This error message usually means that the computer is detecting your audio device but, the device itself is disabled. This might be because of some bad configurations, Driver conflict, or Audio Device compatibility issues or you may manually disabled the Audio Device.

1 Audio device is disabled windows 111.1 Make sure audio dependency services are running1.2 Check the status of Speakers under Playback devices1.3 Enabling audio device in the device manager1.4 Uninstall and then reinstall the sound drivers1.5 Perform System Restore

Whatever the Reason here some solutions you may apply to fix Audio device is disabled” or sound not working in windows 10.

Make sure audio dependency services are running

This is the first thing you must check if the Audio Not Working After Upgrading To Windows 10 or windows 11. Press Windows + R and type services.msc in the Run dialog box, hit the Enter key to open Services snap-in. In the Services window, make sure that the following services have Running Status and their Startup Type is set to Automatic.

Windows AudioWindows Audio Endpoint BuilderPlug and PlayMultimedia Class Scheduler

If you find any of these services don’t have Running Status and their Startup Type is not set to Automatic, then double-click the service and set this in the service’s property sheet. Check after performing these steps, if the audio started working or not. Also, check this post If you find the Microphone not working after install windows 10.

Check the status of Speakers under Playback devices

If due to any reason you have disabled the audio device, then you might not see it under the list of playback devices. Or especially if the problem started after the recent windows 10 upgrade there is a chance due to incompatibility issues or bed driver windows automatically Disable the audio device, then you might not see it under the list of playback devices.

First Open Control panel.Click Hardware and Sound and then click on Sounds.Here Under the Playback tab, right-click on the empty area and make sure “Show Disabled Devices” and the “Show Disconnected Devices“ has a checkmark on it.If headphones/Speakers are disabled, they will now show up in the list.

Right-click on the device and Enable it Click OK. and also select “Set Default”. Check if it helps.

Enabling audio device in the device manager

Press Windows + R, type “devmgmt.msc” in the dialogue box and press Enter.Once in the device manager open, expand sound, video and game controllers.Then right-click on the audio device which is disabled and select “Enable device”.You can instantly see which device is disabled by checking the black arrow beside it pointing downwards.

Uninstall and then reinstall the sound drivers

This is another effective way to fix most of windows 10 Sound related problems. As discussed incompatible Device drivers also Cause disable the Device which results no sound or audio device is disabled on Windows 10.

Press the Windows key + X, and choose Device Manager.Expand the Sound, Video and Game controllers device. The soundcard driver list will come up.Right-click on the sound driver and click on Uninstall.

Restart the computer and let Windows install the generic drivers. Now check if there is correct sound output. If there is, you can stop here. If there isn’t any sound, you can continue to install the latest Audio drivers. To do this simply visit your Device manufacturer’s website ( Such As laptop manufacturer HP, Dell, Asus, Lenovo etc. If you are using a Desktop computer visit the motherboard manufacturer’s website (for example Gigabyte ) Download and save the latest available Audio driver for your PC. Install the latest driver you download from the manufacturer’s website, restart windows, and check windows 10 Sound started working.

Perform System Restore

If all the above solutions didn’t fix the problem, windows sound not working then it’s time to utilize the system restore feature. This option takes your PC back to an earlier point in time, called a system restore point. Restore points are generated when you install a new app, driver, or Windows update, and when you create a restore point manually. Restoring won’t affect your personal files, but it will remove apps, drivers, and updates installed after the restore point was made. Did these solutions help to fix the audio device is disabled, the sound not working in windows 10? Let us know which option worked for you, Also read:

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