There is no sound coming from my speakers
Silent speakers are usually the wrong output device or a muted mixer channel rather than broken hardware. Here is the order to check.
Silent speakers are rarely broken speakers. In most cases the computer is producing audio perfectly and sending it somewhere you are not listening.
1. The output device
This is the most common cause by a wide margin, and it is worth checking before anything else.
Your computer can have many audio outputs, and several appear without you installing anything: a monitor connected over HDMI or DisplayPort, a Bluetooth headset that reconnected when you walked into the room, a virtual device created by Zoom or Discord, or a USB interface that is powered off.
Open your sound settings and look at which device is selected for output. If it is a monitor, the audio is going to a display that may have no speakers at all.
2. Volume, in three separate places
Any one of these silences everything, and they are independent.
- System volume, including the mute toggle.
- Per-application volume. Both Windows and macOS have a mixer where individual applications carry their own level, and a browser muted there behaves exactly like dead speakers.
- Hardware controls. A volume dial on the speakers, an inline control on a headset cable, or a mute key on the keyboard. Physical mute switches are easy to knock.
3. The browser tab
Browsers let you mute individual tabs, and it takes one stray click. A muted tab shows a crossed-out speaker icon near the title. Right click the tab to unmute it.
While you are there, check that the browser itself is not muted in the system mixer, which is separate from the tab.
4. Headphones as a test
Plug headphones in and run the test again.
- Headphones work, speakers do not: the problem is the speakers, their cable, or the port they use. The computer’s audio is fine.
- Neither works: the problem is upstream, in the output device selection, the volume chain or the driver.
This single test splits the problem in half and takes ten seconds.
5. The jack switch
If sound stopped after you last used headphones, the headphone jack may still think something is plugged in. The socket has a small mechanical switch that tells the computer to cut the speakers, and it sticks often enough to be worth knowing about.
Insert and remove a plug firmly several times. If the computer’s sound settings still show headphones connected with nothing in the socket, that switch is the fault.
6. Drivers, last
Only worth doing if the audio device is missing entirely from your sound settings. A device that is listed and selected but silent is almost never a driver problem, and reinstalling drivers on a working configuration mostly wastes an afternoon.
When it really is the speakers
If headphones work through the same port, the output device is correct, nothing is muted, and one channel plays while the other does not, the speaker or its connection has failed. Test each channel separately to confirm which side, since a single dead channel is far more common than both failing at once.
Common questions
Why does sound work in one app but not another?
Most operating systems have a per-application volume mixer, and an application can be muted there independently of the system volume. Some applications also have their own output device setting, which can point somewhere different from the system default. Check both before suspecting hardware.
My speakers worked yesterday and not today.
A change is far more likely than a failure. Something was plugged in or unplugged, a Bluetooth device reconnected and stole the output, or an update reset the default device. Check the output device selection first, since that accounts for most overnight failures.
There is no sound after plugging in headphones and removing them.
The jack has a switch that tells the computer whether something is plugged in, and it can stick. Insert and remove the plug a few times firmly. If the computer still thinks headphones are connected, that switch is the fault, and it is a common and repairable one.
Should I reinstall my audio drivers?
Only after ruling out device selection, volume and mute, which resolve the large majority of cases. Driver reinstallation is worth trying when the audio device is missing entirely from your sound settings, which points at a driver problem rather than a configuration one.