Headphones not showing up in playback devices (Windows 10)

AnimalRights

Hi folks
I reinstalled Windows the other day and everything was perfect until a few days later I needed to use my headphones and for some reason the're simply not showing up in playback devices.

I did everything this website said except no3 where the path didn't lead to what I needed to find.

https://thegeekpage.com/fix-headphones-not-showing-up-in-playback-devices-on-windows-10/

Just to repeat I didn't have this problem b4 I rest my windows the other day.

Any help would be much appreciated.

JoyPad

What computer do you have? Is it a laptop or desktop?
Also, what headphones? Do they have a 3.5mm jack that you plug into the computer, or a USB connector?

Just to clarify: what we need to know is how many sound cards are there in your computer. For example, if you have a laptop, and you plug a 3.5mm jack into it, then it's only one sound card, no confusion there. But if you plug a USB cable, then the headphones are a separate sound card, and its functionality depends on some additional factors, e.g. the port you plug it into, and what does Windows do when it detects a new device.

If you open Settings -> System -> Sound, how many playback devices do you see under Output?

bobbyy gee

delete sound card in device manager the restart computer if still not working in device manager
sound card right click search internet for updated drivers

AnimalRights

bobbyy gee wrote: »

delete sound card in device manager the restart computer if still not working in device manager
sound card right click search internet for updated drivers

This I've tried and no success

AnimalRights

And to Joypad it's a desktop I use.
Headphones are Sony WH-1000XM4 and I've tried them wired (3.5 jack) and unwired, they also paired correctly via Bluetooth.

Playback devices are
Msi mag271cqr (monitor) ready
Nvidia output high def audio disabled unplugged (x3 for some reason)
Speakers. Realtek high def audio, default device
Realtek digital output hi def audio ready

I have installed geforce experience AND
nvidia control panel (not sure if that effects anything?)

bobbyy gee

Sound card

https://softwarekeep.com/help-center/how-to-fix-the-no-speakers-or-headphones-are-plugged-in-error

AnimalRights

Ok where I'm at now after wasting hours today...

Headphones now work with wired but still not bluetooth.

The headphones are paired and sit in "other devices" in Settings/Bluetooth and other devices section, but they're not in the "Audio" section.

AnimalRights

AnimalRights wrote: »

Ok where I'm at now after wasting hours today...

Headphones now work with wired but still not bluetooth.

The headphones are paired and sit in "other devices" in Settings/Bluetooth and other devices section, but they're not in the "Audio" section.

Here is the ss

bobbyy gee

AnimalRights wrote: »

Screenshot

have you got Bluetooth turned on then you have to pair them
is there a battery in the headset

JoyPad

AnimalRights wrote: »

Here is the ss

If it says "Paired", it means it was paired, but not currently connected.
When connected, it should say something like "Connected music and audio".

See if it appears under Output in Settings > System > Sound.

AnimalRights

bobbyy gee wrote: »

have you got Bluetooth turned on then you have to pair them
is there a battery in the headset

Yes and No.

AnimalRights

JoyPad wrote: »

If it says "Paired", it means it was paired, but not currently connected.
When connected, it should say something like "Connected music and audio".

See if it appears under Output in Settings > System > Sound.

No that is Realtek high def audio and in the drop down menu only alternative is the digital version of the above.

I read a lot and quite a few people have had this problem.

As I said originally it was fine b4 I reinstalled windows and the reason I did that was windows would restart randomly when I was gaming so I thought I needed a fresh reset of windows, I even thought I had fixed it because I've now gamed over 3 days and it hadn't rebooted but just now it did

JoyPad

When connected via BT, the headphones appear as a separate sound card, separate from Realtek, which is the onboard sound card of your motherboard.
I would suggest to try these steps.

First, open BT, click on the headphones (where it says "Paired"), and you should see a "Connect" button. See if that does it.
Like I said, when connected, the note under the headphones will say "Connected music" or "Connected audio and music" or something like that.

If it cannot connect, try to "Remove device", and then pair them again.

