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The sound on the laptop is missing, why?

User question

Hello.

Not so long ago, on my laptop, Windows 7 was updated to 10, and now I have lost sound. The driver seems to be installed, the volume icon is without crosses, everything is fine with it, the sound is completely added. But still shish ...

By the way, everything else (except for the sound) works well. Tell me at least which way to dig?

Hello.

If the sound disappears when reinstalling Windows - in the overwhelming majority of cases, there is either no driver here (it may have "crooked" up and need to be removed, and a new installation), or the playback device is incorrectly selected in the OS sound settings.

In this note I will give not only a solution to these reasons, but also several others (the most popular and frequently occurring ones).

So...

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Why is there no sound on the laptop: main reasons and solution

Sound settings

By the way, if you did not install or update anything, and the sound just suddenly disappeared - try first of all restart laptop .

This often helps (especially in cases where users do not turn off their laptop at all, always sending it to sleep ...).

Next, I recommend right-clicking on the sound icon in the tray (next to the clock) and open volume mixer (you can also do this 👉 in the Windows Control Panel).

It allows you to adjust the volume in different applications separately from each other (for example, if you do not have sound in the browser, but in games, it is quite possible that the volume mixer is to blame).

👉 Note!

What to do if the volume icon does not respond or disappears altogether - see the instructions

Open Volume Mixer (Windows 10)

Pay attention to the volume slider in front of each application. Check that the speaker volume is not turned down to the minimum ...

Check speaker volume (Windows 10)

By the way, another unpleasant moment often happens in Windows - the system does not always correctly selects the device through which the sound should be played.

Moreover, sometimes the sound can be fed to an unconnected device at all! In this case, there will be no sound in ordinary laptop speakers or headphones paired with it ...

To check this moment, open 👉 control panel and go to the tab "Hardware and Sound / Sound" .

👉 Note!  

How to open the control panel in Windows - see instructions

Hardware and Sound - Sound

Next, check if you have the correct default device to play a sound (a green checkmark is "lit" on it).

Try to select another device, if the sound does not appear - double-check them all one by one.

Default playback device

Drivers

If you have recently reinstalled the system, for example, updated Windows 7 to Windows 10, changed some components, connected something - in this case, the lack of sound is probably due to drivers .

Drivers from the same Windows 7 do not always fit Windows 10 (although the new system tries to install a driver for each connected device, it does not always succeed in doing this).

And so, to check and update drivers, I recommend opening 👉 Device Manager.

To do this: press the combination Win + R , enter the command devmgmt.msc in line "Open" and click OK.

Launching Device Manager - devmgmt.msc

In the device manager, you need to expand the tab "Sound, game and video devices" (as well as "Other Devices", if you have one) and see if there are any devices with exclamation marks.

Next, right-click on your audio card (usually, its name is something like "Realtek High Definition Audio") and in the context menu that appears, select the option "Update drivers" .

Update audio driver

As an example - there is no driver for this device

but Note that it is not always possible to update drivers in this way. In this case, I would recommend to additionally drive the system using a special.utilities (they can automatically find and load all necessary drivers and system components that are missing in your Windows OS).

For example, a utility such as 👉 Driver Booster can not only update drivers, but also conduct a full diagnosis of causes lack of sound (in some cases, it can be used to quickly restore the operation of the laptop).

Recovery Center - Fix No Sound / Driver Booster

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👉 Help!  

10 Best Driver Updaters (Automatically!) - See My Pick

Audio driver options

In the vast majority of cases, the updated audio driver in the system has own control panel ... Those. in addition to setting some volume parameters in Windows, this panel has its own settings that can directly affect volume and quality sound.

To open the audio driver settings - usually just go to the 👉 Windows control panel in the section "Hardware and Sound" .

👉 To help!

No badge from Realtek HD Manager! How to enter the Realtek control panel, otherwise I can not configure the sound in any way.

Hardware and Sound

In my case, this is a panel from "B&O - Play Audio Control" (yours may have another one, for example, some "Realtek HD ...", "Smart Audio", "Dolby Digital Plus", etc.).

B&O - Play Audio Control

Realtek Manager - Additional Speakers

Dolby Digital Plus - Music Setting

In general, be that as it may - check that in the parameters of the audio driver the sound is turned on and that the output to the desired playback device is carried out.

Sound disabled in BIOS / UEFI

If anyone does not know, then BIOS (UEFI) is a set of micro-programs that provide Windows OS access to the hardware of your laptop. Typically, BIOS settings allow you to disable some devices: Bluetooth adapter, audio and video cards, CD-Rom, etc.

