HDMI is a popular high quality connection method for both video and audio output, so it’s no wonder that so many people are using it. Speaking of HDMI, many Windows users reported various HDMI output problems.

HDMI is the gold standard for both audio and video output. It is used by over 4 billion devices worldwide. Most modern PCs make use of the HDMI standard. Output problems affect nearly all Windows versions from Windows XP to Windows 10.

I used to be able to change the sound quality, but after installing this version of windows, the options to change the sound quality seems to be greyed out. Is it possible to get the option to change the sound quality back again? Output problems affect nearly all Windows versions from Windows XP to Windows 10. When you connect your PC to an HDMI-compatible device such as a TV, monitor, or speakers, you might experience display or audio problems. This guide will help you check your.

Long story short: It won't work flawlessly on Win10 as of today. Current status is: one might connect headphones and sound comes out of them but sound still comes out of speakers. The default won't change from one to another. The recommendation is to remove any previous audio drivers and update drivers to something that kinda works on Win10. Setting method. Start Jabber for Windows application and after the sign-in, select the cog's drop-down menu, File Options. On the left side of the options screen, select the audio and press the Advanced button on the bottom right. From the Advanced audio options window, PC's defaulted devices are selected.

When you connect your PC to an HDMI-compatible device such as a TV, monitor, or speakers, you might experience display or audio problems. Use this information to check your hardware and software, and to troubleshoot specific issues.

There are a few simple steps before we move on to more complicated troubleshooting methods.

Make sure you use the correct HDMI cable for your PC

The majority of HDMI devices have two or more HDMI input ports. So it is important that the HDMI display’s source of input is set to the same HDMI port connected to your PC. If the input source is HDMI 1, you’ll have to connect the cable to the HDMI 1 port.

If your PC and HDMI device use different cable types, you can buy and make use of adapters.

1. First, inspect your HDMI connections. Unplug the cables and then plug it back in again. Make sure the fit is tight and snug for an optimal experience.
2. Boot your HDMI monitor, TV, or speakers, and then boot your PC. Then, power down your HDMI device before unplugging them. Wait for one minute, plug them in and power them on. This will refresh your HDMI connection and you’ll be ready to follow the next steps.

Set your HDMI device as the default audio device

Your PC typically only outputs sound to one audio device at a time. If your HDMI device is not set as the default, HDMI output will be unavailable.

Select your HDMI output device by setting the default device. This will change the sound to the appropriate devices. If you are switching between sound on your PC and the sound on an external HDMI device, open the sound devices again to make sure the right output device is activated.

Here are the steps to configuring the audio output when an HDMI cable is connected. You will be able to select HDMI as default when using an HDMI connection. Otherwise, it will output into your computer’s headphones and/or speakers.

1. Right-click on the volume icon on the taskbar.
2. Click ‘Playback devices’. The sound window will open.
3. On the ‘Playback’ tab, select HDMI or your digital output device.
4. Set the option as default.

Make sure to enable the ‘Show disconnected devices’ option so you can view all the devices connected to your computer.

Roll back to an older driver

Open ‘Device Manager’ then find the malfunctioning driver. It will usually have an exclamation mark next to it. Right click on the driver and select the ‘Roll back driver’ option. This will install the preceding version of the driver.

Click on ‘Properties’ and go to the ‘Driver’ tab to find the ‘Roll back’ option. The option is usually unclickable, as seen below:

In some cases, it is better to use the default driver to avoid issues with compatibility. Use the default driver by uninstalling the current driver. The default driver will then install itself. To uninstall the driver, follow these steps:

1. Open ‘Device manager’ and find the malfunctioning driver.
2. Right click on it and select ‘uninstall’.

3. Select ‘Delete the driver software’ and click ‘OK’.
4. Restart your PC.

Update to the latest drivers

Often, fixing these issues is as simple as installing the latest drivers. Visit your motherboard or graphics card brand’s website and download the drivers for free.

Install the drivers in compatibility mode

1. Right click on the driver setup file and choose ‘Properties’.
2. Go to the ‘Compatibility’ tab.
3. Select ‘Run this program in compatibility mode’ and choose Windows 7.
4. Click ‘Apply’ and ‘OK’.
5. Run the setup file.

Set your secondary display

When using a secondary display with your PC, go to either the NVIDIA or AMD graphics card control panel. The process is identical with both manufacturers.

1. Open NVIDIA Control Panel.
2. Go to ‘Set up multiple displays’.
3. Ensure that your HDMI-connected display is showing.
4. If it is not showing, try selecting and unselecting other options on the list. Some users have reported that this has enabled them to activate their secondary displays.

