When playing your favorite Windows 10 games it’s not only important to have a great visual experience but you also need a good audio. If you constantly play first person shooter games then you will definitely appreciate a good audio quality more as this allows you to play the game better. There are however instances when certain sound related issues can occur on Windows 10 which we will be addressing today. In this latest installment of our troubleshooting series we will tackle the game sound not working in windows 10 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 removes any corrupt temporary data that could be causing the problem.
There are several factors that can cause this particular problem ranging from a bad audio driver to a speaker problem. Listed below are the recommended troubleshooting steps you need to do to fix this problem.
Fix your audio drivers
The first thing you will need to do in this case is to check if the problem is caused by your audio drivers.
Update the drivers
- In the search box on the taskbar, type Device Manager, then select it from the results.
- Select the arrow next to Sound, video and game controllers to expand it.
- Right-click the listing for your sound card or audio device, such as headphones or speakers, select Update Driver, then select Search Automatically for updated driver software. Follow the instructions to complete the update.
Try to check if the sound not works in your Windows 10 game.
Uninstall your audio drivers
- In the search box on the taskbar, type Device Manager, then select it from the results.
- Select the arrow next to Sound, video and game controllers to expand it.
- Right-click the listing for your sound card or audio device, select Uninstall device, select the Delete the driver software for this device check box, and then select Uninstall. This restart will automatically prompt your PC to reinstall your audio driver.
Try to check if the problem still occurs.
Use a generic audio driver
- In the search box on the taskbar, type Device Manager, then select it from the results.
- Select the arrow next to Sound, video and game controllers to expand it.
- Right-click the listing for your sound card or audio device, then select Update driver > Browse my computer for driver software > Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer.
- Select the audio device whose driver you want to update, select Next, and follow the instructions to install it.
Check if the issue still occurs.
Rollback your audio driver
- In the search box on the taskbar, type Device Manager, then select it from the results.
- Select the arrow next to Sound, video and game controllers to expand it.
- Right-click the listing for your sound card or audio device, then select Properties.
- Select the Driver tab, then select Roll Back Driver.
- Read and follow the instructions and then select Yes if you want to roll back your audio driver.
Check if the game sound issue still occurs.
Run the audio troubleshooter tool
Windows 10 has a built-in tool that can be used to search and fix most of the common issues that you might experience while using the operating system.
- Click on the Start button
- Go to Settings
- Go to Update & Security then click on Troubleshoot
- Click on Playing Audio then click on run the Troubleshooter.
- Follow the on-screen instructions
- Restart your computer
Check if the game audio isn’t working issue still occurs.
Make sure your computer is running on the latest updates
It is important to make sure that your Windows 10 is updated as this will mean that bugs present in the older version will have been detected and fixed.
You can manually check for any available updates by following the steps listed below.
- Select Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Check for updates.
- If the status says “Updates are available,” select Install now.
- Select the updates you want to install, then select Install.
- Restart your PC.
Check if the sound not working in Windows 10 still occurs.
Set your audio device as the default device
If you are using a USB or HDMI sound device then you should check if this is set properly.
- In the search box on the taskbar, type Control Panel, then select it from the results.
- Select Hardware and Sound from the Control Panel, and then select Sound.
- On the Playback tab, right-click the listing for your audio device, select Set as Default Device, and then select OK.
Check ingame sound settings
The PC game that you are playing will have a setting that will allow you to control the sound volume. If this volume is set to zero then you won’t be able to hear any in-game sound. Try changing the sound level to its maximum possible setting then check if the issue still occurs.
Turn off audio enhancements
Sometimes having audio enhancements enabled can cause this particular problem. You should try turning this off then check if the game sound working in Windows 10 issue still occurs.
- In the search box on the taskbar, type Control Panel, then select it from the results.
- Select Hardware and Sound from the Control Panel, and then select Sound.
- On the Playback tab, right-click the Default Device, and then select Properties.
- On the Enhancements tab, select either the Disable all enhancements or the Disable all sound effects check box (depending on which option you see), select OK, and try to play your audio device.
- If that doesn’t work, on the Playback tab, select another default device (if you have one), select either the Disable all enhancements or the Disable all sound effects check box (depending on which option you see), select OK, and try to play audio again. Do this for each default device.
Restart the audio services
Sometimes this problem can be caused by the audio services of Windows glitching which is why you will need to restart this.
- In the search box on the taskbar, type Services, then select it from the results.
- Select each of the following services, right-click, and then select Restart: Windows Audio, Windows Audio Endpoint Builder, Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
Check if the game sound not working issue still occurs.
Reinstall the game
In case the above steps fails to fix the problem then you will need to reinstall the game as there might be an issue with the previous installation that is causing the sound problem.