potential fixes below.
Option 1 – Try to set the headphone as the default device manually
There are times when you plug a headphone, it does not toggle the default audio device. Thus, to fix this issue, you have to set the default audio device to the headphones manually. To do that, follow these steps:
- First, right-click on the volume icon located on the system tray.
- Next, select the Open sound settings option to open the Sound section in the Windows 10 Settings app.
- After that, go to the Output section and select Headphones for the “Choose your output device” option. This should fix the problem for you.
Option 2 – Try to update, rollback or reinstall the Audio driver
If the glitch in your audio has something to do with software, chances are it might be related to the audio driver – it could be that the newest version of your Windows 10 does not work well with the old version of the driver. This is why you have to update your audio driver to the newest available version.
- Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and then type in MSC and tap Enter or click OK to open the Device Manager.
- Expand the section for the outdated device drivers.
- And then select the outdated driver(s) and right-click on it/them.
- From the drop-down menu, select the Update Driver option and follow the on-screen instructions to install the latest version of the driver.
- Then also click on the option, “Search automatically for updated driver software.
- Restart your PC after the installation.
Note: If updating the Audio driver didn’t work, you can go to the website of your PC manufacturer and look for the support section where you can download the drivers for your computer. You just need to take note of your PC’s correct model and model number so you can find the appropriate driver.
Option 3 – Try checking the status of the audio-related Windows Services
The Windows Services manages audio for all Windows-based programs and if this service is stopped, audio devices, as well as effects, will also be affected and if this service is disabled, any services that depend on it explicitly will fail to start. So you need to check the status of this service. How? Follow the steps below.
- Tap the Win + R to open the Run dialog box.
- Then type in “MSC” in the field and tap enter to open the Windows Service Manager.
- Next, navigate down to the Windows Audio Service and double-click on it to open Properties.
- After that, set the Startup Type to Automatic and then click on the Start button and if it has already started, stop it and then start it again.
Note: You should also make sure that the following Dependency Services are started and have Automatic Startup type:
- Remote Procedure Call
- Windows Audio Endpoint Builder
You should also start the Multimedia Class Scheduler and set it on Automatic if you have it in your system. The Multimedia Class Scheduler Service or MMCSS is a service in Windows that allows multimedia applications to get prioritized access to CPU for time-sensitive processing like the multimedia applications as well as prioritized disc access to make sure that the process does not lack data to process.
Option 4 – Try running the Playing Audio Troubleshooter
Since the Windows 10 operating system has the Playing Audio Troubleshooter, you can use this troubleshooter to try and fix the problem with the headphones. You can access this tool in the Control Panel or in the Taskbar Search and even on the Troubleshooters page of Windows 10.
Run this troubleshooter and see if it can fix the issue or not.
Option 5– Try to rollback or install a newer Windows Update
As mentioned earlier, the issue with the headphones could be due to a Windows Update. Thus, to fix the problem, you can try to either roll back or install a newer Windows Update.