Troubleshooting Realtek Digital Output No Sound: Your Complete Guide

When you set Realtek Digital Output as the default output device, you may encounter a situation where you can’t hear sound from your computer. Wondering how to fix this problem? Read on to discover the possible solutions.

There are three possible solutions provided below to fix the Realtek Digital Output no sound error. Try them one by one and see if you can find the one that works for you.

Method 1: Set your speakers or headphones as default devices
Method 2: Reinstall the audio driver
Method 3: Update the audio driver

Method 1: Set your speakers or headphones as default devices

Realtek Digital Output device refers to high definition digital audio devices, like a TV with an HDMI connection, home theater system, etc. Usually, you connect these devices to the computer with a digital cable instead of an analog cable.

But for the regular speakers or headphones, you need to connect them to the computer with analog cables. In this case, if you set the Realtek Digital Output as default output device, the sound won’t work properly.

To fix the problem, you’ll need to set your speakers or headphones as default output devices. To do so:

1) Press Win+R keys to open the Run box.

2) Type ‘control panel’ into the Run box and click OK to open the Control Panel window.

open control panel

3) View by Category and click on Hardware and Sound.

open hardware and sound

4) Click on Sound.

open sound

5) Select the Playback tab. Then select the speakers or headphones devices and click Set default to set it as default device.

6) Click OK to save the changes.

Method 2: Reinstall the audio driver

Driver issues can cause Realtek Digital Output no sound. To fix the problem, you can try to reinstall the audio driver. Here’s how to reinstall the audio driver.

1) Press the Win+R keys to open the Run box.

2) Type ‘devmgmt.msc’ into the box and click OK to open the Device Manager window.

open device manager

3) Expand the category ‘Sound, video and game controllers’. Right-click on the audio device and select Uninstall device.

uninstall audio device

4) On the Confirm Device Removal dialogue box, you’ll see a warning message that says “You are about to uninstall this device from your system”.

Check the box Delete the driver software for this device then click Uninstall to confirm the changes.

delete audio device

5) Restart your computer to allow Windows to reinstall the audio driver.

6) Check to see if the problem is resolved.

This method allows you to reinstall the default Windows audio driver. If it doesn’t work for you, you can download and update the audio driver from manufacturers. See Method 3.

Method 3: Update the audio driver

To update the audio driver, you can go to the PC manufacturer’s website to download the latest audio driver.

To download the driver correctly, you’ll need to know what version of Windows you’re using, or what audio card you have.

If you don’t have much driver knowledge, it’s recommended you use a third-party driver update utility. You can search trustworthy driver update utility easily on the internet.

After updating the audio driver, check to see if the problem is resolved.

Hopefully you find this article helpful. If you have any questions, ideas or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment below.

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