This video shows the solution of how to fix Windows 10 not detecting second monitor when connected through HDMI.

Run a full system scan

Computer viruses can cause issues on your PC, including HDMI connection problems. Performing a full system scan to detect malware may help. Windows’ built-in antivirus, Windows Defender, is a capable program.

To run a full system scan with Windows Defender, look to the following steps:

1. Go to Start, type ‘defender’ then double click on Windows Defender to launch the program.
2. In the left-hand bar, select the shield icon.

1. In the new window, click the ‘Advanced scan’ option.

4. Check the ‘full scan’ option to launch a full system scan.

Update your Operating System

Microsoft constantly provides Windows updates to ensure your PC’s stability and to provide solutions for various issues. Ensure that you have the latest Windows OS update.

Type ‘update’ in the search box to access the Windows Update section. This works for every version of Windows. Then, go to Windows Update, check for updates and install the latest available updates.

Replace your cable

Windows 10 Greyed Out Settings

Some situations are hardware-related issues as opposed to the software issues written above. In these cases, it is recommended to try other products and see if that solves the output issues.

If your problems persist, please contact Windows 10 Support. We hope the solutions provided helped you fix your HDMI output problems. Help out the community by telling us what solution/s worked for you.

The above video show how to fix Windows 10 hdmi no audio problem when connected to PC or laptop.
Image sources:

Feature image: https://pixabay.com/en/usb-hdmi-vga-1394-lan-laptop-1884/ . The remaining images are screenshots. They are not copyright protected.

No Sound In Windows 10/Sound Is Missing. How To Easily Fix It?

If you updated your Windows 10, it is possible that you faced the problem with sound on your system. It is common that before updating (or upgrading to Windows 10) the sound in Windows system worked without any problems. It is also possible that sound went missing not just right after the update but at some point later.

One of main reasons why there is no sound in your Windows could be that there are incompatible audio drivers installed on your system. The drivers might got corrupted after the Windows update or during the update process. A device driver is software that allows the operating system and other software to interact with certain devices and hardware. A driver is like a translator between software and hardware, allowing them to communicate smoothly, since they are often developed by different manufacturers and companies. Audio driver is software that enables your operating system (in this case, Windows) to communicate with your audio hardware. Drivers are essential for making full use of your computer hardware, and not having proper audio drivers installed on your system would mean no sound at all.

Faulty or corrupted audio driver is not the only reason why there could be no sound in your Windows operating system. There could be different reasons for this problem and in order to fix it, you might need to try different solutions. In this guide we are going to show you several methods how you can fix the missing sound problem. We suggest you to try out these methods one by one until you find the solution that works for you. Read the article below to find out how to fix the missing sound problem.

Table of Contents:

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Run Windows Troubleshooter

Windows includes a number of troubleshooters designed to quickly diagnose and automatically resolve various computer problems. Troubleshooters cannot fix all problems, but they are a good place to start if you encounter a problem with your computer or operating system. The built-in troubleshooter can solve or at least answer most of audio related problems as well. To start troubleshooting, go to Settings and type 'troubleshoot', select 'Troubleshoot' from the list.

Find 'Playing Audio' under 'Get up and running' and select it, click 'Run the troubleshooter' and follow the instructions. See if the Windows Update Troubleshooter solved the missing audio problem.

Make Sure The Audio Is Not Muted

This one looks like an obvious thing to do, but in case you forgot about this option, then try to see if the audio in your system is not muted. To do so right-click the volume icon on your taskbar and select 'Open Volume Mixer' from the contextual menu.

Make sure that none of the devices are muted. Try to mute and unmute them by clicking the sound icon in the Volume Mixer window. See if this solves the missing sound problem.

Disable Enhancements

To disable all audio enhancements right-click the volume/speaker icon again and select 'Sounds' from the contextual menu.

Now select the 'Playback' tab, click on your playback device and click 'Properties'.

In Speakers Properties window select the 'Enhancements' tab and mark the 'Disable all enhancements' checkbox. Click 'Apply' to save the changes made.

Update Audio Drivers

This method includes either updating your audio drivers or reinstalling them. We recommends you to try out both of these methods. To update your drivers you will need to use Device Manager. Device Manager is a Control Panel applet within Microsoft Windows operating systems. It allows users to view and control hardware attached to the computer. When an item of hardware is not working, it is highlighted for attention. To access Device Manager, type 'device manager' in Search and click the 'Device Manager' result to open it.

In the Device Manager window, you will see a list of hardware attached to your computer. Choose the 'Sound, video and game controllers' category and expand, right-click your sound hardware, and then select 'Update' from the drop-down menu.

