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.
If you see red "X" on speakers icon, you may need to restart the Windows Audio service.
Press Windows + R on your keyboard, type services.msc in the dialog box, and then click OK. Find the Windows Audio service and click on Restart which is on the left side.
If you notice the "X" red character on the speakers icon (e.g after you wake up your computer from hibernation / sleep), then scan for hardware changes to see if it helps.
To resolve the issue:
Hardware changes should be detected and you won't see the red "X" character. Windows might ask you to insert the driver CD for your sound card.
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.
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.
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