Welcome back, in today’s video I’ll be showing you how to fix headphone problems on a Windows
11 PC or laptop. I’ll be covering methods that could help fix a variety of headphone problems,
such as sound or connection issues. Remember to leave a like and feel free to subscribe if the
video helps, let’s get into the methods! The best place to start to fix headphone
problems is the connection of the device. I’d recommend checking the connection and if you can,
try another port on your device. If your headphones use USB, try as many ports as
you can on your PC. If you have a desktop, there should be plenty of ports on the back to try. If
your headphones use the 3.5mm connector, make sure it is connected to the headphone port and
not the microphone port. Whichever port you use, check that the connections aren’t broken
and that they are fully inserted into the port. The next thing to do is try your headphones on
another device if you can, such as a different PC or your phone. This will help rule out that the
issue is with the headphones. If your headphones don’t work on a separate device, it’s likely that
there is physical damage. If your headphones work normally on your other device, then the
problem is likely caused by something within Windows, so that’s what we’ll focus on next.
Within Windows, we will first check that our headphones are enabled or allowed. I’ll show
you two different ways to do this. First, head to the main settings page. You can get there a
number of ways, but we’ll be searching for it in the search bar. In the settings, go to the system
settings from the options on the left although you should be already in here by default. In the
system settings, click on the option called sound. Within the sound settings, find the section called
output. It should be right at the top. Under here, it should say something like choose where to play
sound. Below this, you should see the list of headphones or sound output devices connected
to your PC. If you have multiple, select the one you want to use by checking the box to the left
of its name. If you don’t see your device here, scroll down and click on all sound
devices. Now find your device from the output section, click on it and then choose allow on
the next page. It should now appear back in the output section of the main sound settings page.
The second way to do this is if you click on more sound settings which is in the main sound
settings page that we were just on. In the new window, first go to the playback tab. You
should see all of the headphones, speakers and other output devices in here. If you don’t see
your device in here, right click on an option and choose show disabled and show disconnected
devices. To enable your headphones in here, right click on them and then click on enable. You can
set it as the default sound output device in here too with the button at the bottom of the window.
Next, we’ll try re-enabling the device, updating drivers and then reinstalling the device. To do
this, search for device manager in the search bar and open it. Within here, look for the section
called audio inputs and outputs and expand it by double clicking it. Now double click on your
headphones if you see them. If you don’t see them, try looking in the sound, video and game
controllers section or the Bluetooth section. In the new window that opens, go to the driver tab.
First, select disable in here and then wait a few moments and select then enable.
Try your headphones again now. Next, click on update driver and then the automatic option. If
there are already the correct drivers installed, you can close this box. The third thing to try
in here is to choose uninstall device and then uninstall. Now go to where it says action at the
top and select scan for hardware changes. Try your headphones once again now to see if this helped.
If your headphones don’t appear back in here, unplug them from your PC and reconnect them.
Next, a simple system restart could help if you haven’t done this already. A restart could help
refresh a lot of the settings on your PC and it could help fix the problem. It’s up to you if you
want to try this now or at the end of the video but if you do restart now, when you return to the
video, we’ll have a few more solutions to try. The next method is to try running the
troubleshooter to see if Windows can find any possible problems with sound or our headphones.
To do this, go to the main settings page by searching for it and then in the settings,
click on system from the options on the left side, but again you should be in here by default. In the
system settings, click on troubleshoot and then on the next page, choose other trouble-shooters.
Now click on run next to the playing audio troubleshooter and when you’re asked to
choose a device, click on your headphones. Wait and see if Windows can fix the problem.
Next, think back to when the issue started appearing. There is a chance that a software
change or hardware change caused the problem. This could be some new audio software or a new
component. If you are certain that one of these changes caused the problem, then you could revert
them or research how this will have affected your device and what you can do to work around it.
If your headphones don’t work in certain apps but do in others, this would most likely
indicate that the settings in the app itself aren’t set up correctly for your headphones.
Have a look in the sound or audio settings to see if you can set it to use your headphones.
The final thing I’d recommend is to check your manufacturers website for more information. For
example, your headphones may need a certain setup process or drivers to work properly.
Unfortunately, those are all the methods I have. As always, I’ll keep the description
updated with any new solutions I find and if any of you find a fix in the future then it
would be great if you could return to the video and post it in the comments to help others. Click
the card on screen now to watch a video of mine showing you ten easy ways to speed up
your Windows PC. If you have any questions, then let me know in the comments below and
if you did find today’s video helpful remember to leave a like and feel free to subscribe for
more tips in the future. Be sure to stick around to see some of my other videos that
you might be interested in. Thanks so much for watching and I will see you in another video!