Is audio sound not working after Windows 10 21H2 updates? You are not alone, a number of users report Windows 10 Audio Not Working After Installing the Latest cumulative update. For some others unable to play the audio sound or No Audio output installed. Well, outdated or incompatible audio driver mostly causes this problem, Again Incorrectly configured Sound Settings, windows audio service not started and more also cause No Sound Issue on Windows 10. If you are also struggling with similar problems here in this post we have different solutions to fix audio sound problems on Windows 10, 8.1, and 7.

Windows 10 sound not working after update

If you have external speakers, then check and make sure that all the wires are connected properly on both the PC’s and speaker’s end.

Do keep in mind that there are two jacks, one for sound input and one for output. Ensure that you are connecting the speakers to the output jack and not the input one created for microphones. Also If you have multiple output jacks, then try all of them to ensure that there is no problem with a particular jack.

Check your volume levels from the audio icon and don’t forget to check the volume levels of your external speakers.

Configure the speakers

There may be settings related to the speakers that can solve audio problems and it is the first place to start when trying to figure out what is wrong.

Right-click the speaker icon at the right side of the taskbar and select Open Volume Mixer. This has sliders for things like the speakers and system sounds. Check that all the sliders are at the top for maximum volume.

Right-click the speaker icon again and this time select Playback Devices Select  Speakers.

There are two buttons – Configure and Properties. Select Configure and go through the setup steps.

Afterward, select Properties and check each tab. The Enhancements tab might help to improve the sound and it is worth experimenting with the settings.

Try different Audio Formats

Windows lets you change the default sound format that affects sound quality. Sometimes a wrong format could lead to no sound issue.

  • Press Windows + R keyboard shortcut type mmsys.cpl and click ok,
  • Here, select the speakers you are using and click on “Properties” below it.
  • In the Speakers Properties, move to the “Advanced” tab and use the drop-down menu in the “Default Format” section to choose a format.
  • Try selecting “24 bit, 44100 Hz” or “24 bit, 192000 Hz” and see if it fixes the issue.
  • If they both don’t work, then give “16 bit, 44100 Hz” a try.

Run Audio Troubleshooter

Windows having a built-in Audio troubleshooting Tool that can fix the sound problem automatically. Before applying Any Other Solutions we recommend To Run this tool first and let windows Solve the problem itself.

To run the troubleshooter, right-click on the sound icon in the taskbar and select “Troubleshoot sound problems” from the menu. This will run the troubleshooter that will automatically scan the audio system to look for errors.

If it finds any problems, it will let you know and may automatically fix it, If it doesn’t fix it automatically, it will tell you what the problem is and then you can follow the instructions to solve it yourself. If it detects nothing, then it will simply tell you that it didn’t find anything and will offer more options to explore.

Additionally, if the troubleshooter says that the audio device is “unplugged” then there is a good chance that the problem is with the physical connection and the speakers, so double-check the connection using the instructions in the above tip to ensure everything is fine.

Disable Audio Enhancements

You should also disable Windows 10’s built-in Audio Enhancements that may be interfering with the built-in enhancements of the speakers. Such interference could lead to both no sound and poor sound quality in Windows 10. Move to the same “Speakers Properties” dialog like in the above method, and go to the “Enhancements” tab. Here, check the option “Disable all enhancements”.

Restart Audio Services

Also If due To some Reason windows Audio Service is Disabled or not started, then you face Audio sound issue, Audio service not running, etc. Start and Restart The Audio Service, with its dependencies service may be very helpful to fix this issue for you.

To Restart windows Audio Service and its dependencies services

  • Press Win + R, type services.msc, and hit the enter key.
  • Here on the services console Scroll down and locate the “Windows Audio” service
  • Check and make sure its status is set to “Running”.
  • If not, double-click on it, Change the startup type Automatic, and start the service next to service status.
  • Click Apply and save to make save the change.
  • Now again check the dependencies service AudioEndpointBuilder is running,
  • If not then right-click on it and start and set to Start Automatically at startup.

Also If Both Services are running and set to start automatically at startup then Simply Right-click on it and click Restart, This will refresh the stuck service, Which fixes several sound issues.

Update and Fix Audio Drivers

Faulty drivers are one of the most common reasons for almost all hardware malfunctions. An outdated audio driver or a faulty one could be the reason why you are not hearing any sound in Windows 10. Update, Reinstall the current audio driver is a good applicable solution. Also If the problem started after a recent driver update then the rollback driver option will help to fix this issue.

Update Driver

To update the current driver right click on the windows 10 start menu and select “Device Manager”. Alternatively, you can Press the Windows+R key, Type “devmgmt.msc” and hit the enter key to open the Device Manager. This will list all installed drivers lists, Here expand “Sound, video, and game controllers” you should see Windows 10’s audio driver along with your device manufacturer’s driver.

update audio driver

Right Click on it and select Update driver, In the next screen, click on “Browse my computer for driver software” and then click on “Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer”. After that, click on “High Definition Audio Device” and then click on “Next”. A warning will show up, just click on “Yes” here and the driver will be updated.

Simply Restart windows to take effect the changes and check sound and audio issues are solved.

Reinstall Audio driver

Also reinstall the audio driver is a good way to fix the issue, for this first you need to visit the device manufacturer’s website, check, and download the latest available audio driver. Then open device manager -> expend sound, video, and game controllers -> right click and uninstall device -> restart windows.

On the next restart Windows automatically download and install the basic audio driver. Or you can click on Action -> scan for hardware changes. Now again open device manager -> expend sound, video, and game controller -> right-click the installed driver and select update driver and select browse my computer for driver software and assign the path of the driver which you downloaded before. Click next and follow on-screen instructions to complete the installation process.

Roll Back Driver option

Also if the problem started after a Recent driver update then the Rollback driver option (which reverts the currently installed driver version to the previous version ) is very helpful. You can perform the RollBack Driver option from device manager -> expend sound, video, and game controller -> right click on High Definition Audio Device and select properties.

Here move to the driver tab, select the Rollback driver option and follow the on-screen instruction to roll back the currently installed driver to the previous version. Simply restart windows to make changes effectively and check the audio problem solved.

These are some best quick tips to fix Audio Sound Problems, No audio input installed, Audio service not running, etc on Windows 10 computers. I hope after applying these solutions your problem will get fixed and again you start to hear audio from your Windows Laptop. Still, have any query, a suggestion about this post feel free to comment below.

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Robeg
I am Robeg founder of this blog. My qualification. completed Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP). With a strong background in computer applications love write articles on Microsoft Windows (11, 10, etc.) Cybersecurity, WordPress and more.