Over the years I've often been asked how
to fix audio issues, so here's my guide. As with all my tutorials, I've got a time stamp allowing you to skip to whichever section you like. If you'd like to learn more about computer audio or why you've got an audio issue you might want to check
out the whole video. I'll be using Windows 10. I understand not everyone is
using Windows 10, but my information and guide is relevant to all versions in most cases. First up a quick reason there may be no audio is because it's set to mute. On the bottom right of your screen you'll find your audio icon. If it has a cross on it, it's muted. Click on the icon and then click on the popped up icon to toggle mute on and off. Additionally, you can click on the volume slider which
will unmute your audio. Make sure your audio has sufficient volume within Windows when testing audio problems. If you're using speakers or headphones, make sure they're not muted either if they have the capability. And again make sure the volume is sufficient. The audio device chosen could be the wrong source. You can think of audio source being the same as video source on a TV. There you've got HDMI 1, HDMI 2, digital TV and so on. If your device is outputting
to HDMI 1 and your chosen source is HDMI 2, you won't get any picture and sound. Same thing with audio. Modern computers often have more than one audio source. And USB devices can be their own audio device too. If the incorrect audio source
is currently active, you guessed it no audio. In this audio pop-up the source
can be selected and it depends on what device you're using to playback the sound. If you don't know which device is the correct one, but you think your speakers or headphones are connected correctly, you can just toggle each one
until you get sound. Another reason audio may not be working is that you've plugged the audio cable in incorrectly. If you're using a standard 3.5
millimeter headphone jack, you want to plug it into the green port on the back of the PC. Or on the headphone port at the front which has the headphone icon. If you're using a USB audio device, you can plug it in into any USB port and you just need to select it as your source
which you can find by clicking the speaker icon at the bottom right corner
of your screen. And then choosing the correct audio
device. We can see here these Logitech USB speakers show up in my device list. If audio has never worked on your PC, the most likely reason is missing audio
drivers. Drivers are the software which um drive the hardware. While windows can detect the device without drivers, it doesn't know what the device is or how
to use it and no sound will play. If you don't have the correct software drivers for your audio device installed, audio simply won't work. A failed or broken driver install will most likely also result in no audio. The easiest way to check if a
driver is installed is to go into Device Manager. You can type device manager in
the search box or click the start button, go to your control panel and type in device manager. You'll find a section called Sound, Video and Game Controllers. Your audio device or devices should show up here. If there's an exclamation mark next
to a device, something's wrong. You can right click on the device and click
properties to check its status. Here we can see the device is working properly. Windows will also let you know if it needs the driver or if there's a fault. If there's no driver, you can right click on the device and select update driver. If it can't find one or you don't have internet access, you need to download it
manually beforehand and install it. If the audio device is inside your computer, such as on a laptop or PC, you will need to either find the model number of your laptop or PC and search for its drivers There will be an audio driver to
download. If you're on a custom built desktop PC with no model number, you need to find out what motherboard you have as most likely you've got onboard audio but
no dedicated audio device. Type in system information in the search bar. Here in system model we can see my motherboard is a gigabyte Aorus x470 gaming 5. I can now search this model number to find the drivers for my system. And here is the Audio Driver. Finally, if you're using a dedicated audio card or fancy USB speakers or headset, you may need to install your Audio Driver
manually as well. Use the model number of the device to find the correct driver. If there's no device showing at all in device manager or you've got a red cross
on your audio device, it can mean a bunch of different things. Windows doesn't
detect your audio interface. There is no audio device on your machine. It's faulty or it has been disabled in the BIOS, which is the simplest level of
operating system. The only reason it would be disabled in the BIOS as if
someone has been messing around with the settings previously, such as with a used
PC. By default onboard audio will always be set to on. To fix it at the BIOS level,
you'll need to restart your PC and find the relevant keyboard key that takes you
to the BIOS. In most cases it tells you on screen. If not, a search of the model
number and BIOS key of your PC will let you know what it is. Once in the BIOS we
need to search for onboard devices or onboard audio as we can see here. It's disabled Once I turn it back on I just need to save the settings and restart. Windows will now be able to detect your audio device. Finally, the reason your
audio might not be working is faulty hardware. I put this one last since
faulty audio hardware is uncommon. If you've troubleshooted your audio
hardware and it's showing as faulty in device manager, don't despair. You can buy
audio expansion cards or USB audio hardware cheaply. Of course speakers and headphones can be faulty too, so it goes both ways. I hope that solves your audio issues and thanks for watching. See you in the next one.
Cheers
