12 Fixes For Laptop Speakers Not Working [Asus, HP, Dell, Acer]

“Audio glitches,” “Trouble connecting an external audio device,” or the “sound not working at all.” These are some of the most frequent sound issues you may have with audio not working on your laptop.

Hardware and software issues could be at blame for these and other sound difficulties. For example, your laptop speakers may not work. A new operating system update may have included a patch that conflicts with your sound card’s software or old audio drivers.

What Causes Laptop Speakers To Stop Working

It could be an error with the sound settings or set up device drivers. Also, even physical faults in the speakers or wiring of your laptop speakers.

Figure out what’s wrong with your speakers and fix them. Try to look into each potential problem, try any accessible remedies, and check to see if they work.

The following are the most typical reasons for your laptop speakers not working:

  • Faulty Hardware: Your speakers may have failed, been damaged, or become unplugged due to faulty hardware.
  • Improper Sound Settings: Simple issues such as muted speakers are frequently the cause of this issue.
  • Incompatible Drivers: Audio drivers that are corrupt or out of date should be replaced with the most recent ones to resolve the issue.
  • Wrong Speaker Configuration: Speakers are not being set as the default audio device. It can also prohibit laptop speakers from working.

Methods To Fix Laptop Speakers Not Working

  1. Modify Your Laptop Registry
  2. Make Sure Your Audio Isn’t Muted
  3. Run Sound Troubleshooter
  4. Check The Default Audio Device
  5. Reinstall Your Sound Card Drivers
  6. Update Your Audio Driver
  7. Ensure Your Playback Device Is Working
  8. Try External Speakers Or Headphones
  9. Perform System Restore
  10. Disable Audio Enhancements
  11. Check IDT High Definition Audio CODEC
  12. Update Your BIOS

1. Modify Your Laptop Registry

Many people have reported that their Asus laptop speakers aren’t working. This problem can arise when using Realtek drivers, and to repair it, you’ll need to update a few registry settings. Then, follow the methods outlined above to fix the problem.

  • Enter regedit by pressing Windows Key + R. Type “regedit” and hit Enter or OK to continue.
regedit
  • Navigate to the following key after the Registry Editor has opened:
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/ CurrentVersion/MMDevices/Audio/Render
  • Choose “Permissions” from the menu when you right-click “Render” in the left panel.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/ CurrentVersion/MMDevices/Audio/RendeR
  • From the given list of options, select Users. 
  • Verify Full Control in the “Allow column.” 
Allow column
  • Click Apply and OK to save changes.

Check if the problem persists after making this adjustment. Users stated that this approach resolved the issue with their Realtek device. If you use the Realtek sound card, you might want to give it a try.

2. Make Sure Your Audio Isn’t Muted

Your sound may be muted if your laptop speakers aren’t working. First, check if your sound is muted. Next, look for the volume symbol in the bottom right corner of your desktop. Make sure your sound is set to maximum by clicking the icon.

Check your audio mixer in addition to volume control. If you didn’t know, the Windows system features an audio mixer that lets you manage the volume of different applications.

  • Any multimedia file can be played. You can achieve this by playing a YouTube video or a local multimedia file using your multimedia player.
  • Right-click on the sound button and select “Open Volume Mixer” from the menu when the file is playing in the background.
Open Volume Mixer
  • A new window will open now. First, resize the sound window so that all of the audio is visible.
  • Find your multimedia player and turn up the volume all the way. 
Speakers and System Sound channels
  • Also, make sure the Speakers and System Sound channels sliders are both set to the highest setting.
  • After then, check to see if the audio issue is still present.

In addition to the audio mixer and volume control, it’s a good idea to double-check that your laptop’s sound is turned on. 

Check for audio control buttons as well as a mute button on many computers.

These keys are generally assigned to F keys on the top of the keyboard. Therefore, you must hold the Fn key on the laptop while pressing the proper F key to activate them.

3. Run Sound Troubleshooter

The built-in Windows sound troubleshooter automatically checks and fixes a variety of issues. It takes a while to run, so be patient and wait for it to finish before checking to see if your speakers are working. To run the troubleshooter and fix the problem, follow the given steps.

  • Navigate to the Update & Security section of the Settings app.
Update & Security
  • From the left panel, choose Troubleshoot. 
  • Then go to Additional troubleshooters.
Additional troubleshooters
  • Select Playing Audio, then press the Troubleshooter button.
Troubleshoot Playing Audio
  • To finish the troubleshooter, follow the instructions.

Because these troubleshooters are automated, you should be able to resolve the issue with just a few clicks, as seen above. Check if the problem persists after the troubleshooter has completed.

If the problem persists, run additional troubleshooters, such as the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter, to see if they can help.

4. Check The Default Audio Device

It’s a good idea to check your default audio device if your laptop speakers aren’t operating correctly. Maybe your speakers aren’t set as the default audio device, which might cause a variety of issues. To fix the problem, follow the given steps.

  • In the lower right corner, right-click the audio icon. From the menu, choose Sounds.
sounds
  • After that, the Sound window will display. Return to the Playback section.
  • Right-click the empty spot. Ensure the Show Disabled Devices and Show Disconnected Devices options are checked. 
Show Disabled Devices
  • Select Set as the default device from the options when you right-click your Speakers.
  • Save your changes, click Apply, and OK.