In general, usually, if you yourself did not change the BIOS settings, they do not spontaneously turn off various devices (perhaps, if your motherboard battery is dead, they could reset ...).

As a rule, the audio card settings (if they are in your BIOS version) are located in the section "Advanced" ... For example, in an ASUS laptop, the parameter is responsible for this "HD Audio Controller" ... Make sure it is enabled (Enabled mode).

👉 Instructions!

How to enter BIOS (UEFI) on a computer or laptop - //ocomp.info/kak-voyti-v-bios.html

Audio Controller - Enabled

In general, if you do not know if you have an option (responsible for turning on / off the audio card), you can simply download optimal BIOS settings (this will turn all laptop components on).

To perform this operation, just go to the section "Save & Exit" and click on the item "Optimized Defaults" (usually the F9 button). Then save the settings and restart the laptop (F10 button).

Resetting UEFI settings to optimal (for example, a laptop from ASUS)

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👉 Help!

How to reset BIOS settings - //ocomp.info/kak-sbrosit-nastroyki-bios.html

Disabled Windows Audio Service

On Windows, a service is responsible for sound Windows Audio ... In some cases (in case of system failures, infection with some viruses, etc.), its work may be disrupted. It is recommended to check if it is being executed at all ...

To call the services window, you must press the combination of buttons Win + R , to the line that appears "Open" enter command services.msc and click OK. See example below (👇).

Opening services - services.msc (universal method)

Next, among the list of services, you need to find "Windows Audio" , open it and see the state (ideally, it should be "Performed" ).

Also pay attention to the startup type - by default it should be automatic .

By the way, try manually stopping the Windows Audio service and then restarting it.

Windows Audio Service Check / Clickable

If there is no sound through the headphones ...

If there is sound from the laptop's speakers, but there is no sound when connecting headphones, then the following reasons are very likely:

  • Windows selects the playback device incorrectly (try to go to the sound settings and manually specify the headphones as the default device - how to do this is indicated at the beginning of the article 👆);
  • you connect headset headphones to the usual audio output (note the photo below 👇);
  • malfunction of the laptop audio output (with frequent plugging / unplugging of headphones, the connector could start to play and not provide a tight connection);
  • defective headphones (try rechecking them on a different device).

👉 To help!

One headphone and microphone input in a laptop - how to connect them (headset and regular audio jacks)

Audio ports on laptops (headset and classic)

By the way, you can determine whether you have headset headphones by their plug - take a closer look at the number of contacts, for ordinary headphones there is a plug with 3 contacts, for headset headphones - with 4 contacts.

Plugs from different headphones

If you are faced with the fact that the headphones are for one connector, and on a laptop another - purchase a small adapter (various options for these are presented 👉 in Chinese online stores). One example is shown in the photo below.

Adapter (as an example)

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👉 Help!

Headphones not working on laptop - what can I do about it?

Windows Sound Diagnostics

If you are using Windows 8/10, then you have the opportunity to launch the automatic diagnostics finding and fixing the causes of the problematic sound. Often, such diagnostics helps to quickly and easily resolve the issue.

To start diagnostics - right-click on the speaker (volume) icon in the Windows tray, in the menu that appears, select "Troubleshooting Sound Problems" ... See example below (👇).

Detect audio problems

Diagnostics you can run it in another way (useful for those who, for example, do not have a volume icon in the tray 👇).

First press the key combination Win + i (Windows options will open), then go to the tab "Update and Security / Troubleshooting" and run the tool (example in the screenshot below 👇).

Troubleshooting (Windows 10)

After starting, the tool will automatically check all the necessary parameters, services, devices, etc. - you will have to occasionally answer the questions asked by the wizard ...

An example of how the Sound Troubleshooter works

Using an external sound card

If all of the above did not help solve the problem, there is one more radical way that will help out even in the case of some of those. malfunctions of your laptop, or in the absence of drivers for Windows 10 (say).

This is about external sound card (now there are models, the size of which does not exceed a stick)

Standard drivers are installed for them, Windows finds them on its own and installs them into the system in automatic mode. Those. no problem - all you need to do is connect it to the laptop's USB port (the photo below is an example 👇).

👉 Help!

Top 10 the best goods for a computer from China with free shipping (see item 8 - sound card, cost from 140 rubles)

Mini audio card operation

USB Audio device - the driver installed Windows itself in auto mode

The only thing that may be required after connecting such a "baby" is to open the sound settings in Windows and in the tab "Playback" specify a new device "Speakers / USB Audio Device" ... See example below (👇).

Playback devices

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Additions on the topic are welcome ...

Good luck!

First published: 16.06.2019

Correction: 10/27/2020

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