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no sound on windows 11 after update

Ask By Jake M.2,141 views

woke up today and my laptop has no sound at all after the windows update last night. red x on the speaker icon. tried restarting twice. headphones also dont work. what do i do

Brand
Lenovo
Model
IdeaPad 3
Connection
Built-in Speakers
System
Windows 11
Browser
Chrome 130
Sample Rate
48 kHz
Output Channels
2 channels
No Sound And Output DeviceWindows PC
Tool used in this discussionSound TestQuick left, right and stereo check for any speakers or headphones
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Short Answer

No sound after a Windows update usually means the audio device was disabled or the driver was swapped. Re-enable it in Sound settings, then roll back the driver.

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Rishabh Sharma
Rishabh SharmaAudio Team
Audio DSP Engineer · 5+ years experience · Answered Oct 2, 2026

A red X on the speaker icon after an update normally means Windows no longer sees an active playback device. It is rarely a hardware fault when both the speakers and the headphones went silent at the same time.

Start with Sound settings, then the driver. If the device is listed as disabled, enabling it brings sound back in most cases. If it is missing, the update replaced the audio driver and a rollback fixes it.

Once sound returns, play the Sound Test to confirm both channels work.

Step By Step Fix
  1. Right-click the speaker icon, open Sound settings and scroll to Advanced, then More sound settings
  2. On the Playback tab right-click an empty area and tick Show Disabled Devices
  3. Right-click your speakers or headphones and choose Enable, then Set as Default Device
  4. If nothing is listed, open Device Manager, expand Sound, video and game controllers, right-click the audio device and pick Properties, Driver, Roll Back Driver
  5. If Roll Back is greyed out, choose Update driver, then Search automatically, and restart
  6. Open the Sound Test and play the left and right buttons to confirm
Sources
  1. Microsoft Support

Checked by Callum Sterling on . How we verify answers

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Community Replies 4

  • Megan FosterCommunity Member

    same thing happened to me after the last update. rolling back the audio driver in device manager fixed it

  • Jake MillerCommunity Member

    yep that was it, driver was swapped to the generic one. back to normal now thanks

  • Oliver HughesCommunity Member

    On my Dell laptop the update installed a generic audio driver too. Reinstalling the Realtek one from the Dell support page fixed it, and the Sound Test here confirmed both channels.

  • Priya NairCommunity Member

    Had the same on a Lenovo. Run the Sound Test first so you know it is the PC and not the speakers, then roll back the driver.

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Rishabh Sharma
Written and tested by

Rishabh Sharma

Audio DSP Engineer at Sound Test

Rishabh Sharma is the Audio DSP Engineer on the Sound Tester Audio Team. Expert in browser-based Web Audio API architecture, live tone generation, and low-latency decibel tracking. Shares detailed digital sound processing codebases on GitHub and LinkedIn. On Sound Tester he answers browser, driver and operating system sound problems on Windows, Mac and Android, and reviews how the tools handle audio in the browser.

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  • 10 answers on Sound Test
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Each answer is written by the specialist closest to the topic and checked by a second team member. How we verify answers

Answers are free general guidance from the Sound Tester Audio Team and community. They are not medical advice. For hearing loss, ringing or ear pain, see a doctor or audiologist. Opening a device can void its warranty, so check the maker's support first for hardware faults.

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