No sound in Windows

Check hardware

Many sound problems are caused by hardware that isn't set up property. Here's some information about how to check your sound card, verify that cables are plugged in to the correct locations, make sure the hardware has power, and check the volume.

Check your sound card

Check to make sure your computer has a sound card, or sound processor, and it's working properly.

1. Do one of the following:
   • If you're running Windows 7 or Windows Vista, click the Start button , click Control Panel, click System and Security, and then, under System, click Device Manager.  If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
   • If you're running Windows XP, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click System, click the Hardware tab, and then click Device Manager.  If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
2. Double-click Sound, video and game controllers to expand that category. If a sound card is listed, you have one installed. If no sound card is listed, check the information that came with your computer to see if there's supposed to be a sound card installed. If there should be a sound card installed, you'll need to install one.
   

   Notes

   • If you think you have a sound card installed, but you don't see it under the Sound, video and game controllers category, expand the Other devices category and check any devices listed there.
   • Laptops don't usually have sound cards. Instead, they have integrated sound processors, which appear in the same category in Device Manager.

If there's a yellow question mark next to the name of the sound card in Device Manager, there might be a problem.

1. Right-click the name of the sound card, and then click Properties.
2. Click the General tab, and then look in the Device status box to identify problems with the sound card.
   If there's a problem, you might need a new driver for your sound card. For more information, see "Step 3: Update drivers" in this tutorial.

Check if the cables are connected properly

Check to make sure all of the cables are plugged in to the correct locations, which might include speakers and headphones, HDMI cables, USB audio devices, and other audio devices.

Speakers and headphones

If you're using external speakers, make sure that they are correctly connected to the computer.

Many computers have three or more jacks that connect to a sound card or sound processor, including a microphone jack, line-in jack, and line-out jack. Your speakers should be plugged in to the line-out jack. If you're not sure which jack this is, try plugging your speakers in to each of the jacks to see if any of them produce sound.

Microphone, line-in, and line-out jacks on a typical desktop computer

If you're using headphones, make sure they aren't plugged in to the line out (headphone) jack of your sound card or computer (unless you want to be listening with headphones rather than speakers). When you plug in headphones, most computers automatically cut the sound to the speakers.

HDMI cables

If you're using an HDMI cable to connect your computer to an HDMI-capable monitor with speakers, you might not be able to hear sound. HDMI cables support audio signals, but not all HDMI-enabled video cards support audio. If your HDMI-enabled video card does support audio, you might also need to set the HDMI audio device as the default audio device. To check if sound is supported via HDMI, follow these steps:

Windows 7 and Windows Vista

1. Click the Start button , and then click Control Panel. In the search box, type sound, and then click Sound.
2. Click the Playback tab, and then look for an HDMI device. This appears as a speaker icon and is labeled as Speaker, followed by the name of the device.
3. If you have an HDMI device, click the device, click Set Default, and then click OK.
   Changing the audio device might require you to restart your computer.

Windows XP

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices.
2. Click Sounds and Audio Devices, and then click the Audio tab.
3. In the Sound playback section, under Default device, click the drop-down list next to the device name, and then look for an HDMI audio device.
4. If you have an HDMI audio device, click the device, and then click OK.
   Changing the audio device might require you to restart your computer.

If your HDMI-enabled video card supports audio, your HDMI-capable monitor should have an audio input, but you might need to connect a separate audio cable from your computer directly to the monitor. If the monitor doesn't have speakers, you'll need to connect a separate audio cable to a different device, such as external computer speakers or your home stereo system.

Some video cards with an HDMI output require you to connect a wire from your video card to the sound device. This usually requires a small wire connection inside your computer from the video card to the sound card. Check the manual that came with your video card for instructions on how this should be done.

If you just installed a new HDMI-enabled video card, it's possible that the video card installation software set your video card as the default audio device. In this case, you'll need to set your preferred video card as the default audio device to fix the problem. See the instructions above for help setting the default audio device.

USB audio devices

If you're using a USB audio device in addition to an existing audio device, the USB audio device might not be set as the default audio device. Try these basic troubleshooting steps:

• Unplug the USB audio device, restart your audio program, and check for sound. If you hear sound, there might be issues with the USB audio driver or with Windows not using the USB audio device as the default audio device.
• Close all audio programs, unplug the USB audio device, and wait for the USB driver to be uninstalled (this should happen fairly quickly). Next, plug the USB audio device back in to the USB port, wait for the driver to reinstall, and then start the audio program and check for sound.
• Check that you have the correct audio device set as the default audio device in Windows and in the audio program. To set the USB audio device as the default, follow the steps below in "Multiple audio devices."
• Check the audio device manufacturer's website for updated drivers.

Multiple audio devices

Some computers might have multiple audio connections for audio devices. For example, if you bought a new computer, and you upgraded to a different sound card during the purchasing process, you might have a built-in sound card (an audio chip on the computer's motherboard) as well as a secondary sound card. You can check this by looking on the back of your desktop computer for two sets of audio connections. Laptops will normally have one set of audio connections unless you're using a USB audio device.

Follow these steps to check for and set the correct audio device as the default.

Windows 7 and Windows Vista

1. Click the Start button , and then click Control Panel. In the search box, type sound, and then click Sound.
2. Click the Playback tab, and then look for audio devices. These appear as speaker icons and are labeled as Speaker, followed by the names of the devices.
   If you have multiple devices, the default device has a check next to it and is labeled as Default.
3. If the wrong audio device is listed as the default audio device, click the correct audio device, click Set Default, and then click OK.
   Changing the audio device might require you to restart your computer.

Windows XP

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices.
2. Click Sounds and Audio Devices, and then click the Audio tab.
3. In the Sound playback section, under Default device, verify that the audio device is the correct default audio device.
4. If this isn't the correct default audio device, click the drop-down list next to the device name, click the audio device you want, and then click OK.
   Changing the audio device might require you to restart your computer.

Check power and volume

If you have speakers, make sure they're plugged in to a working power source and turned on.

Make sure that your speaker volume or headphone volume isn't muted or turned down too low. This is particularly important for laptops, which often have small speakers that can be hard to hear.

Windows 7 and Windows Vista

1. Click the Start button , click Control Panel, click Hardware and Sound, and then, under Sound, click Adjust system volume.
2. Move the slider up to increase the volume.
   Make sure the Mute button isn't turned on. If the button looks like this: , muting is turned off. If the button looks like this: , click it to turn off muting.

Windows XP

• Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to Entertainment, and then click Volume Control.

Notes

• Some laptops have an external volume control. If you're using a laptop, check the external volume control to make sure it's not turned all the way down.
• In some cases, you might have several volume controls to check. For example, if you're using WindowsWindows has a volume control; and your external speakers have their own volume control. If any of these volume controls are set to their lowest setting, you will not hear any sound. Media Player, it has its own volume control;