What Causes Laptop Speakers to Stop Working
When laptop speakers are not working, it can be due to a problem with the sound settings or configuration, device drivers, or even physical defects in the speakers or wiring. To get to the bottom of things and fix your speakers, you’ll need to check out each potential issue, perform any available fixes, and then check to see if the speakers work. Here are the most common issues which may be behind your laptop speakers not working:
Sound settings: Simple issues like muted speakers often cause this problem.Speaker configuration: Slightly more complicated configuration issues, like the speakers not being set as the default audio device, can also prevent laptop speakers from working.Bad drivers: If your audio drivers are corrupt or out of date, replacing them with the latest drivers will usually fix the problem.Bad hardware: Your speakers may have gone bad, been damaged, or become disconnected.
How to Fix Laptop Speakers That Don’t Work
Some laptop speaker problems can be fixed at home without any special tools or expertise, and others require more in-depth diagnostics and repair work. If you want to try fixing your problem at home, follow these steps in order:
If All Else Fails, Consider Professional Repair
If you still aren’t able to see anything wrong with your speakers, even after physically examining them, then you should consider taking your laptop to a professional. The speakers may be bad in a way you can’t see easily just by looking at them, or there may be an issue that’s too rare and complex to deal with at home. To make sure your laptop isn’t accidentally muted, left click the speaker icon in the system tray. If it has an X next to it, click or tap it to unmute. You can also try using the physical mute button if your laptop has one, or the function key shortcut if it has one. If you hear sound from your headphones, then there is either a problem with the software or driver responsible for switching outputs, or there is a physical problem with your laptop speakers. Try plugging and unplugging your headphones and twisting the plug as you insert and remove it. You may also be able to carefully trigger the sensor with a toothpick, but be aware physically breaking anything inside the jack may void your warranty. If the problem is your audio input sensor, you will have to take your laptop in for service. To set your laptop speakers as the playback device in Windows 10, left click the speaker icon in the system tray and check what is set as the playback device. If it isn’t your speakers, click the name of the current device and then click your laptop speakers from the menu. To run the sound troubleshooter, right-click the speaker icon in the system tray, click troubleshoot sound problems, then follow the on-screen prompts once the troubleshooter has appeared. To turn off audio enhancements, navigate to your control panel > hardware and sound > sound. From the playback tab, right click your speaker device, and select Properties. Then select the enhancements tab, and check the disable all enhancements box. If that fixes the problem, then just leave enhancements disabled. Updating your audio driver may fix the problem and allow you to re-enable enhancements, but be prepared to switch this feature off again if your sound stops working in the future. Open the Registry Editor then navigate to this specific registry key: If you prefer to continue working on your laptop yourself, here’s what you’ll need to do:
