Fixing No Audio Output Device Is Installed Problem In Windows

In case, if your computer’s Operating System starts to showing you “No Audio Output Device Is Installed” when every time you scroll your mouse’s pointer to the sound icon, that means your Windows is might having some problem to identify your Computer’s audio hardware device or maybe it’s also possible that your Windows Sound Drivers got corrupted too.




Normally when you try to click on your Windows Sound Controller, it will open up a “Play Back Troubleshooting Program” screen to troubleshoot this problem, but I know it won’t able to solve this and just remains to show you ‘troubleshooting couldn’t identify the problem’ error message on your computer’s screen, or maybe sometimes it also shows that the problem is related to the drivers.

This problem can occur in any version of Windows Operating System, whatever you are using Windows 10 or Windows 7 in your desktop or laptop computer and recently I saw lots of new forum threads where some Windows Server users also having this issue with their servers.

So whatever your condition is, now you really don’t have to worry about it because I’ll definitely be going to help you out to fix this problem with the help of my this troubleshooting guide article;

Here’s The List Of Those Things Which Could Be Possible And Cause This Issue On Your Computers System And Those Are –

  1. Drivers Got Corrupted (85% Possibility).
  2. Windows Got Corrupted (14% Possibility).
  3. Your Computer Or Laptop’s Sound Jack Or Motherboard Got Faulty (1% Possibility).





And to find which one of these reasons is the main root problem for causing this sound problem in your computer, you’ll actually need to troubleshoot your whole computer because without troubleshooting, nobody can say which one of is the main reason but most of the times you’ll be going to fix this problem by following the first step of this tutorial.

So, Let’s See How To Fix This Problem;

Step 1- Troubleshooting the Drivers

Just like I said, most of this problem came from the corrupted drivers of your computers and the best way to confirm it, you can open your Windows Device Manager where all the hardware’s driver is listed.

And to do that, first, you’ll need to open the Device Manager by using a run command called “devmgmt.msc”, and in case, if you don’t know how to open the windows Run Commander then by pressing “Windows Key + R Key” at the same time, will open the run commander for you, and after that type the “devmgmt.msc” in the dialog box and press enter to open it.

When the device manager get open up in the front of you, now you’ll need to check your sound drivers to know everything is working great or maybe need to get repaired.

So, as you can see in the picture given below all the sound drivers is listed in a perfect way, and actually this is how a normal sound driver looks like:

@Two Possible Conditions Which Can Happen;

Condition No. 1 – If your device manager is showing you your Sound Driver’s looks normal just like in the above-given picture and you still having this problem in your computer, then I think your desktop or laptop is having some kind of major drivers related issue with it which actually isn’t able to get identified yet. Or, you can feel free to skip this condition’s solution and move to the next one if you having some abnormal looking sign on your computer’s Sound Drivers.

In this condition, you can check the given link below which can help you to download the latest version of your computer’s sound drivers which you can install after downloading to make everything’s back to normal again.

Link >> What Is a Sound Driver, And How To Install It?

If upgrading drivers won’t works for you then move to next solution to continue this error troubleshooting;

Condition No. 2 – In case, if you found some yellow or disable sign stick on your sound drivers name or maybe your all your sound drivers is listed as unknown in the other devices category then actually now it’s time when your computer’s sound drivers need some upgradation.

Here You Can See How Unknown, Yellow Sign Or Disabled Sound Drivers Looks Like:

@Answers, For The Questions You Might Be Thinking Right Now;

  • What to do, If Drivers is Disabled? In case, if you found your Audio Drivers is disabled in the device manager of your windows, then you can quickly enable it back by just right clicking on the Sound Driver and select the enable option, enabling it can make your drivers back on the working position.
  • What To Do, If Drivers Having Yellow Sign Or Listed in Other Devices Category?  Yellow or maybe cross red sign means that drivers is corrupted and in case, your sound drivers is listed under the Other Devices Category then it means the sound drivers of your computer isn’t installed yet. In both conditions, you’ll have to install the latest drivers but if your computer shows you the yellow or the red sign on the old drivers, then I think maybe you should need to uninstall the old corrupted drivers first because sometimes installing new latest drivers over the old corrupted once didn’t work.

To uninstall the old drivers, first you’ll have to right click on the old sound drivers and when the options came out, select “Uninstall” to remove that driver out from your computer.

This Link Will Help To Learn: What Is a Sound Driver, And How To Install It?

Step 2- Troubleshooting The Operating System

I know it’s possible that the installing or updating the sound drivers to the latest one didn’t solve your problem, in that condition the second most and the main thing which could be possible for causing this problem is your own Windows Operating System.

Most of the times, some virus or maybe a malware software corrupts our windows, and mainly when a malware or virus enters in your computer it directly starts to attack the computer’s programs and drivers to infect our computer system and that’s the part where our computers start to do some abnormal things.

So, the first thing which I want you to do is to scan your whole computers from viruses and here’s the > link of Avast Antivirus < what you can download in case if your computer doesn’t have any antivirus installed in it.

In that link, you can also download the free 30 day trial period antivirus under the buy now button and try to remove the virus from your computers and yes you can uninstall it if it won’t works for you, even without paying any money.

Suggested Link: What’s A Good Antivirus And How To Pick A Best One?

@What To Do If Removing Virus Or Malware From The Computer Didn’t Work Either:

Mainly when some Malware Software or a Virus starts infect your computer, the main target from where they start to corrupt our Windows is the Registry Database, because the registry database is the main controller of our windows operating system and in case, if your registry also got infected too, then it’s 99% possible that you are getting some kind of drivers related problem on your computer or laptop, even if you removed all the virus out from your computer.

I know sometimes Antivirus scan also didn’t show any infected file in the computer and still, we have this problem. That’s only possible when the operating system got corrupted by some other spammy software what you downloaded from the internet while surfing the unsafe website.

To fix the registry issue you’ll just need to buy some best in class registry cleaner to repair and clean the bad values out from the registry database. All working Registry Cleaners are only available in paid version but before spending your money, first, I want to fix the registry by using your windows command prompt because most of the times this problem get fixed by putting a single command in the CMD of our windows and just because of that, you don’t even have to pay for anything.

Use SFC /SCANNOW To Repair Windows –  Sfc Scan is a great command run by CMD which can help you to repair your Windows by just typing a single command in the Windows Command Prompt. Now you’ll just have to type the command on the CMD and sit back until the scan completes and it will repair most of your Windows files including the corrupted registry database.

  1. Open CMD, as an administrator.
  2. Then type the command “Sfc /Scannow” and hit enter. Make sure you don’t close this CMD window until the verification gets 100% completed.
  3. Restart your computer and test it, if your sound’s come back then that’s good, if don’t, then I think now you should need to buy a Registry Cleaner for your Operating System.

If you don’t have any registry tuner or cleaner in your computer, then install a best in class cleaner in your PC to get the perfect performance and an error-free system’s lifespan.

Here are the two Top Rated Software’s what I recommend to all my websites guest users as listed below.

Still confuse? then this can help >> What’s A Good Registry Cleaner And How To Pick One?

After downloading the registry cleaner, just click on scan button which will automatically start the full system scan and after that, it will show you every little problem what it found in your computer.

After that, just click on Fix Problem Button to repair everything which it shows in front of you.

@What To Do If Still Nothing Works

In case, if you still having this problem in your computer then it’s quite possible that some of your windows important files got broken from inside and having some kind of problem which remains to stop those files to repair and work correctly.

The only way to fix that kind of problem is by reinstalling the windows in your computer system, I’m only suggesting you this because sometimes it happens that repairing windows can’t be possible. So, take a backup and install a new windows in your computer is the best option what you can still try and maybe sure you install the latest drivers, according to the version of your operating system after when the windows installation gets completed.

This Link Will Help You To See >> How To Install Windows?

 Step 3- Troubleshooting The Hardware

Even after Windows reinstallation, If you still having this issue with your computer then I’m sure it’s 100% a hardware related fault but there are some couple of thing what you can still try to make your computer’s sound come back by troubleshooting the hardware, and those are:

  • Troubleshoot The Output Device: Sometimes it’s possible that the audio output device what you’ve connected is already faulty and the whole problem is generating from that faulty output device. Actually, it’s always better to use some headphone or earplug in your computer’s or laptop’s sound jack to check it’s an internal or an external problem.
  • Use Another Sound Jack Only For Desktop Users: If you having this problem in your desktop, then you can also try to use your desktop front panel audio jack beside using the back panel and if you’re already using the front panel jack then you can also try to use the back panel jack too because it possible that the everything is working fine but the problem is coming from the broken audio jack.
  • Use A USB Sound Adaptor: USB Sound Adapter is an external audio signal output hardware which you can use in your desktop or laptop’s USB port, because repairing the Audio Jack or Audio Chip of your computer’s motherboard is really expensive but by spending less than 10$ you can buy a USB Sound card for your computer which can work in both laptop and desktop PCs.


@What To Do – If You Still Having This Problem:

If this problem still stuck on your computer then the only way to fix it, is to reinstall your Windows Operating System.

You can follow this link to see >> How To Install Windows On A Desktop Or Laptop Computer?



61 COMMENTS

  1. Dear Madhur Taneja,
    My audio was working great. Then I decided to install a new video card. Now I don’t have audio and I get the message when I click on the speaker icon “No Audio Output Device Is Installed” When I go to device manager and click properties for the sound it says it’s working properly. Somehow the new card is interfering with the original audio driver. Please help

  2. Hello sir Madhur Taneja.
    My sound was working fine. But just this week my sound doesnt work anymore. It says “No Audio Output device is installed” on the bottom right corner. I checked my drivers via Device Manager and every single one of my sound drivers have a yellow “!” error sign on them. Is there a possible fix for this?

  3. Hiii sir

    I’ve done the entire process but there is no result , still same problem ” NO AUDIO OUTPUTDEVICE ‘ was coming , how to find my sound device manufacturer ….? and how to resolve the problem pls reply sir

  4. Hi Madhur when i try to open the device manager it gives and error along with that No audio out error is there as well kindly assist what could be done

  5. So I have really big problem. I have USB from my computer and with drivers for my computer. I got that USB when I bought a PC. But the problem its that every time when I install driver when I restart PC it says Failed. And then I go to device manager and says Error code 10 something like that. I tried to install realtek drivers from internet too but nothing. Thank you! Sorry for bad English 🙂

  6. Hey Madhur, Thanks a ton, it solved my problem. I need to download the latest driver as the driver provided with motherboard CD was corrupted. Perfect categorisation of the problem and solution Kudos to you!

  7. i did each of the methods but nothing happened!!! in fact now my Aero theme of the windows has also stopped working…

  8. I’m going so crazy! I’ve tried everything. It says that there is no output device, and I don’t have any cathegory such as “Audio and game” or “sound” in my device manager. I am running the CMD now. Could it be that my sound card stopped working? When trying to install any Intel sw, it says “the system does not meet the minimum requirements”. OMG!!!

  9. my WD Passport I forgot the password and cant access to all my data I put the password hint but still not recognize. May be you can help on this Madhur.

    Thank You

  10. sir plzz help me…i have the same no audio device connected error..but when i open the device manager..no sound video and game controllers are shown.plzz help

  11. Hello
    I have been trying to fix this for about 12 months on my R417 alienware laptop. I had really given up but came across you site and thought I would ask you for advice. I have tried everything except replacing motherboard. Some of the things I have tired. Replacing drivers, I have lost count how many times I have done this. Flash the bios. Cleaned out the fans and put new paste on CPU and GPU. Bumped the side of laptop to reseat motherboard lol ( it was on a forum! ) Paid a professional recommended laptop repairman 200 to fix it ! I knew more about the problem than him. It was doing this on win 7 and still doing it on win 10. This is a $ 4000 gaming laptop that I cant play games on. I bought brand new from auction house with only 3 months warranty. Now dell will not help. I used to love alienware. People DO NOT BUY

  12. hi,
    I am trying the command promt option but the promt is showing need adminstrative permission to performe the operation

  13. hey madhur,
    i have hp notebook model no, ac15 032 tx, i have encountered the same problem as discussed here, i have an error message on audio icon as no audio output device is installed i have checked installing realtech high definition audio driver for hp website, after installing i got the message, the device is installled but can not work properly error code 10, after that there is yellow exclamation mark over the driver, i have uninstalled and installed the driver several time but it didnt work, please guide me to remove the error.

