Windows 10: Bluetooth Audio Devices No Longer Work After Windows Update

Last week, my JBL PartyBox Bluetooth speaker mysteriously stopped playing audio from my Windows PC, despite appearing to connect without issue. This was irritating, to say the least, but I decided to update Windows in the vain hope that it might actually fix the problem. Imagine my frustration when, after the update, not only did the issue persist, but my Sony Bluetooth headphones—previously my reliable backup—also stopped playing audio, even though they too appear to connect without issue.This is not a problem on my end. These devices worked perfectly fine until Windows decided otherwise. The

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Cannot connect to Bluetooth audio devices (only) under 21H1.

I had no problem connecting Bluetooth audio devices while running Windows version 20H2, and had 3 different audio devices paired and working normally. Upon upgrading to the latest Windows 10 version (21H1, 19043.1348), they can no longer connect. There's nothing wrong with the devices. My 2nd system is running 20H2 and is connecting fine with them. On my primary system running 21H1, I go to the Bluetooth settings screen, see my paired devices in the list. I turn on a Bluetooth audio device... and nothing happens. Previously the laptop would auto-detect the audio device and I'd be good to go. So I select the paired audio device in the list, see the option button to "CONNECT" and press it. IMMEDIATELY, I'm given this message: "That didn't work. Make sure your bluetooth device is discoverable." It's obvious it's not even trying. It's an instant response. On my 20H2 laptop, when I try to manually connect to a Bluetooth audio device that's not turned on, it takes about 20 seconds or so until the "didn't work" message to appear. It's clearly trying. NOTE: I have a mouse device connected via Bluetooth and it's working perfectly fine. It's only audio devices that fail. Another vexing related issue -- if I try to remove any of my Bluetooth audio devices from the paired list, I get a "Remove Failed" message and nothing happens. Troubleshooting: Went to Devices --> Bluetooth. Did a View of hidden devices... and yes, there were duplicates of these devices listed. I deleted all of them. I rebooted and while they are absent from the Devices list, they're still showing up in the Bluetooth interface and behaving as before. I ran the Bluetooth troubleshooter that claimed to find a problem and fixed it, but rebooting showed that not to be the case. Either something appears to be wrong with 21H1, or I have some screwy configuration conflict going on.. I've got Realtek Bluetooth hardware. I have uninstalled Bluetooth and reinstalled the Realtek drivers. No help. Upgrading to 21H1 was long and tedious--I don't want to roll back to 20H2. Is there anything I can try to fix this? Thanks!

 

HFP devices no longer show as audio input or audio output devices (Win11)

All of my HFP Bluetooth devices are no longer available as audio input or output devices. A2DP devices still show as audio output devices.

I've tried:

• unpairing and repairing BT devices (Sony MDR-ZX770BN and a custom ESP32-based device)
  
• removing all BT devices (including hidden devices) from Device Manager, including the RFCOMM and SDP services and Intel wireless driver, etc. and reinstalling
  
• removing the Audio devices (Realtek) and reinstalling
  
• sfc /scannow (no problems found)
  
• checked registry Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Bluetooth\Audio\Hfp\AudioGateay and ..\HandsFree and both show registry value Enabled=1 (not that I've seen any diagnostic ever suggest checking these keys)
  
• pairing my headphones to a Win10 laptop, which works fine, and audio input/output devices allow me to select HFP (also A2DP)
  checking the headphones under "Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Devices and Printers", I can confirm under "Bluetooth Services" the headphones show Audio Sink, and Hands-free Telephony, so SDP has discovered the HFP profile correctly
  
• my ESP32 device also has SPP (serial port) which works fine, and the headphones can use A2DP just fine, so Windows can use the other BT profiles on these devices
  
• running troubleshooter for Audio Input and Audio Output devices - the troubleshooter finds nothing, and doesn't even list the HFP device as an audio device
  

HFP was working OK before Christmas. At some point since then all HFP devices no longer show as audio input/recording sources or output sources.

My laptop is a Lenovo Thinkpad L15 gen 3, roughly 1 year old. Windows and drivers are all up-to-date.

 

No audio through connected Bluetooth device

I am having problems playing audio from my Windows PC through my Bose Bose AE2 Bluetooth headphones.

1) I have previously connected to these headphones without any issues. The audio was fine

2) at some point, the audio started experiencing distortions and disconnects

3) I can now no longer play any audio through the headphones from the PC

In the Bluetooth and other device settings menu, my headphones are connected. I have also tried un-pairing and re-pairing the device several times. The device manager recognizes the headphones in the bluetooth dropdown menut. In the Sound settings on Windows, my headphones are listed as a playback device, but are listed as disconnected and cannot be connected from that menu. Note: this is different from the bluetooth and other devices menu, which says that I AM connected.

My windows drivers are up to date, I have updated my headphones to the latest drivers as well. My headphones connect without issue to other devices (laptop and cell phone both). I feel as though I have taken all the basic troubleshooting steps and am not getting anywhere.