Win 11 no sound output after yesterday's s/ware update

Ken 0 Reputation points
2026-10-17T08:36:11.2466667+00:00

Win 11 on my Dell laptop was updated yesterday, as normal. Today there is no sound output from any source (laptop speakers, headphones etc.) The speaker icon shows sound output disabled. When I click on the icon, the speaker element is greyed out. When I go to Settings>System>Sound>Output the system shows 'No output devices found'. Can anybody tell me how to get sound back on the laptop please?

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Devices and drivers
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  1. DaveM121 939.6K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-10-17T09:08:36.97+00:00

    Please provide some details about your system and drivers.

    1

    Right click your Start Button and open Device Manager.

    Expand the 'Sound, Video and Game Controllers' section.

    Please provide a screenshot of that full Device Manager window.

    2

    Click your Start Button, then just type msinfo and press Enter, please provide a screenshot of the resulting System Information window.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-10-17T08:36:33.3966667+00:00

    Because Settings > System > Sound > Output shows No output devices found after a Windows update, the most likely cause is that the audio device is disabled, hidden, or the driver was replaced/corrupted by the update.

    Try these steps in order:

    1. Check for the audio device in Device Manager
      • Open Start, type Device Manager, and open it.
      • Expand Sound, video and game controllers.
      • If the audio device appears, right-click it and select Enable device if that option is available.
      • If it does not appear, select View > Show hidden devices, then Action > Scan for hardware changes.
      • Check whether the audio device reappears.
    2. Run the Windows audio troubleshooter
      • On Windows 11, run the automated Audio troubleshooter in the Get Help app.
      • This can automatically diagnose and repair common audio detection problems.
    3. Install pending Windows updates
      • Go to Start > Settings > Windows Update.
      • Select Check for updates and install all available updates.
      • Restart the laptop.
      • Audio driver fixes can be included in Windows Update.
    4. Update the audio driver
      • In Device Manager, expand Sound, video and game controllers.
      • Right-click the audio device and select Update driver.
      • Select Search automatically for drivers.
      • Restart the laptop after the update.
    5. Roll back the audio driver
      • Since the issue started immediately after yesterday’s update, this is a strong next step if the device is present in Device Manager.
      • In Device Manager, right-click the audio device > Properties > Driver tab > Roll Back Driver.
      • Restart the laptop.
      • This option is available only if a previous driver version exists.
    6. Reinstall the audio driver
      • In Device Manager, right-click the audio device and select Uninstall device.
      • If prompted, confirm the uninstall. If shown, selecting removal of the driver package is more thorough.
      • Warning: this temporarily removes audio support until restart/reinstall completes.
      • Restart the laptop. Windows should reinstall the driver automatically.
    7. Install the latest Dell audio driver manually
      • If Windows still shows no output device, install the latest audio driver from Dell’s support site for the laptop model and Windows version.
      • Restart after installation.
      • This is especially relevant when a Windows update has replaced the Dell audio driver with an incompatible one.
    8. Restart Windows audio services
      • Press Start, type services.msc, and press Enter.
      • Right-click Windows Audio > Restart.
      • Right-click Windows Audio Endpoint Builder > Restart.
      • Test sound again.

    If the audio device appears again after any step, then also check:

    • Start > Settings > System > Sound
    • Under Output, select the correct device
    • Make sure volume is not muted
    • In More sound settings > Playback, right-click the device and choose Set as default
    • For the selected output device, set Audio enhancements to Off

    References:

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