Setting up audio devices in Windows 10 can be a bit tricky at times. Drivers may interfere with each other, Windows may misinterpret audio output, or they may simply not be compatible with your sound card. Whatever the problem, in this article we are going to tell you what you can do if your headphones do not work in Windows 10.
The usual thing when you connect new headphones on a Windows PC is that they work automatically without having to configure anything. By default, Windows will always choose headphones over speakers as the default device, but there are times when this is not the case and we will have to dive into the configuration options to see what is causing the headphones not to work.
What to do if the headphones don’t work?
The first thing to do is try to isolate the problem. Before moving on to the software-based solutions that we’ll talk about next, it’s important to verify that the problem is not software-related.
For this reason, the first thing to check is the headphones and the connection port. First, connect the headphones to a different device to see if they work (if not, they are possibly broken and you have to change them), but if they work fine on another device, then try connecting them to a different port on your PC to make sure the problem it’s not there.
Of course, make sure you are connecting your headphones to the correct port. If these have an analog connection (3.5 mm minijack), it is easy to connect headphones to the microphone port and vice versa. If plugging them into another port works, then the problem is probably with the port. For example, this can happen if when connecting them to the front minijacks of the box they do not work but if you connect them directly to the rear ports of the sound card, indicating that the cable that connects the motherboard with the front ports is wrong. , or badly connected internally.
Headphone Settings in Windows
If you are sure that the headphones are fine but still not working on your PC, it is time to check where the problem is at the software level. The first thing you should check is that the device is being detected by the operating system and that it is enabled, so to do this, right-click on the speaker icon in the lower right corner of the screen, next to the clock. the Start bar, and select “Open sound settings”. Once there, on the right side click on “Sound Control Panel”.
In the window that opens, you can see all the devices that Windows detects as audio, where you can check if your headphones appear. If these are USB they should appear directly with their name, while if they are analog, the sound card port will appear. In the following example image you can see that the system has detected them connected through the S / PDIF digital optical port (if your device or port does not come out, there is almost certainly a problem in the connection).
In this window, click on your device and then on the “Default” button below. If the problem was that Windows had not automatically predetermined your headphones, as soon as you press it the sound should already come out of them.
If the headphones still don’t work, you should check that their drivers are correct. To do this, right-click on the Start button and select “Device Manager”. Now go to the “Audio inputs and outputs” section and find your device. If it does not appear, as we mentioned before, you have a connection problem. Right click on your audio device and select the “Update Driver” option.
Just follow the wizard and let Windows do the work – it will detect if there is a more modern driver, download it, and install it. Then restart the PC and see if the problem has been solved.
Finally, always make sure that the device is connected correctly. For example, if you have a dedicated sound card in your PC, you must connect your headphones to it and not to the one integrated into the motherboard. Also make sure that you are not using the HDMI audio driver for your graphics card, and that you have no other USB audio devices connected to the computer.