Wondering how you can fix your problematic Audio output issues on your Windows 10 or Android device when it plays through headphones but not speakers and vice versa?
As a tech geek, I have seen a fair share of SOS calls when windows devices’ audio output goes bonkers. And that’s because faulty device audio drivers are the most common technical problems people with laptops and smartphones face daily. But, what do you do when you have just discovered that your device is only playing audio through headphones but not speakers? Even better, what is the most common reasons for windows 10 devices or an android device to suddenly stop playing sound through headphone or speakers?
The main cause for audio output issues is mostly a software error, settings error, and problems with the speaker connection ports. But, how do you fix a device when it is only playing audio through headphones and not speakers? Still, how to fix audio when it plays through speakers but not headphones?
How To Fix Audio When It Plays Through Headphones But Not Speakers – Android
If you are using an android device and there is a sound on the headphone but not from the speakers, you can fix audio play-through errors by fixing software bugs the audio driver may be triggering to prevent clear audio output. Recent Android software updates came with their own deluge of errors that often cause sound not to play through the speaker rather than headphones only. So, to fix the audio output problem, you need to fix audio drivers, troubleshoot sound mixer settings, and your connectivity ports.
Every android or windows device comes with a built-in sound mixer, which you should also check and try to increase the mixer audio volume to make sure it is not a volume problem. Still, if your android tablet or phone recently went through a software update, you should try to restart your device again and wait a few minutes before turning it back on, to check if the android device sound issue is fixed.
The last thing to do if the problem continues, try to reset your device to factory settings or back to when it last worked properly. Caution must be taken when restoring any device back to factory settings as performing a factory reset can wipe out installed apps or documents and images on the device.
Headphones Plugged In But Sound Not Coming From Speakers Windows 10
It is also common to see audio playing through headphones and speakers at the same time, which is mostly caused by settings or driver issues. With this type of issue, there are a few possible solutions that could resolve it.
If your Windows 10 audio drivers are corrupt, it can cause sound not to come from the speakers and only from headphones. While sound errors are caused by faulty audio drivers, for the most part, speaker connectivity is another trigger for sound to only play through headphones and not your computer speakers. Your windows device may have a severely corrupt HDMI audio port that may be causing audio cable connectivity problems, so give your audio ports a good dusting to clean all dust and whatever may be clogging your speakers.
Still, recent software updates are the real cause, so try to identify any newly installed applications which may have triggered your audio drivers to crash, or it may be interfering with the device’s audio settings inside the device mixer.
1: Error Software Update May Have Automatically Toggled Your Device Audio And Made The Headphone As Default Audio Device Instead Of Speakers.
How To Troubleshoot Your Sound Mixer Settings When Audio Plays Through Headphones But Not Speakers?
- Go to the start menu and select the “control panel”.
- Click the “hardware and sound”.
- Under the sound tab, select “manage audio devices”.
- See which device is set as default.
- Click on the “speaker/headphone” you want to use.
- Click on “Set as default”.
- Select the recording tab.
- Select the microphone/headphone.
- Click on “set default”.
- Click “ok” to save it.
Once you have specified which audio output is default, check if audio is now playing correctly through your headphones and speakers at the same time, it should stop, but if not, follow the next step.
Audio Driver Uninstalling And Reinstalling
When the audio plays through headphones and speakers at the same time, you can almost tell that faulty drivers are at work! And a quick fix to what could be problems with the audio driver fixes this problem by uninstalling and reinstalling the audio driver. Here is how to uninstall and reinstall the audio driver.
- Go to the “device manager” and find “sound, video and game controller”.
- Double click on it.
- On the “audio device” right-click on it.
- On the pop-up menu, select “uninstall”.
- Select “delete driver software for this device”.
- Then select “ok”.
After you completely uninstalled the audio driver, you have to restart the computer. The next stage is to reinstall the audio driver, this process can be a little complicated. The easy way is to go to the official site of your computer manufacturer and install the driver.
