Windows 10: Headphones output device is not plugged in

Hello!


Today I found myself in the following situation: I I did some gaming on my desktop PC with headphones plugged in to front panel. Afterwards I unplugged them to use them with another device and left the PC running. When I returned and plugged in headphones again, they did not put out any sound. Upon checking output device selection in the taskbar I found that they would not appear there. I then checked the sound device panel where it was shown as not plugged in:




2781-4 output device is a 3.5 mm socket on the rear of the monitor which I use as a temporary output device until things are settled
Speakers output device is the 3.5 mm socket on the rear panel of my PC's motherboard to which I connect speakers
Headphones output device is the 3.5 mm socket on the front panel of my PC's case to which I usually connect headphones

The OS is 64 bit Windows 10 Pro Version 10.0.18362 Build 18362, the motherboard has an Intel B150 chipset.


I also found that update KB4512508 (OS Build 18362.295) was installed while I was away.


I then tried the following steps to get rid of this situation:

1. Unplug and plug in headphones to Headphones again (no effect)
2. Unplug speakers and headphones from Speakers and Headphones and plug them in the other way around (headphones worked, speakers did not, Speakers remained unplugged)
3. Restart PC (no effect)
4. Run Troubleshoot sound problems via right click on taskbar output device selection (no effect, see bottom for output)
5. Re-install driver (Realtek HD audio driver 2.82, no effect)
6. Enable all other sound devices in sound control panel (no effect)
7. Do some online research, follow instructions as suggested by Microsoft support (no effect, Headphones did not show up in device manager)
8. Shut off PC, check internal connection of front panel to motherboard (no effect)

Right now I'm brainstorming what else I can do to resolve this issue. I have considered uninstalling KB4512508 but refrained from it so far as this means my OS is not up to date. I already encountered a similar situation twice with OS Build 15063 and 16299, each time shortly after the subsequent OS Builds had been released. In both cases, I was able to solve the problem by doing a clean installation of the respective newer version of Windows 10. However, the current installation was done on July 22nd 2019 to replace a flawlessly working OS Build 17134 installed in July 2018, so I do not think there has been anything going on "behind the scenes" to mess up some obscure setting.


I would appreciate any suggestions on how to solve this problem! Please find attached screenshots of Troubleshoot.


Best regards,

randomisator



Troubleshoot results






Output of Troubleshoot after clicking "Next" on the previously shown window



Detailed information 1




Detailed information 2




Detailed information 3




Detailed information 4




Detailed information 5




Detailed information 6




Detailed information 7

:)

 

Computer Won't Auto Change the Playback Device When Headphones Plugged In/Out

Hi Michael,

I understand your concern and will be happy to assist you.

Is the issue specific to only Headphones/ Does External Speaker play when plugged in?

I suggest you to try resetting the default device as shown in the steps given below and check if the issue persists.

• 
  Plug in the Headphones in the machine.
  
• 
  Go to Start and Control Panel.
  
• 
  Select 'Hardware and Sound'.
  
• 
  Click 'Change system sounds'.
  
• 
  Click 'Playback' tab. (It should then show you your headphones in the list).
  
• 
  Select your proper Headphone device from the list, then Click 'Set Default'.
  
• 
  Now unplug your Headphones and select speakers from the list, then Click 'Set Default'.
  

Hope it helps. Please reply for further queries on this.

 

Windows is no longer recognising headphones as a seperate device / output when plugged in

Hi Annu,

Thank you for the reply.

I have tried the suggested steps however the headphones do not show up even if I select show disabled devices.

When I first plugged in the device, it should have detected this as a new device however it did not. I am not sure I should try to add it manually?

 

Headphone Connection

Hello,

Thank you for your interest in Windows 10!

I understand that the headphones are not working when you connect then through the jack on your Windows 10 operating system. I will certainly help you with the query. I would appreciate if you could help us with more information

• 
  Have you checked plugging the headphone to a different jack on the same computer?
  
• 
  Have you checked if any other sound device work fine when plugged to the problematic jack?
  

This issue might be occurring due to incompatible drivers or broken jack. There might be a possibility that the headphone is not compatible with windows 10 operating system. Hence I would suggest you to follow the below mentioned
steps and check if that helps.

Method 1:
Hardware and devices troubleshooter

The built-in hardware and devices troubleshooter can automatically detect and fix most of the incorrect settings and errors that could cause issues with hardware. I would suggest you to run this troubleshooter to check if there is any issue with
the display adapter. Refer top these steps:

• Open Control Panel
• Click on Troubleshooting and select the view all option on the left pane.
• Click on Hardware and devices troubleshooter and follow the prompts.

Try method 2, if the issue persist

Method 2: If the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter do not fix
the issue then I would suggest you to uninstall the drivers and reboot the computer to get the updated drivers installed for the headphone. Please follow below mentioned steps:

• Open Control Panel
• Click on Device Manager and select the audio input and output drivers
• Right click on driver that appears after plugging the headphone and click on uninstall
• After uninstalling, unplug the headphone and restart the computer
• Plugging the headphone again and the computer will detect the updates drivers automatically.
  

Now check if the headphones work on the computer or not.

Hope this information is helpful. Please write back to us if you need any further assistance, we'll be glad to assist you.