Headphones are a common computer accessory as it allows a user to have a clear and high quality audio experience. There are two ways you can connect this to your computer, using the 3.5mm audio port or by using the USB port. Although headphones generally work immediately when plugged in there are instances when certain issues will occur. In this latest installment of our troubleshooting series we will show you how to fix the computer not recognizing headphones issue.
How To Fix Computer Not Recognizing Headphones Issue
Before performing any of the recommended troubleshooting steps listed below it’s best to restart your computer first. This action refreshes the operating system and remove any corrupt temporary data that could be causing the problem.
There are several factors that can cause this particular problem ranging from a wrong audio setting to a corrupted audio driver. Listed below are the troubleshooting steps you need to do to fix the problem.
Try to disable front panel detection
If you have a Realtek audio device installed in your computer then you can try to disable the front panel detection. There seems to be a bug in the Realtek HD Audio Manager which causes this issue whenever the front panel audio is activated.
- Press Windows key + R to open up a Run box. Then, type “control” in the Run box and hit Enter to open Control Panel.
- From the Control Panel, select Hardware and Sound then click on Realtek HD Audio Manager.
- Click on Device advanced settings and select Separate all input jacks as independent input devices, then hit OK to save the changes.
- Close Realtek HD Audio manager and restart your computer.
Check if the computer not recognizing headphones issue still occurs.
Try to enable Multi-stream mode
If your computer is using the Realtek HD Audio Manager then try to enable its multi-stream mode.
- Press Windows key + R to open up a Run box. Then, type “control” and hit Enter to open Control Panel.
- From the Control Panel, click on Hardware and Sound and then click on Realtek HD Audio Manager.
- Click on Device Advanced settings and enable Multi-stream mode. Hit OK to save the changes.
- Reboot your computer
Check if the computer not recognizing headphones issue still occurs.
Update your computer audio drivers
If your computer is using an outdated audio driver then there’s a possibility that this issue will occur.
- Press Windows key + R to open up a Run box. Then, type “devmgmt.msc” and hit Enter to open Device Manager.
- Inside Device Manager, expand the Sound, video and game controllers drop-down menu and see whether your headset is listed here. If it is listed, right-click on it and choose Update driver. Then, click on Search Automatically for updated driver software.
- Reboot your computer once the update has been installed.
Check if the computer not recognizing headphones issue still occurs.