Why are my speakers not working? How to fix them?
Although such instances are rare, speakers are known to stop working. They can mute completely, or the sound can be crackling, certain apps not to play sounds, and more. The end result is the same, you won't be able to listen to music or watch movies.
The reasons for no sound are far and wide, with the most common ones being listed below:
The solutions listed below will show you how to fix the speakers and sound problems. Check them out.
A reason why speakers are not working on Skype are the Skype audio settings. Skype allows you to choose a speaker or a microphone in case if there are more speakers or microphones connected to your device. If you can't hear a voice during a call or the other side can't hear you, check your Skype settings in order to see if everything is correctly set, because it's possible that your current speaker or microphone aren't selected.
To alter the Skype settings, follow the steps below:
Also when you make a call, ensure that your speaker and microphone aren't muted.
Maybe the reason why you don't hear anything is because the speaker is muted in the Volume Mixer.
To check if this is the case:
On Windows 7:
If you use Windows 8.1, or Windows 10, right-click on the Speakers icon and select Open Volume Mixer;
Here you can find every problem that uses speakers. If any program was muted, you will need to unmute it and the speaker issue will be resolved.
The Microsoft team developed a set of tools, known as troubleshooters, that will help you diagnose what the issue is caused by, and how to fix it effectively. There are troubleshooters for virtually every aspect on your computer, CPU, network, video and more, which will help you save precious time you would spend to fix the issue, or if the troubleshooter fails, it will guide you where to search the solution, by showing you an error code.
To run the troubleshooter, right-click the audio icon (the speaker) in the bottom right corner of the screen, and select Troubleshoot sound problems.
The instructions below will work if you use a Windows 7 PC.
Or watch this video which shows how to use the troubleshooter on your Windows 7 PC.
Having a strong and stable Internet connection is imperative for a smooth call. If your Internet connection is not strong the sound quality will be way lower, or you will hear no sound at all. The solution is to switch to another and more importantly stable Internet connection. If you are connected to a Wi-Fi network, switch to another Wi-Fi network or to mobile data.
Ways to improve the Internet connection include:
Discover more solutions to improve the Internet connection in our how to fix slow Internet guide.
If you have corrupt device driver files you will most likely get red "X" on the speakers icon, yellow "!" or red "X" in Device Manager (this may happen after virus / malware removal also or if you upgraded to Windows 8/10 recently). Try to reinstall the sound card drivers to see if it helps:
If you get the same error, uninstall it again, go to the manufacturer's website and download the correct driver or put driver disc to install it from there.
It is possible that your speakers aren't working properly due to audio enhancements. To have them fixed you can disable Audio Enhancements to see if it helps. To turn off audio enhancements, follow the steps below:
After upgrading to Windows 8 or 10, users reported that they had problems with their speakers not working well. They were able to resolve them by changing the bit rate, following the steps below:
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