5. Reinstall Your Sound Card Drivers

Outdated or faulty drivers can also cause audio and other hardware issues. Check to see if the audio driver is up to current, and if it isn’t, install it. You can also delete it, have it reinstalled on your computer automatically, utilize the generic Windows audio driver or roll back the audio driver.

  • Press Windows Key + X. Now select Device Manager from the drop-down menu.
Device Manager
  • Locate your audio drivers in the device manager list. 
  • Right-click them, and select Uninstall device from the menu that appears.
Uninstall device
  • Check Remove driver for the device is available, then click the Uninstall button to continue.
  • To install the default driver after removing the driver, click the Scan for hardware changes icon.
Scan for hardware changes
  • The default driver should be installed after that, and your problem should be resolved.

If your laptop speakers aren’t working, the problem may be with your drivers. Audio drivers can become corrupted, and users recommend reinstalling them to repair the problem.

6. Update Your Audio Driver

Your speakers will be quiet if you don’t have the correct audio driver installed. So it’s time to update your sound drivers if you’re experiencing audio troubles. Examples are crackling music, missing sound effects in games, or your Windows PC emitting no sound at all.

  • Right-click Start > Device Manager to update your audio driver.
image 252
  • Expand the categories of sound, video, and game controllers.
  • Update the windows driver for your sound card or audio device by right-clicking it.
update driver
  • Select Automatically search for updated driver software from the drop-down menu.
  • Windows will look for a new driver to install. 
Select Automatically search for drivers
  • If not, go to the device’s manufacturer’s website to get a new audio driver.
  • If upgrading the audio driver does not resolve the issue, uninstall it and restart your computer to reinstall it. 
driver updated

7. Ensure Your Playback Device Is Working

An audio output jack is found on every laptop. Your laptop speakers may cease operating if there is a problem with the audio jack of the playback device. Audio jacks have their sensors, and if you plug in your headphones, the sensor will detect them and switch off your speakers immediately.

Your Personal Computer will act as if the headphones are plugged in, and your built-in speakers will be turned off. However, audio sensor malfunctions do occur from time to time, and your sensor may become stuck. It can be an issue, but there is a simple workaround that you can do.

You must connect any audio device to your laptop’s audio jack to unlock the audio sensor. 

Many users claimed that their audio sensor was malfunctioning, but they could resolve the issue by using this workaround.

8. Try External Speakers Or Headphones

If this problem persists on your laptop, your speakers are probably malfunctioning. This problem can arise if your speakers are turned off or if your computer’s audio isn’t working correctly. 

To see if external speakers or headphones are the sources of the problem, connect them to your laptop and see if they function.

If your laptop speakers aren’t working, the problem is almost certainly due to outdated drivers or settings, so update them and see if that helps. If the problem persists, feel free to try any of the other solutions listed in this post.

9. Perform System Restore

When Microsoft updates your computer’s operating system, a system restore is produced if there are any problems. You can restore your system to where it was before the audio stopped working and see if that fixes the problem.

  • Open the Control Panel window and search for Recovery in the search box.
  • Choose Recover.
Recovery
  • After that, select Open System Restore.
Open System Restore
  • In the settings box and Restore system files, click Next.
Select the restoration point
  • Select the restoration point you want to use.
  • Click Scan for Affected Programs to determine if the audio driver is one of the drivers that has been affected.

10. Disable Audio Enhancements

Audio improvements could be the source of your laptop’s audio issues. Although not all devices feature audio enhancements, if yours has, removing them may resolve the issue.

  • Turn off any audio enhancements that have been enabled
  • Go to the Control Panel, following Hardware, and Sound ⇒ Sound.
Hardware, and Sound
  • Right-click your default device and select Properties from the Playback tab.
Properties
  • Move to the advanced tab and uncheck the “Enable audio enhancements” box on the signal enhancements tab, depending on which option you see.
uncheck enable audio enhancements
  • Click OK to see if you can hear anything now. These steps can be repeated for all of your default devices.

Make sure you’ve selected the appropriately supported formats and that Exclusive Mode is turned off. You can also turn off Spatial Sound improvements to see if audio returns.

11. Check IDT High Definition Audio CODEC

The IDT High Definition Audio CODEC in the audio system could be the source of audio problems. However, it can be fixed with a manual driver update that allows you to choose which sound driver you want to use. This feature isn’t available on all audio systems, unfortunately.

  • Locate IDT High Definition Audio CODEC by right-clicking Start > Device manager > Sound, video, and game controllers.
  • If you notice it, right-click it, choose Update Driver
  • Select the list of drivers on my computer system.
    • Browse my computer for the driver software or,
    • Let me pick from a list of system drivers on my computer.
  • If a selection of preloaded drivers appears, select High Definition Audio Device > Next and wait for it to finish installing.

12. Update Your BIOS

A hardware incompatibility, a software update, or a Windows reinstallation can all cause your sound to cease operating in rare cases. Restart your computer and get to the BIOS/UEFI configuration menu by pressing Delete, F2, or another key during startup.

To begin, double-check that your sound card is active in the BIOS, as it may have been disabled at some point.

Compare your BIOS or UEFI version to the most recent version available on your laptop manufacturer’s website. If your manufacturer has recently released a new version, it may be worthwhile to update.

Simply read the instructions and follow them carefully, as a BIOS upgrade can also cause problems if done incorrectly.

Conclusion 

Hopefully, these ideas will assist you in locating and resolving your laptop’s audio issues. Suppose you still having problems after attempting all of the suggestions above, it’s possible that the speakers themselves are broken or that a cable inside your PC has come loose.