  14. hi, the other week my audio got disabled and i cannot get it back. For someone who listens to music a lot its very annoying. When i go to control panel, then sounds, nothing happens. On the device manager i have an ‘IDT High Definition Audio Codec’ and on the properties to that it says ‘ the device is working properly’. I phoned Dell the other day and they did some tests before the start up, it played some noises while doing some tests so the speakers must be working, i had one error that said ‘Hard Drive error 2000-0146’. Straight away they said i need to re-install the hard drive, never checked anything else and said they could get someone out to install it and it would cost £170. I have so much stuff on my laptop it would take me forever to move it all, lots of music and pictures. Is there anything else i can try, re-installing would be my last option, i tried buying a usb audio adapter but no luck. i have a dell inspiron 1545 with windows 7 home premium.

  15. Hey, I’ve tried the command prompt option but result shows some files are corrupted & not able to fix them. What to do next? its Windows 8.

  16. I got an answer from someone on another forum, they gave me a link to download the 2 registry files for the audio because mine were missing, and i finally have my sound back.

  17. hello i have Helium c141 laptop from india but the problem is the audio driver is not available to their site, kindly help me to find the driver for helium c141

  18. Hi I have laptop hp HP PAVILION ZD7000 it was perfectly fine with windows XP and i recently set up a windows 7 and after that it says the famous sentence No Audio Output Device Is Installed i tried to setup the sound card with the latest version and nothing new happened So what do you think i have to do.

  19. i tried victimisation on top of details, however when putting in identical message is coming back as ” this device couldn’t work properly” code e

    • Had this downside, checked various websites, what worked on behalf of me is:
      1. Go to device manager, and uninstall all drivers/hardware devices under sound video and game controllers
      2. Restart your PC, there should be a red cross next to the sound icon on the start bar
      3. Go to device manager again, and follow the steps above to reinstall your drivers and hardware devices
      4. Restart again and it should be up and running again
      Btw dont request from me for the other facilitate i dont extremely apprehend what im doing simply stumbled into this, simply thought if it will fix it then nice

      • There is NO FIX FOR THIS!

        I’m a network engineer and upgraded to 10 3 separate times to provide an opportunity and High Definition Audio via the HMDI from AMD or NVIDIA cards won’t WORK!

        You can impart MS for this. It did work once initial unleash of Windows ten on October twenty ninth then again poor many weeks later and “manual install” of HD audio driver won’t WORK.

        It will not send the HD audio signals out so, if you have got a stereo receiver connected to pc HDMI audio/video output, your receiver won’t auto change the DSP to replicate the particular HD audio from same pc (DTS HD Master, Dolby TrueHD, etc)

    • mine is like that i i additionally do this however nothing happen..i additionally attempt observance @ youtube on the way to fixed no audio output is installed still not operating….im lucky bcuz i keep in mind i feel my audio driver isn’t compatible with my motherboard ..so do this initial seek for your motherboard model…then if you discover your circuit board model serach @ google ..indicate Ur motherboard model then place ex… (motherboard model)+ audio driver then transfer the compatible driver and install….hope it’ll assist you

  20. Hi Madhur,

    I have recently tried to replace the old hard disk drive with a SSD (Solis State Drive) and lost the sound as a result. As per your suggestion I have checked the Device manager and it is giving me two yellow sticks. One of them is: PCI simple Communication Controller and the other one is: Unknown device.

    Please help me solve this issue. Offcourse I can take the Laptop to a technician but I would like to solve this issue my self (with your help off course, if possible).

    Thanks.

    Dawood.

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