headphone-not-working-issue-in-windows-10

“Headphone not working” is a common issue faced by Windows 10 users. So what happens here is that you might find that after upgrading to Windows 10, your computer refuses to detect the headphones or it might detect the headphones but no sound comes from it.

While an irritating problem, it is nothing to lose sleep over. You can fix it yourself without breaking a sweat—and we’ll show you how.

7 top causes of ‘no sound’ on Computer

In this post, we have provided four solutions that could get your headphones working again. You don’t have to try all solutions to fix the issue. For some users, the Solution One worked while some benefited from other solutions.

The best approach is to start with the first solution and if it does not work, try the next solution and so on, till your headphone starts working.

Solution One – Set headphone as the default device

Your computer has several sound/audio output devices installed and your headphone is one of them. In many cases, the speakers are set as the default device for sound/audio output. When you plug in the headphone, the Windows operating system should automatically switch to headphone and make it a default device.

Due to some problem, the switching does not happen. As a result, you cannot hear sound from the headphone.

The solution to this problem is to manually adjust the headphone as default device. Here are the steps to do this.

Press Windows logo key and X simultaneously on the keyboard
From the menu, click Control Panel

In the Control Panel window, set the view by Category and click Hardware and Sound

In the Hardware and Sound window, click Sound

In the Sound properties window, click Headphones and then click Set Default

Note: you may also get the combined option- Speakers/Headphones. In that case, you need to click Speakers/Headphones and then click Set Default

Click OK
Play a song on your Windows 10 PC and check whether you are able to hear sound from headphones. If you find headphones are not working, try the next

Solution Two – Update Audio Drivers

Outdated audio drivers can prevent your system from detecting your headphone. Many users were able to resolve the issue by updating their audio drivers.

You can update drivers manually, but the best way to go about doing this is by using a driver update tool.

Automatic driver update tools offer many benefits, the most important ones being:

You can update device drivers automatically
The software scans and updates all outdated or missing drivers at one go
The tool picks the right drivers for your device and operating system, so you won’t have to worry about installing an incorrect driver by mistake
Automatic driver updates are 100% safe

Driver Updater is one of the best driver update tools out there. Outbyte Driver Updater will give you access to a database of over 1 million drivers. It will regularly scan your PC, suggesting new driver versions to install. Driver Updater contains drivers for a variety of Windows devices. With just one click, you can update drivers in your system.

Step 1
Click here to Install and launch the app

Step 2
Scan all devices

Step 3
Install or update drivers automatically

Start Download

Solution Three – Modify some settings in Realtek HD Audio Manager

There is a possibility the headphones are not properly configured in Realtek HD Audio Manager and hence your headphones are not working. To resolve this issue, you need to modify some settings in Realtek HD Audio Manager. Here are the steps to follow.

Go to System tray and look for Realtek icon(Red speaker) and click on it to open the Realtek HD Audio Manager interface
In the Realtek HD Audio Manager window, click the small folder icon(yellow colored) in the upper-right corner