Windows 10: How do I mute my internal laptop speakers leaving external speakers on

Hello everyone, I'm a newbie. Windows 10. Incredibly I was innocently dusting my Del laptop keys when my computer sound (usually set on Pandora music) was muted, showing an 'x' over speaker icon on taskbar. Previously I could just click it to get it unmuted. This time it took about two hours of my time. Now I have sound coming out of both my external speakers and my internal speakers, when previously just plugging in my external speakers would mute my internal, or built-in, speakers. Is there any way I can mute my internal speakers without muting my external speakers without spending the rest of the day in troubleshooting, involving detailed examination of my motherboard and countless other steps?
Thanks for listening!
tma

:)

 

External Speaker Fails to Mute Internal Speaker


I am running Windows 10 Professional with current up-to-date updates on my Dell Inspiron Laptop.

Several days ago I noticed that plugging in current headset no longer muted the internal speaker. I know that it is not the headset as it works perfectly on another computer.
.
Doing a web search has not resulted in finding the problem, let alone a solution. Further my anti-virus is up-to-date, as are the microphone and speaker drivers.

Pointers in the direction of a solution will be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

Switching off internal computer speakers

This is a subject that has been raised before but Microsoft seems to refuse to answer. As a result of a previous update to Windows 10, the internal computer speakers work as well as the external sound system. There is no apparent way to switch off the
internal speakers and just have the external sound system working. A previous contributor suggested that Microsoft had a solution to this bug but wouldn't elaborate. This seemed very childish.

I ask the question again: Could someone give a step by step process for switching off internal computer speakers AND leaving the external speakers working. I have tried every setting but nothing fixes the problem. Surely this isn't rocket science and
it would be easy for Microsoft to write a bug fix???

Lack of action just infuriates users unnecessarily.

 

How to disable the internal speakers when connecting external speakers?

The instructions for connecting headphones/external speakers inplies that the internal speakers in my HP Envy 23-d260qd computer will be disabled when the headphones/external speakers are connected. This is not the case - both the speakers and the
headphones work together, thus defeating the purpose of headphones. There seems to be some suggestion that this problem has been caused by an update to Windows10. I have been connecting of headphones or external speakers and would mechanically disabled the
internal speakers as happens with molst audio equipment. Any advice will be much appreciated.