Are you watching a movie and all of a sudden you cannot hear any audio? It is possible that the movie you are watching has incomplete audio. Although, it is also possible that you are experiencing the No Sound Issue in your Windows 11 computer. The No Sound Issue in Windows 11 is a very common bug that also existed in previous versions of Windows.

There can be numerous reasons behind what causes this error and why is this error so common. But whatever the reason is, if you are experiencing audio issues or the no sound issue, in particular, this guide will show you quick and easy methods that you can use to fix these bugs by yourself and without any external help.

What Causes the No Sound Issue in Windows 11

As stated before, many things can cause this error. Although, there are a few notable ones, and knowing these can help you better understand what needs to be fixed. These common triggers for this issue are:

  • Unplugged audio device
  • Using the wrong audio drive
  • broken or outdated audio
  • Audio being muted

1. Check for Loose Cables

The very first thing you should do if you can’t hear any sound coming out of your computer is to check that your headset or the speaker is properly connected to your computer. Whether you are using a speaker or a headset, generally it will have a 3.5mm connector or in some cases, a USB A connector.

Check if these connectors are plugged into the right socket. If the audio device has a 3.5mm connector then make sure it is plugged into the right socket as generally there are two or three 3.5mm sockets, one for output, which a headset icon, and another for input with a mic icon. Your headset or speaker should be plugged into the socket with the headphones icon.


2. Make Sure that the Audio is Not Muted

If you cannot hear any output on your computer, you should check that if the audio is muted or not. To check that, open up the ‘Settings’ menu by pressing Windows+i or by looking for it in the Start Menu search.

On the Settings window, click on ‘Sounds’ from the right panel.

On the Volume row, if you see ‘0’ before the volume slider, it means the audio is currently muted.

You can use the slider to set the volume to your liking and it’s done. Listen to any audio or play any video to check you can hear the audio output.


3. Check if The Correct Auto Driver is Selected

If you still cannot hear any audio, it is possible that the incorrect audio driver is selected. It can happen frequently if you have more than one audio driver installed. In this case, go back to the Sound settings menu by pressing Windows+i on your keyboard, and after the Settings window opens, then selecting the ‘Sound’ from the right panel.

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You will see that the audio drivers are listed under the ‘Output’ section. From there, select the correct audio driver. Now, the most commonly used default audio driver for most motherboards is Realtek audio driver.

After that, scroll down to the bottom of the Sound settings menu and click on ‘More sound settings’.

A window will appear labeled as ‘Sound’. From there, right-click on the audio device that you are currently using from the list of audio devices and select the ‘Set as Default Communication Device’ option.


4. Disable Audio Enhancements

Windows offers a few options to enhance your audio experience on your Windows 11 PC. These enhancements can be turned on by default and instead of making your audio experience better, they can create audio issues. In order to disable it, first open up the Settings menu by searching for it in the Start Menu search.

After the Settings menu opens up, click on ‘Sound’ from the right panel.

After that, click on ‘More sound setting’.

A new window will appear called sound. There, on the ‘Playback’ tab, all active and inactive audio devices will be listed. From there, right-click on the audio driver that is currently in use. After you right-click, a menu will come up and from there, select ‘Properties’.

Once the ‘Properties’ window opens, switch to the ‘Enhancements’ tab by clicking on it once.

Now, check the box that says ‘Disable all enhancements’ next to it and click on ‘OK’ to save the changes.

You have successfully turned off the Audio Enhancements. Try playing an audio or video file and check if you are getting audio output.


5. Fix No Sound Issue with Windows Troubleshooter

Windows has a dedicated troubleshooter that can be used to automatically detect and also in some cases resolve any sound-related issues. To get to the troubleshooter, first, you have to open up the Settings menu by pressing Windows+i on your keyboard. After the Settings window appears, select ‘Troubleshoot’ from the right panel.

After that, click on ‘Other troubleshooters’.

You will be presented with a list of troubleshooters for different cases. Click on the ‘Run’ button next to ‘Playing Audio’ listed under the Most frequent section.

The troubleshooter will appear and it will try to detect any problems automatically.

After that, you will be asked to select the audio device that you want to troubleshoot. Here, select the audio device or driver that is active by highlighting it and then click on ‘Next’.

Next, click on ‘No, Do not open Audio Enhancements’.

After that, select ‘Play test sounds’ and it will play a sound 3 times in intervals.

Now, if you hear the sound every time, that means the issue has been fixed. In this case, click ok ‘Good’ and close the troubleshooter. But if you still do not hear any sound, select ‘I didn’t hear anything’.

After you click on ‘I didn’t hear anything’, the troubleshooter will reinstall the audio driver automatically and a dialog box will appear, asking you to restart your computer. Click on ‘Restart Now’ and the issue will be fixed once your computer restarts.


6. Uninstall and Reinstall the Audio Driver

You can uninstall or remove any audio device from your computer by using the Device Manager application. Open up the Device Manager by searching for it in the Start Menu search and selecting it from the search results.

After the Device Manager window opens, click on ‘Audio inputs and outputs’ and then double-click on the audio device from the expanded menu.

On the Properties window. switch to the ‘Driver’ tab and then click on ‘Uninstall Device’.

After you click on ‘Uninstall Device’, a dialog box will appear. From there, click on ‘Uninstall’ and the device will be removed from your computer.

Next, restart your computer by clicking on the Power button from the Start Menu and selecting ‘Restart’. After you restart your computer, Windows will automatically reinstall the audio driver.


7. Manually Update Audio Drivers

If you are facing the No Sound issue, it might be that the audio driver for your headset or speaker is outdated or broken. There are a few methods that you can follow to manually update the driver software for your audio output device. Firstly, you can use the device manager to manually update the audio driver.

To start, open up the Device Manager by searching for it in the Windows search and selecting it from the search results.

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Once the Device Manager window comes up, click on ‘Audio inputs and outputs’ to expand the menu. Then double-click on the audio device from the expanded menu.

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Now, from the Properties window, switch to the Driver tab and click on ‘Update Driver’.

Alternatively, you can just right-click on the audio device and select ‘Update driver’.

Now, click on ‘Search automatically for drivers’ in the next window.

If there is a driver update available, it will be downloaded and installed automatically. Make sure to restart your computer to finish installing the update.

But if you don’t want to update your audio drivers by this method or you do not receive any updates, you can check the Windows Update section in the Settings menu. In some cases, audio driver updates can be found there.

To start, press Windows+i on your keyboard to open up the Settings menu. On the Settings window, first, click on ‘Windows Update’ from the left panel and then click on the ‘Check for updates’ button from the right panel.

Now Windows will look for any pending update and will automatically start to download if there is one. If there is an audio driver update, it will also be downloaded. You might have to restart your computer to finalize the update process.

And last but not the least, you can also check the optional update sections to see if you have any audio driver update available. To get to the optional update, press Windows+i on your keyboard to launch the Settings menu. From the Settings window, click on ‘Windows Update’ on the left panel and then select the ‘Advanced options’ from the right panel.

After that, scroll down and under the ‘Additional options’ section, you will see the ‘Optional Updates’ option. Click on it to open up the menu.

After that, click on ‘Driver updates’ and it will show you optional driver updates that you can install. Check the box if you see a pending audio driver update and click on ‘Download & install’.