AnimalRights

JoyPad wrote: »

When connected via BT, the headphones appear as a separate sound card, separate from Realtek, which is the onboard sound card of your motherboard.
I would suggest to try these steps.

First, open BT, click on the headphones (where it says "Paired"), and you should see a "Connect" button. See if that does it.
Like I said, when connected, the note under the headphones will say "Connected music" or "Connected audio and music" or something like that.

If it cannot connect, try to "Remove device", and then pair them again.

b4 the problem yes I could connect when the headphones showed in the audio section but they don't show there now and they are only in the "other devices section" and only option there is to remove device which I've already tried.

I do appreciate all the time and effort you and Bobby Gee gave to the thread though.

Tomorrow I will open the pc and make sure everything is sat correctly....my pc just rebooted again while I was gaming, that is by far my biggest problem.

JoyPad

AnimalRights wrote: »

....my pc just rebooted again while I was gaming, that is by far my biggest problem.

Ryzen?

AnimalRights

JoyPad wrote: »

Ryzen?

No Intel i7-6700 @ 3.40GHz / 16 ram / GTX 1080

JoyPad

Does it go straight to black, or do you get the Windows "restarting" spinner?
Anything in Event Viewer?
Have you updated Windows recently? Graphics drivers?

bobbyy gee

AnimalRights wrote: »

No that is Realtek high def audio and in the drop down menu only alternative is the digital version of the above.

I read a lot and quite a few people have had this problem.

As I said originally it was fine b4 I reinstalled windows and the reason I did that was windows would restart randomly when I was gaming so I thought I needed a fresh reset of windows, I even thought I had fixed it because I've now gamed over 3 days and it hadn't rebooted but just now it did

when you install windows it misses drivers go to headphone website and download.drivers

AnimalRights

JoyPad wrote: »

Does it go straight to black, or do you get the Windows "restarting" spinner?
Anything in Event Viewer?
Have you updated Windows recently? Graphics drivers?

This is referring to my restart problem when gaming I take it?
PC doesn't go black It's just like someone has pulled the plug out if you know what I mean?
Windows was a full clean install on Thursday, this rebooting is a long time problem and I spent a lot of time trying to resolve it....again it's a known problem with Windows.
See below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v4IY5FkZkE&ab_channel=MDTechVideos

AllForIt

Have you set the bluetooth audio device as the 'default' output device? If the internal soundcard is set to default it will always output to that even if the headphones are connected.

AnimalRights

AllForIt wrote: »

Have you set the bluetooth audio device as the 'default' output device? If the internal soundcard is set to default it will always output to that even if the headphones are connected.

That's one of the problems I think It isn't showing in output devices just in other devices.

AnimalRights

Ok finally I got it to output devices...I removed it from pairing and this time it showed up when I paired it again, I did this serveral times over the previous days and it didn't work!!!!!
Thank you everyone and Joypad if you have any further ideas for my pc rebooting randomly while I game I would love to hear, I just played 90 mins just now and it was fine so in total in 4 days just the 2 reboots last night.

smuggler.ie

AnimalRights wrote: »

my pc rebooting randomly while I game

on keyboard >> Win key+R
type prefmon /rel hit Enter

See what errors/warnings you have there for each day it had rebooted
I suspect graphics driver, but could be some else.

AllForIt

AnimalRights wrote: »

Ok finally I got it to output devices...I removed it from pairing and this time it showed up when I paired it again, I did this serveral times over the previous days and it didn't work!!!!!
Thank you everyone and Joypad if you have any further ideas for my pc rebooting randomly while I game I would love to hear, I just played 90 mins just now and it was fine so in total in 4 days just the 2 reboots last night.

If you don't get a blue screen of death then it could be down to overheating. This would most likely happen when the pc is working at top speed...like when playing games for example. A fix for that is to repaste the GPU and CPU. Clean any dust off the fans in case they are not function properly.

What you could do without opening it up is play the game at a lower resolution. This would reduce the heat because the chips aren't working as hard. If it doesn't reboot then overheating is more than likely the cause.