Windows 10: How do you re-enable an audio output device after disabling it in Windows 10?

Hello! I wanted to extend my laptop screen via an HDMI cable to watch a movie on my TV, while still playing the audio from my laptop. To do this, I disabled the TV's audio in "Manage sound devices" in Windows 10, which made the audio play from my laptop while the movie played on the TV, as I wanted.

Now, I want my laptop's sound to play through the TV again, but the TV's audio output is no longer visible in "Manage sound devices". I double-checked in "Manage audio devices", and "show disabled devices" and "show disconnected devices" are both enabled.

Before disabling the TV's output, the laptop's audio and video would both play through the TV when connected via HDMI. I also tried plugging the HDMI into the TV's other HDMI input, which made no difference.

I haven't been able to find any solutions online. Any suggestions are very much appreciated!

submitted by /u/rosea97
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:)

 

Re-enable audio device

Hi,

I would be happy to assist you.

Before we proceed with troubleshooting, I would need little information on the issue.

• Are using speakers / head phones to listen to audio?

If you have disabled the audio device, then you might not see it under the list of playback devices. I would suggest you to follow these steps to make sure you see the disabled devices:

• • 
    Open
    Control panel.
    
  • 
    Click Hardware and Sound and then Click on
    Sounds.
    
  • 
    Under Playback tab, right click on the empty area and make sure
    “Show Disabled Devices” has a check mark on it. If headphones/Speakers are disabled, it will now show up in the list.
    
  • 
    Right click on the device and
    Enable it. Click OK.
    

If the issue still persists, try enabling speakers automatically using steps below.

• 
  Go to Settings> Click on themes> Advance sound settings> right click on the speakers or the audio device youo have connected > click on
  Configure device.
  
• 
  Test the sound level you want, click Next.
  
• 
  And configure the audio devices.
  

Hope this helps you. Do reply if you need further assistance on Windows 10.

Thank you.

 

Disabling Audio input/output (Microphone/Speaker/etc) in Device Manager does not disable device in Sound Control Panel or stop audio...oh my!

In Windows 10 (1803 build 17134.228), I open both "Device Manager" (devmgmt.msc) and the "Sound Control Panel" (mmsys.cpl).

Both Device Manager and the Sound Control Panel show the same audio input/output devices.

ex: "Speakers" and "Microphone".

This is good!

In Device Manager, I disable "Speakers", which continues to show up and has an icon showing it is disabled.

In Sound Control Panel, "Speakers" still shows up and *is not disabled*!

When I play a sound through the [disabled in Device Manager] Speakers, I can still hear the audio!

This is horrible!

In Device Manager, I re-enable "Speakers".

In Sound Control Panel, I disable "Speakers".

In Device Manager, "Speakers" disappears as an Audio output device.

Audio correctly cannot be heard.

This is good!

In summary:

1. Why does disabling "Speakers" in "Device Manager" not stop audio coming out of them?
2. What does disabling "Speakers" in "Device Manager" actually do?
3. Why is disabling Speakers in Device Manager different than disabling Speakers in Sound Control Panel?

Now for the real meat: I am trying to disable/enable the Audio input/output device...

...the way that the Sound Control Panel does...

...but programmatically (PowerShell, C#, C...whatever works).

There are many of examples of how to disable/enable a device that involve "devcon.exe disable/enable", "Get-PnpDevice | Disable/Enable-PnpDevice", and "Get-Device | Disable/Enable-Device".

All of these result in the device being disabled in the Device Manager, and exhibiting the above undesirable behavior; the audio devices still show up in Sound Control Panel and are usable.

I also have tried the Registry hack (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\MMDevices\Audio\Capture\{GUID} DeviceState=1 or 10000001), but that seems to be a cosmetic hack only and doesn't actually force close any open devices or prevent new opens.

So I'll add another question:

1. How can I programmatically disable/enable and audio device to have the same effect as doing it in Sound Control Panel?

And no; UI automation of the Sound Control Panel is not an acceptable answer.

I am looking for an actual API that can be called in the background, not a horrible UI hack that requires being in the foreground.

Thanks!

Pv

 

No audio output device is enabled

What does 'No audio output device is enabled' mean and how can it be fixed?