Sometimes, you may notice a red X appearing on the sound icon on the Windows taskbar. If you hover over it, it will say there is no speaker or headphone jack plugged in. This error may occur due to a problem with the audio driver or Windows audio service.
To fix the error, run the built-in audio troubleshooter to find and fix common issues with audio devices. If not, you can perform an audio driver restore or manually reinstall the audio driver to restore sound to the system.
Below are some steps to help you fix the “No Speaker or Headphones are Plugged In” error on Windows.
1. Run the Windows audio troubleshooter
You can fix sound problems on Windows using the built-in sound troubleshooter. It scans your Windows system for common audio problems and tries to fix them automatically.
To run the troubleshooter, do the following:
1. Press Win + I to open Settings.
2. In tabs Systemscroll down and click Troubleshoot.
3. Next, click Other troubleshooters.
4. Click the button Run give Playing Audio. It will check the audio service status and prompt you to select your audio device.
5. Select your device speaker and click Next.
6. Click NO , Do not open Audio Enhancements in the dialog box Turn off Sound Effects and Enhancements.
7. Apply any recommended fixes and test the results.
2. Perform audio device driver recovery
If a Windows or driver update has damaged your audio device, you can perform a driver restore to reuse the most recent working driver. You can use Device Manager to restore drivers in Windows.
To restore audio device drivers, follow Quantrimang.com's instructions on how to restore drivers in Windows. You will probably find your audio driver in the section Sound, video, and game controllers of Device Manager.
3. Add Network Service and Local Service to Local Administrator Group
Another way to fix this error is to add Network Service and Local Service to the Local Administrator Group. Network Service and Local Service are part of the service control manager's predefined accounts. Adding these accounts to the Local Administrator Group will help you fix sound problems on your Windows PC.
Note that Local Users and Groups are not available on Windows Home edition. However, Home users can add Network Service and Local Service to Local Administrator Group using Command Prompt.
To add Network Service and Local Service to Local Administrator Group using Local Users and Groups:
1. Press Win + X to open the WinX menu.
2. Click Computer Management.
3. In Computer Managementclick Local Users and Groups.
4. In the right pane, double-click Groups to see all local accounts.
5. Select and right-click the account Administrators and choose Properties.
6. Click the button Add in the dialog box Administrator Properties.
7. Next, enter network service and click Check Names. It will change the object name to NETWORK SERVICE.
8. Click OK to add a network service to the local user group.
9. In the dialog box Administrator Propertiesyou will see NT Authority\Network Service added as the member.
10. Click the button again Add and repeat the steps to add Local Services join the group.
11. Once done, click Apply > OK to save changes.
If you use Windows Home edition, you can use Command Prompt to add Local Network and Local Service to the local administrators group. Here's how to do it.
1. Press the key Win and type cmd.
2. Open Command Prompt with admin rights.
3. In the Command Prompt window, enter the following to add “local service” to Local Group Administrator:
net localgroup Administrators /add localservice4. Next, type the following command to add “network service” to the Local Group Administrator account:
net localgroup Administrators /add networkservice5. If both commands are executed successfully, enter exit and press Enter to close Command Prompt.
6. Restart your PC and check if the error has been resolved.
4. Uninstall drivers and audio devices
A temporary problem with the audio device driver can cause this error on Windows. To fix the problem, uninstall the audio device and associated driver from Device Manager. After restarting, Windows will automatically reinstall the driver to resolve the problem.
To uninstall an audio device:
1. Press Win + X to open the WinX menu.
2. Click Device Manager from the context menu.
3. In Device Managerexpand the section Sound, video, and game controllers.
4. Right-click on your audio device, e.g Realtek Audio.
5. Select options Attempt to remove the driver for this device in the dialog box Uninstall Device.
6. Press Uninstall to remove the device.
7. After uninstalling, restart your PC. Windows will automatically install the necessary drivers for your audio device.
If the problem persists, manually reinstall the audio device driver from the manufacturer.
5. Reinstall the audio device driver manually
If the automatic reinstallation feature doesn't work, check to see if your computer manufacturer or audio device OEM has a stable version of the driver available. On your laptop, visit your computer manufacturer's website and download the latest audio driver from there. On a desktop computer, you can download the latest driver for your sound card from the manufacturer's website. Alternatively, you can also manually reinstall the existing driver for your audio device.
If the problem persists, change the device settings and then reinstall the driver. To change device settings:
- Press the key Win and enter device installation settings.
- Next, click Change device installation settings from search results.
- Select options No (your device might not work as expected) in the dialog box Device installation settings.
- Click Save Changes. Press Yes if prompted by User Account Control.
With automatic driver download disabled, reinstall the existing driver to fix the no sound issue.