Try searching for “audio driver for windows 10” or instead try “Realtek audio driver for windows 10”, these two searches should help you identify which is best. In most cases, your anti-virus software identifies these issues and recommends fixes.
But if after uninstalling and installing the audio driver and the problem continues, there are also other steps to take.
Try troubleshooting audio
Running Windows audio troubleshooter can help identify the problem and also recommend solutions. To do a window audio troubleshooter, follow these steps.
- On the bottom left corner “search Box”, type “troubleshoot”.
- On the search result, select ” troubleshoot”.
- On the list, click “Playing audio”.
- Under the playing audio, select “run the troubleshooter”.
The troubleshooter will automatically search for issues, detect issues, and recommend a solution.
How to stop headphones and speakers playing at the same time android?
If you want to stop headphones and speakers playing at the same time on your android device, you should first make sure the audio jack is pushed in properly, make sure the audio jack is not bent, try different headphones, check if your phone is on “driving mode”, try restarting your device, or resetting your device.
These issues of headphones and speakers playing at the same time usually occur with audio devices, but in most cases, the problem just disappears, but sometimes it doesn’t stop. The problem can be caused by software glitches, which the manufacturers tend to accept as a common complaint. There are no definitive solutions as it could be that your device has completely lost the will to serve, which may require you to buy a new device.
Sound Plays Through Headphones But Not Speakers On A windows 10 Device.
If the headphones work but not speakers on windows 10, this could be due to default settings on your computer. Right-click on the small volume icon on the bottom right of your computer, select “open sound settings”, under sound output, click to see a dropdown menu where it says “choose your output device”. You will see available audio outputs, select “speaker (Realtek high definition audio”, or select your audio device. This should get it sorted out.
How To Split Sound Between Speakers And Headphones On A Windows 10 Device?
To split sound between speakers and headphones for windows has 3 methods you can use, you can use the sound setting via the control panel to do this, or use a Bluetooth adapter or an audio splitter to send audio to a different device, or use an audio mixer software from the third party to send sound instead to different devices.
You can manually split sound between speakers and headphones by following the easy steps
- Make sure the speakers and headphones are plugged in.
- Right-click on the small volume icon on the bottom right of your computer (taskbar). Select “open sound settings”.
- On this sound menu, scroll down to “related settings” and click on “sound control panel”.
- Right-click on “speaker” under the playback tab, then select “Set as default device”.
- It may have already been connected if the color appears gray.
- Now select the “recording tab” on top.
- On the list, right-click on “stereo mix” make sure it is enabled then click on “properties”.
- On the properties menu, under the “listen tab” check the box with “listen to this device”.
- Below the listen to this device, you’ll see the “Playback through this device” dropdown.
- Select your connected headphones.
- Click “apply”.
This should get your speakers and headphones playing the same. The interesting thing is you can use multiple audio jacks, listen on headphones and speakers at the same time, may experience a delay between the primary and secondary device, and can develop volume issues.
How to play sound through speakers and headphones at the same time android?
This is not common with most android devices, but the easiest way to play sound through speakers and headphones is to use a headsets splitter adapter (Y splitter), this can be bought on Amazon. The splitter allows you to connect an audio jack to your device, then connect your headphones and speakers to other ends. The downside to this is the sound wouldn’t be as powerful as it was supposed.
Can I Use A Headphone With Microphone And Speakers At The Same Time?
Yes, you can use both headphones with microphone and speaker at the same time, this is because some sound cards use both the speakers-out and line-out jack, and if you have both jacks, you can establish a connection. The headphones can be connected to the speaker out jack, while the speaker (amplified) gets connected to the line-out jack.
How Do I Play Sound Through Headphones And Speakers On ps4?
There are two methods of playing sound through headphones and speakers on PS4, the first is through your PS4 settings, which can be a bit of a hassle, and the second, which is the easiest, is by connecting your headphone to the console and connecting your speaker through optical connection. You will be able to listen to chats and game sounds all at the same time without problems.