You will be asked if you want to search for updated driver software automatically or to browse your computer for driver software. If you select the first option, then Windows will search your computer and the Internet for the latest driver software for your device.

Another way to update your drivers is to reinstall them by uninstalling them. When right-clicked on your audio hardware, select 'Uninstall device' from the contextual menu.

In Uninstall Device window mark the 'Delete the driver software for this device' checkbox and click 'Uninstall'. This will uninstall the device and its drivers. Restart your computer and Windows will automatically detect missing drivers and install the latest drivers for your audio device.

Another way to update or install new drivers for devices is to do it by using third-party software such as Snappy Driver Installer. You will need a computer with a working internet connection in order to download it.

Snappy Driver Installer (SDI) is a powerful free driver updater tool for Windows that can store its entire collection of drivers offline. Having offline drivers gives Snappy Driver Installer the ability to have access to fast driver updates, even if there is no active internet connection on your computer. Snappy Driver works with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, it works with Windows XP as well. Drivers are downloaded through Snappy Driver Installer in what are called driverpacks, which are simply just collections (packs) of drivers for various hardware like sound devices, video cards, network adapters etc. It can also show duplicate drivers and invalid drivers. It separates the updates that require you to restart your computer so it would be easier for you to distinguish them from the rest. You can download Snappy Driver Installer from here.

Check Windows Audio Services

Windows Services (also know as services.msc), are used to modify how Windows services run on your system. These services are responsible for running available programs and managing many system settings and resources. You can modify a service's settings for security, troubleshooting, and performance-related reasons. This method includes making sure that Windows Audio, Windows Audio Endpoint Builder, Plug and Play services are enabled/started. If one of the services is stopped, audio devices and effects will not function properly. If these services are stopped, any services that explicitly depend on them will fail to start. To access Windows Audio services type 'run' in Search and and click the 'Run' result.

Locate these services in the Services window and apply the following steps to each service:

Right-click the service and select 'Properties' from the contextual menu.

Make sure that the services startup type is set to 'Automatic' and the services status is 'Running'. If the startup type is not Automatic, then set it to Automatic and click 'Start' under 'Service status'. Click 'Apply' to save the changes and 'OK' to exit the particular service's properties window. Find other mentioned services and repeat the steps. See if this solves the missing audio problem in your Windows operating system.

Paste Greyed Out Windows 10

You might want to restart those services as well by right-clicking each mentioned service and selecting 'Restart' from the contextual menu.

We recommend you to check if these services are enabled using System Configuration. System Configuration is a Windows system utility that is used to troubleshoot the Microsoft Windows startup process. It can disable or re-enable software, device drivers and Windows services that run at startup, or change boot settings. Type 'system configuration' in Search and click the 'System Configuration' result.

Select the 'Services' tab and locate the Windows Audio, Windows Audio Endpoint Builder, Plug and Play services in the list. Make sure that they are enabled, checkboxes should be marked next to each mentioned service. If one of the services was disabled, enable it and then click 'Apply' to save the changes made. Restart your computer.

Set Default Device

If you're connecting to an audio device using USB or HDMI, you might need to set that device as the default. Right-click the speaker/volume icon and select 'Sounds' from the contextual menu as we did in earlier method. In 'Playback' tab select your playback device and click 'Set Default' to make it as your default playback device.

Change Default Music App

Some users reported that changing their default music player from Groove Music to Windows Media Player or other player actually helped them to solve missing sound problem. If Groove Music is set as your default music player app, then changing it might solve this problem for you as well. Go to Settings and click 'Apps'.

Now select the 'Default apps' section on the left pane and find your default player under 'Music'. Click it and select other app as you default app. See if this solves the missing sound in Windows problem.

Try Different Audio Formats

Right-click the speaker/volume icon and select 'Sounds' from the contextual menu as we did in earlier method. Select the 'Playback' tab and then select your playback device, click 'Properties'. In Properties window select 'Advanced' tab and test different formats, see if any other format works for you and missing sound problem is solved.

Sound Set Rhymesayers

If none of the methods helped, then you might need to check your cables. See if your speakers or headphones are connected to your computer properly and if there are no loose cables. If you are using speakers with their own volume controls, then try checking them as well. Make sure that your speakers and headphones are not connected at the same time, your speakers won't work if headphones are connected.

Summer Set

That's it, we hope that this article was helpful and you were able to get the missing sound in your Windows operating system back. If you know other ways how you can fix the missing sound problem, do not hesitate to leave a comment in our comment section below.

Windows 10 Sound Set Default Greyed Outputs

Video Showing How To Fix Missing Sound In Windows 10: