Windows 10: Win10 desktop headphones suddently stopped working

In a nutshell the problem is this:

This morning, my son's Windows 10 desktop was working normally, including the headphone jack being usable. Then hours later, audio wouldn't play through the headphones, although inserting phones into the jack was detected. Doing so would trigger popups in the bottom right saying "You just plugged in [or unplugged a device from] the audio jack." They'd alternate (plugged in/unplugged) every second or so, until the phones were unplugged. But the audio wouldn't go through the phones.

You just plugged/unplugged a device in the audio jack describes this, and one can find lots of instances in google.

I tried the obvious things:

• Same problem with different set of headphones
• Uninstalled the Realtek device driver, restarted - the driver was not found or reinstalled, and the sound disappeared altogether

At that point, I did a system restore to the way it was this morning, hours before the problem appeared. That restored the speaker audio, but the headphone problem (no audio, and the popups when a headphone was plugged in) remained.

I have seen several recommendations to run the Realtek HD Audio Manager and pursue a fix that way. But I don't know how to launch this program.

Some other material facts that might help in troubleshooting this:

• The PC had been used sparsely while my son was away the last several weeks. Today, after the last time the headphones worked, the June Windows update was installed. Although I then did a system restore back to the state it was before that update took place.
• I'm kicking myself, but the only other material thing that happened between headphones working, and headphones not, was an attempt to install an Atari "Backyard Baseball" game, circa 2005, purchased at a garage sale today. Of course, this XP-era game didn't work on the computer, and sometimes games try to install their own "current" (13 years old) drivers. However, (1) I can't remove the program; it's not populating the list of removable programs, so I assume it's not installed; (2) When I check the Realtek driver through device manager, it tells me the installed driver is current.

The problem/fix has to be some small little thing I am overlooking. Help!

:)

 

Speakers and headphones work at the same time

Hi.

Let us isolate your concern by answering these few questions.

• Have you tried connecting your headphones directly to your desktop?
• Does your speaker work normally when connected to your desktop?

You may try the following steps to help resolve your concern:

• Unplug or Disconnect your speaker from the desktop.
• Connect your headphone directly to the desktop.

If the headphone works properly when directly connected to the desktop, we suggest that you contact your speaker manufacturer for assistance.

Let us know how it goes.

 

bluetooth headphones


setting up win10 Bluetooth and my Bluetooth headphones work fine ,but every time I reconnect the headphones I have to delete them from Bluetooth settings and let win10 pickup the headphones again ,before they will pair ,then win10 want to reboot to add the headphones ,I reboot and they work fine ,but next time I plug the headphone in again they will not pair ,don't even get an option to pair till I delete the head phones from the list ,, any suggestions ,, thank

 

Headphone stops working randomly.

Hi,

As per the description, the issue might be caused due to damage in the port. I suggest you to connect another headphone and check if the same issue persists. This is to check if the issue is with the hardware.

I suggest you to run the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter by following the steps provided below:

• Type troubleshooting in the Search box and press Enter.
• Click on View All in the left navigation pane.
• Click on Hardware and Devices and follow the on-screen prompts for troubleshooting.

Keep us posted on the status for further assistance.