Sometimes, you may notice a red X appearing on the sound icon on the Windows taskbar. If you hover over it, it will show an error that there are no speakers or headphones plugged in. This error can be caused by a problem with the sound driver or Windows sound service.
To fix the error, run the built-in audio troubleshooter to find and fix common problems with your audio device. If not, you can perform a sound driver rollback or manually reinstall the sound driver to restore sound to your system.
Here are some steps to help you fix the "No Speaker or Headphones are Plugged In" error on Windows.
1. Run the Windows Audio Troubleshooter
You can fix sound problems on Windows using the built-in sound troubleshooter. It scans your Windows system for common sound problems and tries to fix them automatically.
To run the troubleshooter, do the following:
1. Press Win + I to open Settings .
2. In the System tab , scroll down and click Troubleshoot .
3. Next, click Other troubleshooters .
4. Click the Run button for Playing Audio . It will check the audio service status and prompt you to select your audio device.
5. Select your device speaker and click Next .
6. Click NO , Do not open Audio Enhancements in the Turn off Sound Effects and Enhancements dialog box .
7. Apply any suggested fixes and check the results.
2. Perform audio device driver recovery
If a Windows update or driver has damaged your audio device, you can perform a driver rollback to use the last working driver again. You can use Device Manager to roll back drivers in Windows.
To restore your audio device driver, follow our guide on how to restore drivers in Windows . You'll likely find your audio driver in the Sound, video, and game controllers section of Device Manager.
3. Add Network Service and Local Service to Local Administrator Group
Another way to fix this error is to add Network Service and Local Service to the Local Administrator Group. Network Service and Local Service are predefined accounts part of the service control manager. Adding these accounts to the Local Administrator Group will help you fix the sound problem on your Windows PC.
Note that Local Users and Groups is not available on Windows Home editions. However, Home users can add Network Service and Local Service to the Local Administrator Group using Command Prompt.
To add Network Service and Local Service to the Local Administrator Group using Local Users and Groups:
1. Press Win + X to open the WinX menu.
2. Click Computer Management .
3. In Computer Management , click Local User and Groups .
4. In the right pane, double-click Groups to see all local accounts.
5. Select and right-click on the Administrators account and select Properties .
6. Click the Add button in the Administrator Properties dialog box .
7. Next, type network service and click Check Names . It will change the object name to NETWORK SERVICE .
8. Click OK to add the network service to the local users group.
9. In the Administrator Properties dialog box , you will see NT Authority\Network Service added as the member .
10. Click the Add button again and repeat the steps to add Local Services to the group.
11. Once done, click Apply > OK to save the changes.
If you're using Windows Home, you can use Command Prompt to add Local Network and Local Services to the local administrators group. Here's how to do it.
1. Press the Win key and type cmd.
2. Open Command Prompt with admin rights .
3. In the Command Prompt window, type the following to add "local service" to the Local Group Administrator:
net localgroup Administrators /add localservice4. Next, type the following command to add "network service" to the Local Group Administrator account:
net localgroup Administrators /add networkservice5. If both commands are executed successfully, type exit and press Enter to close Command Prompt.
6. Restart your PC and check if the error is fixed.
4. Uninstall audio drivers and devices
A temporary issue with your audio device driver can cause this error in Windows. To fix the issue, uninstall your audio device and its associated driver from Device Manager. After restarting, Windows will automatically reinstall the driver to resolve the issue.
To uninstall an audio device:
1. Press Win + X to open the WinX menu.
2. Click Device Manager from the context menu.
3. In Device Manager , expand the Sound, video, and game controllers section .
4. Right-click on your audio device, such as Realtek Audio.
5. Select the Attempt to remove the driver for this device option in the Uninstall Device dialog box .
6. Click Uninstall to remove the device.
7. After uninstalling, restart your PC. Windows will automatically install the necessary drivers for your audio device.
If the problem persists, manually reinstall the audio device driver from the manufacturer.
5. Reinstall the audio device driver manually
If the automatic reinstallation feature does not work, check to see if your computer manufacturer or audio device OEM has a stable version of the driver available. On a laptop, visit your computer manufacturer's website and download the latest audio driver from there. On a desktop, you can download the latest driver for your sound card from the manufacturer's website. Alternatively, you can manually reinstall the existing driver for your audio device.
