Fix Headphones Not Working in Windows 10

Establishing connections with audio devices in Windows is no easy task. The drivers may be incompatible, Windows may misread the type of audio output signal, and and you may have to dive into your sound settings to figure out exactly what’s going on. What is the cause of the problem? Here are the fixes for not connecting to headphones in Windows 10 that you can try when having problems with your headphones.

First, determine if it is a hardware issue

Before moving on to all the software-based fixes that we're going to list below, it's important to check if the problem is hardware related. If so, the fixes below may not be of any help for you.

Two noteworthy hardware that can fail when the headphones are not working are the headphones themselves and the port you plug them in. First, plug the headphones into another device to see if they work there. If not, maybe it's time to buy new headphones.

If they work on another device, then try plugging the headphones into another audio port on the PC and they don't work. If the headset suddenly starts to work, then it shows that the problem was with the original port. You can simply use your headset on the new port

Update, reinstall or replace the audio driver

If you have plugged the headset into the correct connection port on your Windows 10 PC and because the headset cannot work, there is a good chance that an error has appeared in the software, affecting the audio transmission from the PC to the headset. .

To fix this problem, first go to Device Manager -> Sound, video and game controllers, then select your sound driver. In our case, the sound driver selected is Realtek High Definition Audio.

Next, right-click the driver, select Update driver, and then click Search automatically for updated driver software

If that fails, you can right-click the driver, click Disable device and re-enable it. Finally, you can roll-back the driver by right-clicking the driver, choosing Properties, then clicking the Driver tab and click Roll Back Driver.

There is also another driver related method that you can try. On the Update driver window, first click Browse my computer for driver software, then Let me pick from a list and finally click High Definition Audio Device. Ignore Windows notifications, and continue to install the driver as usual.

Make sure the headset you are using is Default Device and enabled

Another important place where you may need to make some changes to get your headphones working is the Sound. The best way to get here is to right-click the speaker icon in the notification area in the right corner of Windows, then click Sound Settings.

In the Sound Settings window, click Manage sound devices and see if your headset or headphones are in the Disabled list. If so, click them and select Enable.

To make the headphones the default audio device, which automatically switches to the headphones as soon as they are plugged in, return to the Sound Settings menu.

Here, click on the drop-down menu Choose your output device and select the headset from the list.

In the future, you can also change your default audio device by simply clicking the speaker icon in the notification area on the taskbar and selecting your preferred audio device from there

Change the default headset format

Again access the Sound section according to the steps above. In the Sound, click the Playback tab. Right-click your headphones (they may appear under the name Speakers (if you use the speakers), then click Properties and select the Advanced tab.

Try to find the default format (Default Format) of the headset, after each change, click Test to see if the headset works.

HD Audio and AC97

AC97 and HD Audio are two audio standards that are typically connected to the front 3.5mm audio jack on many desktop systems. Whether your PC uses AC97 or HD Audio will depend on your motherboard's connection to the front audio ports. Hence, you should access the audio driver tool and make sure that your Connector Settings are completely correct.

For example, the audio driver tool used in the article is Realtek HD Audio Manager (found in the Control Panel). Open it, then click Settings in the top right corner. You look down at the Connector Settings section and you can see that the HD Audio Front Panel option is enabled.

Here, you can also use headphones as a second audio device to replace the speaker by checking the option Make front and rear output devices playback two different audio streams simultaneously as shown in the illustration below.

Troubleshooting audio problems has never been an easy task, with different problems giving rise to different solutions. Hope you will find what you need in the methods above. If you still can't fix the problem or find another way to fix the problem, leave us your comments in the comments section below!