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.
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.
Muted speakers is a common problem when you don't have any sound.
First, go to the bottom right corner of your screen and if there is a red mark on the Speakers button, click on it and unmute it.
If that didn't help then:
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.
Your out of date sound card driver might be a cause for not having sound or if it degrades over time. To update it:
If you cannot find the driver in this way, update it through the Windows Update.
Windows 7:
Start button -> Control Panel -> Windows Update -> Check for updates.
Windows 8 & 10:
Windows+X -> Control Panel -> Windows Update -> Check for updates.
The most effective option to update the sound card driver is to download manually from the manufacturer’s website. Once you've download it, If it isn't an executable (.exe) file, go to the Drivers tab from the steps above and choose Browse my computer for driver software, then specify the folder where you downloaded the driver to, and follow the instructions.
If you have 2 sound devices connected, e.g monitor speakers and some other external speakers, you should check if the right device is selected.
1. Click the Start button (Windows logo key) and go to Control Panel (Windows+X -> Control Panel for Windows 8 & 10).
2. Select Sound and for the device you want to use click on Set Default.
First, make sure the sound device is connected to your computer. Headphones are under same name as your default speakers device.
If your sound device is disabled in Device Manager, that could be a reason for not hearing any sound.
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.
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.
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:
If you don’t receive the email in the next 2 minutes please check your junk folder, and add [email protected] to your safe sender list.