Windows 10: Trouble with audio, even though device is not muted?

I have been having trouble with the audio on my Dell Inspirion 16. It is a newer device, so I am unsure as to why the sound suddenly does not work out of nowhere. When I play a video game, the sound for the game works just fine, but if I try to listen to music or watch a video on my laptop it does not work. My volume is not muted, and apps and Windows are allowed to use the device for audio. Additionally, volume mixer is not muted and does not seem to be particularly out of whack. Any thoughts as to what to do would be helpful!

:)

 

Volume goes to zero and mute.

Hi William,

If the volume of your computer automatically mutes, it could be that the audio drivers are corrupted or damaged, or that there are software conflicts occurring within the system. As a first troubleshooting step, we suggest that you run the audio troubleshooter
and lets Windows find and automatically resolve problems with your audio. Here's how to run the audio troubleshooter:

• Select the Start button, then type troubleshoot, and select
  Troubleshoot from the list of results. From there, select
  Playing Audio > Run the troubleshooter.

If the troubleshooter does not help resolve the problem with your volume settings, we suggest that you check Device Manager and update your sound card drivers. Updating would replace any corrupted or damaged components of the audio driver. Here's how to
update your audio drivers through Device Manager:

• Open the Start button, then type device manager, and select
  Device Manager from the search results.
• Under Sound, video and game controllers, right-click your sound card driver, then select
  Update Driver.
• Select Search automatically search for updated driver software.

If Windows doesn't find a new driver, you may look for one on the device manufacturer's website and follow their instructions on how to install their driver.

If the above steps doesn't resolve the problem, feel free to post back to us.

 

Muted mic picking up sound in game

Hi JonPaul,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.



The issue could be because of the internal mic picking up sound even when the external device is pluuged in. If you have the RealTek HD Audi Manager installed on the machine, I would suggest you to try the steps listed below and check if it works for
you.

• Open RealTek HD Audio Manager and go to the
  Advanced tab.
  
• Check the boxes Separate all input jacks as independent input devices
  and Mute the internal output device, when external headphone is plugged in,
  and hit OK.
  
• Exit RealTek HD Audio Manager, restart the machine and see if the issue persists.
  

Regards,

 

Audio sound mute and un-mutes.

Hello,

Please provide us more information to help you further:

• How long have you been experiencing this problem?
• Have you made any recent changes to the computer?
• Have you updated the audio drivers?

I suggest you to follow the methods below and check if it helps:

Method 1:

I suggest you to run the Audio troubleshooter and check if it helps.

Fix sound or audio problems in Windows - Microsoft Support

Method 2:

If the issue persists, then try to uninstall and re-install the audio driver.

• Press Windows Logo Key+X. Click On
  Device Manager.
• In the list of hardware categories, look for the device that you want to update, and then right-click on it to
  Uninstall.
• Follow onscreen instructions to uninstall it.
• To re-install, either you can restart the system or install the driver from the manufacturer’s website (recommended as they will have updated drivers).

For reference:

Try all the steps provided in the link below and check if it helps.

Fix sound problems:

Fix sound or audio problems in Windows - Microsoft Support

Hope this helps in resolving the issue. If the issue persists, do get back to us. We will be happy to assist you.