If the problem persists, change the device installation settings and then reinstall the driver. To change the device installation settings:
With automatic driver downloads disabled, reinstall the existing driver to fix the no sound issue.
Are you getting the “We'll need your current Windows password one last time” error? This annoying pop-up can prevent you from getting things done.
When connecting an external monitor to your Windows PC, you may encounter an Input Signal Out of Range error. This error usually occurs if you have a high refresh rate monitor connected to a lower-end graphics device.
When Windows displays the error “You don't have permission to save in this location”, this will prevent you from saving files to the desired folders.
Error code 0xc000000f is a common error on Windows PCs. Often accompanied by messages like “Windows failed to start” or “Your PC needs to be repaired”, it is the dreaded blue screen of death (BSOD) error that no user wants to see.
Sometimes you may get the error message “No Audio Output Device Is Installed” when hovering over the sound icon. This error occurs when Windows does not detect your connected audio devices.
Windows provides a Run as Administrator option that allows users to run applications and programs with administrative privileges. You can also use it to troubleshoot your computer. But what if this feature malfunctions and strips you of your admin rights?
How to restore the Sleep option on the Power Menu, please refer to the article below of WebTech360.
You may encounter an issue where Windows tells you your PIN is incorrect even though you entered it correctly.
When you turn on your Windows laptop or computer, do you see a black screen that says No Boot Device Found Press Any Key to Reboot the Machine?
Alt + Tab is a great shortcut for quickly switching between applications. While it works fine most of the time, it can sometimes result in a black screen.
You can always move files around by pressing Ctrl + X and Ctrl + V or browsing through folders when you want to attach a file to an email, but simple drag and drop is still more convenient.
While Microsoft usually fixes major issues fairly quickly, there's one particular bug that's been around since early 2025. Fortunately, it won't be around much longer.
A common issue is when Network Credential Manager continues to display the Enter Network Credentials dialog box, even when you enter the correct credentials.
One day, you are happily using your Windows device when suddenly you get the dreaded “No battery is detected” error. Usually, this error message is caused by a faulty battery or other system issues.
In the following article, we will present the basic operations to recover deleted data in Windows 7 with the support tool Recuva Portable. With Recuva Portable, you can store it in any convenient USB, and use it whenever needed. The tool is compact, simple, easy to use with some of the following features:
CCleaner scans for duplicate files in just a few minutes, then lets you decide which ones are safe to delete.
Windows doesn't come with security set up by default, which means there are some default settings you need to change.
USB devices have become indispensable in everyday life, allowing us to connect a wide variety of essential hardware to our PCs.
If you properly lock down your guest Wi-Fi network, you can share your Internet connection with any visitors without sharing any other information.
For some reason, your Windows 10 computer lost Admin rights, every time you open an application on the screen you receive an error message. So how to restore lost Admin rights, please refer to the article below of WebTech360.
In this article, WebTech360 will guide you how to turn off the firewall on Windows 11.
After a long wait, the first major update of Windows 11 has officially been released.
The Unhandled exception has occurred error is not related to a specific application, making it more difficult to resolve. This article will guide you through some ways to fix the Unhandled exception has occurred error on Windows 10.
These days, most PCs and Apple devices can handle both MOV and MP4 files, at least to some extent. However, the need to convert MOV video files to MP4 files has not diminished.
Recognizing this need, major online messaging services use a technique called end-to-end encryption, to secure and protect users' conversations.
Setting up multiple monitors on Windows is quite simple and only takes a few minutes to do. After setting up multi-monitor mode (multiple screens), you can set up separate wallpapers for each screen. To do this, please refer to the article below from WebTech360.
Hidden deep within Windows is a world of command lines that few people know about. In this article, we will guide you on how to fix errors and make your computer more secure using the cmd command line tool.
Instructions on how to enter BIOS on Windows 10 for you, with video illustration.
Clipchamp is the default video editor on Windows 11, but if you just need to make a quick cut, split a simple photo, or add music to a clip, the classic editor inside the Photos Legacy app is a much better choice.
