Browsers and Apps have no audio or straight up won't play media. Restarting "Windows Audio" in services.msc fixes this. Why is this happening??

Anonymous
2025-03-29T14:44:13+00:00

I am in Windows 11 24H2 Build 26100, HP Laptop 15s - Ryzen 5 5625U. Occasionally, even on fresh boot-up, my media players would not play anything. In edge or chrome browser, YT and the video would load but would not play. In apps: in VLC - video is laggy and has no audio, and in Premiere - the video preview is extremely stuttery. Initially, the solution I always did was restarting Windows, then it would be fixed. When it occurred in Premiere, I searched online and found out: open services.msc > search for "Windows Audio" > right click it and hit restart.

Restarting Windows Audio in services.msc has solved this issue.

This issue still occasionally pops up randomly after a fresh boot-up, and I have to restart "Windows Audio" every time. Why is this happening in the first place? And how to fix this permanently?

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Devices and drivers

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Answer accepted by question author
Ferdinand Nanalig 33,820 Reputation points Independent Advisor
2025-03-29T15:16:18+00:00

Hi, I am an Independent Advisor.

Let me help you with this issue.

I understand you are having problems with your audio.

What was the last application you installed before this problem started?

Please hover your mouse to the sound icon at the lower right-hand corner then right-click it and click Troubleshoot Sound. Let the troubleshooter finish until it's done then this should either fix the problem or give us an error message.

If that doesn't work, we need to remove the Audio driver from the Device Manager and restart the PC to reinstall it.

Here are the steps to completely remove a Device from your computer.

Step 1. Use shortcut keys Windows key+ X.

Step 2. Select Device Manager.

Step 3. Expand the entry Sound, Video, and Game Controllers Right-click the problematic device it is either Realtek Audio, or AMD High-definition Audio or High-Definition Audio this varies on the audio device installed in your PC, and select Uninstall device.

Step 4. You need to check the option Delete the driver software for this device and then click the Uninstall button.

Step 5. Reboot the computer.

After the reboot, please see if the problem is fixed.

If that still does not work, please visit the support website of your laptop or desktop and then download and install the latest Audio driver then restart the PC.

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