No sound on your computer? How to get the audio back

Nine times out of ten the audio is playing on the wrong device. The computer sends it to a monitor connected over HDMI, to an old Bluetooth speaker in the kitchen, or to a headphone socket with no headphones in it. Choosing the right audio device takes under a minute, which is why that step comes first.

Try this first

1. Check the volume. Click the speaker icon at the bottom right in Windows and drag the slider up. The icon should not have a small cross beside it.
2. Choose the right audio device. Click the arrow next to the volume slider and everything the computer can play through is listed. Pick your speakers or headphones by name rather than the monitor.
3. Check the volume per program. Right-click the speaker icon and choose Volume mixer. Each program has its own slider there, and one of them may be down.
4. Check the cable is in the right socket. Headphones and speakers belong in the green socket or the one marked with a headphone symbol, and the plug has to go all the way in.
5. Restart the computer. The audio system starts fresh, and that is often enough.

Once it goes through, Windows plays its own short test tone as soon as you move the volume slider.

If that did not help

1. Run the Windows audio troubleshooter. Settings > System > Sound, and at the bottom, Troubleshoot common sound problems.
2. Update the audio driver. The driver is the small program that lets the computer control its sound card. Right-click Start > Device Manager > Sound, video and game controllers, right-click the sound card and choose Update driver.
3. If that changes nothing, choose Uninstall device in the same place and restart the computer. Windows puts the driver back automatically during startup.
4. Download the audio driver from the computer maker's support site for your exact model, for example HP, Lenovo, Dell or Asus. Use only the manufacturer's own site, and never pay for software that promises to update drivers for you.

On a Mac

1. Apple menu > System Settings > Sound.
2. Under Output, select the device you want the sound to come from.
3. Check that Mute is not ticked and that the balance slider sits in the middle. With the balance pushed to one side only one speaker plays.
4. If nothing helps: open Activity Monitor, search for coreaudiod, select the row and press the stop button. The audio system restarts by itself within a few seconds and nothing you are working on is lost.
5. Restart the computer if the sound is still missing.

If the computer lists no audio device at all, or the sound crackles even with a fresh driver, there may be a physical fault in the socket or the speaker. Ask us first and you will know whether the computer is worth taking in.

When the sound should go to headphones or a speaker

Wireless headphones and speakers count as audio devices of their own and appear in the list only once they are connected. Switch them on, check they are charged, and confirm in the Bluetooth settings that they show as connected before you look for them in the volume list. If they are paired with your phone at the same time, you may need to turn them off there first, since most headphones play from one device at a time.

If you want the sound to come from the same place every day, select that device once in the volume list while it is connected. Windows remembers the choice and returns to it whenever the device appears again, so you do not have to redo it before every meeting.