Speaker Issue - Music Won't Play, Systems Sounds Work (TechStop-SW)

This article details how to fix an issue on Windows machines where system sounds still work through the default speakers, but no music or audio can be heard otherwise.

On some Windows computers, there is an issue where the speakers stop working most of the time. Systems sounds still work, and everything seems to work during a Teams call, but otherwise no music or videos can be heard. Headphones usually still work in this case, but the default computer speakers do not.

To facilitate this process, try starting some music or a YouTube video before trying the steps below, so that you can hear if/when your audio comes back.

1. Right-click on the speaker icon in your taskbar, in the bottom right next to the date and time, and select Sounds from the list that pops up.
2. Once the sound preferences window opens, select the Playback tab along the top.
3. Right-click on the default sound device, with the green check mark, and select Properties.
4. Here, select the Advanced tab along the top.
5. Uncheck the box that says Enable audio enhancements.

If that doesn't work, you can also try unchecking the two boxes under the "Exclusive Mode" heading in the same settings window.