No Audio Output Device Is Installed in Windows 10 , many ways to fix.
Do you see the volume icon with a red cross on the taskbar in Windows 10? If you hover your cursor over it, you should also see the error notification “Sound output device not installed.”
This usually happens when your computer is unable to detect a sound device due to corrupted, outdated, or incompatible sound drivers. To make matters worse, you won’t hear any sound until you fix the problem.
If restarting your computer does not work, the following troubleshooting tips will help you fix the “Sound output device not installed” error in Windows 10.
Run Audio Troubleshooter
Windows 10 comes with a built-in sound troubleshooter that can automatically detect and fix sound problems on your computer. It’s best to do this first before diving into the rest of the fixes.
1. Open the “Start” menu and select “Settings”.
2. Select “Update & Security”.
3. Click the Troubleshoot side tab.
4. Select Advanced troubleshooters.
5. Select “Play Audio”. Then click the Run the troubleshooter button.
Follow the onscreen instructions to fix audio device problems on your computer. If the troubleshooter asks you to select one of several audio devices, rerun it for each one.
Disconnect and Reconnect External Audio Output Device
Do you have an external audio output device (like headphones) physically connected to your computer? Try to remove it. Then restart your computer and reconnect it. If that doesn’t work, continue fixing.
Uninstall and Reinstall Audio Device
Removing and reinstalling the audio device / sound card on your computer is a powerful solution that can help resolve the “Sound output device not installed” error. The Device Manager applet in Windows 10 should help you with this.
1. Right-click the Start button and select Device Manager.
2. Expand the Sound, video and game controllers section.
3. Right-click your computer’s audio device and select Uninstall Device.
4. Select the Remove driver software for this device check box (if available) and select OK to remove the device.
5. Expand the Audio Inputs and Outputs section and repeat steps 3-4.
6. Restart your computer. This should prompt your computer to reinstall your audio device.
7. Open Device Manager again. You should see the reinstalled audio device listed under the Sound, Video, and Game Controllers and Audio Inputs and Outputs sections. Otherwise, right-click the free space and select “Scan for hardware changes”.
If reinstalling your audio device fixed the problem, you should see a fully functional volume icon in the taskbar.
Update Audio Drivers
Try updating the audio drivers on your computer. Go to the device manufacturer’s website, specify the correct make and model of your sound card, and download the latest drivers. Then either install them yourself, or let Windows 10 do it for you through Device Manager. If you prefer the second method, follow these steps.
1. Right-click the Start menu and select Device Manager.
2. Expand the Sound, video and game controllers section.
3. Right-click the audio driver and select Update Driver.
4. Select Search for drivers on my computer.
5. Use the Browse button to locate the folder containing the downloaded drivers.
6. Click Next and follow the rest of the prompts to install the new audio drivers.
Alternatively, you can use a driver update utility to automatically download and install the correct audio drivers for your computer.
Update Windows 10
Sometimes, updating Windows 10 can break the audio device drivers on your computer. The best way to fix this problem is to install any subsequent optional updates.
For example, in 2018, the “Sound output device not installed” error appeared on computers with Intel-based audio chipsets due to a faulty driver downloaded by Windows Update. Microsoft quickly fixed this with another small update.
1. Open the “Start” menu and select “Settings”.
2. Select “Update & Security”.
3. Select Check for Updates.
4. Select “Download and Install” to update Windows 10.
5. Select View Additional Updates (if they appear on the same screen). Then check the boxes next to the updates related to audio devices and select Download and Install.
Install Audio Device as Legacy Hardware
If you don’t see your audio device driver listed in Device Manager, you can try configuring it as a legacy device. You can also do this if the “Sound output device not installed” error still appears despite the fixes above.
1. Right-click the Start button and select Device Manager.
2. Select any item in the device manager. Then open the Action menu and select Add Legacy Hardware.
3. Select “Next” on the “Welcome to the Add New Hardware Wizard” screen.
4. Select the option “Install hardware that I manually selected from the list (Advanced)” and click “Next”.
5. Select “Sound, video and game controllers” as the type of equipment and click “Next”.
6. Select an audio manufacturer from the list on the left side of the screen. Then select the model on the right side. If you have a disc that contains drivers for your audio device, select Have Disk and specify the location of the disc. Click Next to continue.
7. Click Next again to install the audio device.
8. Click Finish to complete the installation process.
9. Restart your computer.
That helped? If not, let’s see what you can do next.
Reset Windows 10
If none of the above fixes worked, try resetting Windows 10 to factory default settings. You may be dealing with a deep sound problem that just a fresh set of Windows settings cannot fix. You can keep your data intact, but it’s best to back up your computer before proceeding.
1. Open the “Start” menu and select “Settings”.
2. Select “Update & Security”.
3. Go to the Recovery tab. Under Reset this PC, click the Get Started button to begin the reset procedure.
If resetting Windows 10 did not resolve the “Sound output device not installed” error, the problem is most likely device-specific. Contact your audio device manufacturer for further assistance.
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No Audio Output Device Is Installed in Windows 10 , many ways to fix
No Audio Output Device Is Installed in Windows 10 , many ways to fix