When there’s no sound on your Windows computer, you can see the red “X” on the sound icon in your taskbar. When you hover on the sound icon on taskbar, you’ll see an error message - “No Audio Output Device is Installed” or “No Playback Device”.
This error most likely appears due to the outdated audio drivers on your Windows machine. But below are few other reasons why you see “No Audio Output Device is installed” error.
What Causes the “No Audio Output Device is Installed” Issue?
There are two main reasons for the “No Playback Devices” error causing no sound on Windows 10 or 8 or 7:
- Windows has disabled your audio device
- Your system does not have the latest device drivers
Now we know what’s the exact reason for no sound on Windows computer, here are the best possible solutions to fix this problem.
Ways to Fix “No Audio Device is Installed” Error in Windows 10/8/7
Here are top 4 methods you can try to fix the “No Playback Device” error in your Windows PC.
1. Re-enable the Device
You need to re-enable the device to fix the sound problem. To do so, follow the steps (some of these steps differ in different types of system versions)
- Press and hold Windows + R key to open a Run dialog box
- Now type devmgmt.msc in the dialog box and click on the OK to execute the command
- Locate the Sound, video and game controllers icons in the list
Note: If you can’t see this category on your list. Follow the step given below:
- Click on the Action from the top menu
- Select the Add Legacy Hardware (if you can only view the Help option in the list, click on the white space around the list) and now click on the Action menu again
- To start the Add Hardware wizard , click on Next
If you can’t see the Add Hardware wizard display at all, go to the next step.
- Select the Search for install hardware automatically on the Add Hardware window
- If you see can’t find any new hardware, click on the Next option
- A list of hardware types appears
- Search for Sound, video and game controllers
- Select it and click on Next
- Select the model and the manufacturer of the sound card and click on Next
- Click Next to install the device and click on Finish once the installation is complete
In the Device Manager, you can troubleshoot hardware related issues and fix them by updating the drivers. When you re-enable the sound card, it will fix the no sound issue.
2. Run the Windows 10 Audio Troubleshooter
You can run the built-in Windows Audio Troubleshooter to fix the “No Audio Output Device is installed” issue in Windows 10. Let’s access the troubleshooter:
- Go to the Search bar (next to the Start menu) and type Troubleshoot
- Click on “Playing Audio” option
- Click on Run the troubleshooter option
- Follow the instructions to complete the troubleshooting process
The Audio troubleshooter directly detects the audio issues once the search is finished and displays the sound issues.
3. Replace the Device Sound Card
When you come across the “No Audio Output Device is Installed” error, it is mainly due to the defective sound cards in your Windows system.
You can replace the old sound card and install a new sound card to solve the issue.
4. Use Scannow to Fix the Audio Drivers
This method is beneficial and most likely solves the issues with Windows audio output device. Follow the below-listed steps.
- Type cmd in the Cortana search bar
- Right-click on the Command Prompt option and select the Run as administrator
- You can see a UAC prompt now and click Yes
- Write the command sfc/scannow and press Enter
- The sfc command will start the scanning process
The sfc/scannow command is used to scan the protected files for any error. The command will replace the corrupted files with the original cached copies so any error with the drivers will be fixed.
Bonus Tip: You can also fix the “No Audio Output Device is Installed” issue by the Microsoft System Restore feature on some of the Windows PC. This method is a great solution to identify the sound problem on your system and run the audio function smoothly again.
That’s it! Let us know which of the above solution works the best for you in the comments section.
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