How To Fix Computer Not Recognizing Headphones

If you run into the computer not recognizing headphones issue, don’t worry. It’s often not hard to fix at all…

Fixes For Computer Not Recognizing Headphones In Windows 10, 7 and 8.1

Here are 4 fixes that have helped other users resolve the computer not recognizing headphones issue. Just work your way down the list until you find the one that works for you.

1. Check for hardware issues
2. Run the Playing Audio troubleshooter 
3. Update your audio driver
4. Disable front panel jack detection and enable Multi-stream mode (For Realtek HD Audio Manager users only)

Fix 1: Check for hardware issues

Before addressing this headphone not detected on computer problem, we might have to look out for potential hardware issues.

1) Try your headphone on other devices. You can connect your headphone to other laptop, tablet, or mobile devices to see if it can be recognized. If yes, please move on to 2), below. If the headphones still don’t work, then your headphone is probably at fault. You can contact the vendor of the headphone for additional help.

2) Insert your headphone into a different port. This problem may occur if you use the dead USB port to connect your headphone. So you can connect your headphone into another port and see if it can be recognized by your computer. If yes, then great! If the issue remains, please move on to Fix 2.

Fix 2: Run the Playing Audio troubleshooter 

We can try running the Windows built-in Playing Audio troubleshooter to approach this computer won’t recognize headphones problem. 

To do so:

1. Fix On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and type troubleshoot. Then click on Troubleshoot.
   

   

2. Click Playing Audio > Run the troubleshooter.

   

3. Click Next.

   

4. Choose Headphones and click Next.

   

5. Click No, Do not open Audio Enhancements.

   

6. Click Play test sounds.

   

7. Click I didn’t hear anything if you didn’t hear a sound so that Windows will reinstall the audio driver for you.

   

8. Follow the on-screen instructions to further troubleshoot the headphones not being recognized by computer problem.
9. Check to see if the headphones work properly. If yes, then congrats! If the issue persists, please try Fix 3, below.

Fix 3: Update your audio driver

This problem may occur if you are using the wrong audio driver or it’s out of date. So you should update your audio driver to see if it fixes your problem. If you don’t have the time, patience or skills to update the driver manually, you can do it automatically with Driver Easy.

Driver Easy will automatically recognize your system and find the correct drivers for it. You don’t need to know exactly what system your computer is running, you don’t need to be troubled by the wrong driver you would be downloading, and you don’t need to worry about making a mistake when installing. Driver Easy handles it all.

You can update your drivers automatically with either the FREE or the Pro version of Driver Easy. But with the Pro version it takes just 2 steps (and you get full support and a 30-day money back guarantee):

1) Download and install Driver Easy.

2) Run Driver Easy and click the Scan Now button. Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.

3) Click Update All to automatically download and install the correct version of ALLthe drivers that are missing or out of date on your system (this requires the Pro version – you’ll be prompted to upgrade when you click Update All).

4) Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

5) Check to see if the headphone not being recognized by computer problem is resolved. If yes, then great! If it’s still no joy, please try Fix 4, below.

Fix 4: Disable front panel jack detection and enable Multi-stream mode (For Realtek HD Audio Manager  users only)

For Realtek HD Audio Manager users, sometimes the way that the Realtek software manages the panel jacks can interfere with the system and cause the computer not detecting headphones problem. So we can disable front panel jack detection and enable Multi-stream mode, as suggested by many users to see if it works.

Here’s how to do it:

1. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and type control panel. Then click on Control Panel.

   

2. Type Realtek HD Audio Manager in the search box and click on Realtek HD Audio Manager once it pops up right under.
3. Click on Device advanced settings and click Separate all input jacks as independent input devices, enable Multi-stream mode and click OK.
4. Restart your computer and check if your computer detects your headphone successfully.

Hopefully you have successfully resolved the computer not recognizing headphones issue by now. If you have any questions, ideas or suggestions, please let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading!

Featured image by Pexels from Pixabay

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• sound problem