The Headphone Jack is an expected I/O port in a Windows 10 computer and you cannot live without it. While some smartphones do not come with the headphone jack anymore, using a PC without one is near to impossible. Audio is one of the most important aspects of a computer especially when you're watching movies or listening to your favorite music. Unfortunately, Windows 10 users might face issues with the headphone jack sometimes when a connected audio device simply doesn't get recognized. So if you're also facing a similar issue in your Windows 10 computer then this article is just for you.
Headphone Jack Not Working Error Explained and How to Fix it in Windows 10?
As the name tells, due to this error none of the audio devices that you plug in your computer will not work. Whether you connect a pair of headphones or external speakers, the audio jack will simply not give any output. This issue can persist in Windows due to a number of reasons. And since audio is such an important part of modern computing, making sure that audio jack is properly working is quite essential. Therefore, if your computer's headphone jack is not working in Windows 10, then follow the following solutions:
Disable Audio Jack Detection in Windows 10
Whenever you plug an audio device like headphones in your PC, Windows 10 detects the device and starts sending audio to it. But sometimes this automatic audio jack detection might stop working and in that case, even if you have your headphones plugged in, Windows 10 will not detect that. In order to fix this issue, you can simply disable audio jack detection in Windows 10 which basically keeps the audio jack active at all times even if headphones are not plugged in. This way when you'll plug in your headphones they will start working right away instead of detecting them. To disable audio jack detection in Windows 10 follow the given instructions:
- First press Windows Key + R on your keyboard to open Run.
- Inside the Run windows, type regedit and press enter to open the Registry Editor in Windows 10.
- After that use the Registry Editor to navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E96C-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0007\GlobalSettings.
- Once you're inside this folder, Right-Click on REG_BINARY EnableDynamicDevices and select Modify to set its value as 0.
One of the most common and easiest fixes for any issues related to audio in Windows 10 is to update your sound drivers to the latest drivers. If your PC is facing audio issues, chances are that they are due to either older or corrupted versions of audio drivers. In this case, you can simply update your computer's audio drivers to the latest drivers using device manager as shown:
- Press Windows Key + X on your keyboard and select Device Manager from this list.
- Once you're inside Device Manager, expand Audio Inputs and Outputs.
- After that simply right click on all of your audio devices one by one and select Update Driver which will update all of the audio drivers in Windows 10 to the latest version.
Change Default Audio Formats in Windows 10
Windows 10 supports a wide range of audio formats for its outputs. These different outputs have a difference between the frequency range as well as different audio formats like 16 bit, 24 bit, or 32 bit. But not all motherboard might support outputting audio in these formats which can issue with audio in Windows 10. So if you've selected an unsupported audio format in Windows 10, your computer's headphone jack might not work. In that case, you use the given steps to easily change the audio format in Windows 10:
- First, Right-Click on the Volume Icon in your PC's taskbar.
- Now select Sounds and in this windows go to the Playback tab.
- After that Right-Click on your headphones and go to Properties.
- Inside the properties, go to Advanced tab and try out different audio formats using the drop-down menu until your headphone jack starts working and press OK.
Set your Headphones as Default Audio Device
One of the most common reasons for headphones not working in Windows 10 is due to a different audio device selected as the default audio device. In this case, Windows 10 will simply send audio signals to your default audio device and not your headphones. To overcome this issue, you can simply change the default audio device in Windows 10 to your headphones using the following instructions:
- Using Windows Search open Sounds settings as shown.
- In here, go to the Playback tab and select your headphone's audio device.
- After selecting it, simply click on the Set Default button to set your headphones as the default audio device in Windows 10 after which your headphone jack should work without any issues.
Checking your Computer's Hardware
If any of the fixes mentioned above have not worked for you, then, in that case, it might be the hardware side of things which might be causing the issue. This can include both your headphones as well as the audio jack of your motherboard. If you think you're facing audio issues in Windows 10 due to hardware failure, you have to test it out. To do that, first, try using your headphones with other devices and check whether they work or not. Apart from that you can also try using other headphones with your computer and to check whether the audio jack is working or not. Just in case if you do have a hardware failure, you should claim the warranty of the device which is causing the issue.
We hope that you've successfully fixed the headphone jack not working error in your Windows 10 PC. We are pretty sure that at least one of the fixed mentioned above has worked for you and you are now able to use headphones with your computer. In case you liked this article, then make sure to share it on social media. If you have any doubts regarding any of the solutions, feel free to ask any queries in the comments section below.