The Ultimate Guide to Realtek Audio Driver Updates

You might want to update your Realtek audio driver to improve sound quality or resolve sound issues, but you’re having trouble finding the latest version. Don’t worry.

In this post, you’ll learn where and how to download the latest Realtek audio driver.

Where to find the Realtek audio driver latest version?

The Realtek sound card maker is Realtek Semiconductor Corp., so we’re inclined to think that the latest Realtek audio driver should be downloaded from their official website. But I’m afraid this is not the best option.

The official Realtek website has the “latest” version R2.82, but it was released on 2017/7/26. Since then, Realtek hasn’t updated their Realtek audio drivers.

To find the latest Realtek audio driver, the best option is to go to the system maker’s website (Lenovo, Dell, HP, Acer, Asus, etc.) or the motherboard maker’s website (Asrock, Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, etc.).

The system makers and the motherboard makers will custom the generic Realtek audio drivers released by Realtek and release new versions on their own website. Generally, they will keep updating the drivers to improve features or fix bugs.

Besides your system maker or the motherboard maker, you can also download the latest version of Realtek audio drivers from Microsoft Update Catalog.

Read on to find more about how to download the latest Realtek audio driver.

How to download the latest Realtek audio driver

If you’d like to download the latest version of Realtek audio driver, you can use one of the ways below:

Way 1: Download from your system maker or your motherboard maker
Way 2: Download from Microsoft Update Catalog

Way 1: Download from your system maker or your motherboard maker

Go to your system maker’s website or your motherboard maker’s website, then search with the product’s model name, then you can easily find and download the driver.

1) Verify the computer\motherboard model and the Windows version.

2) Go to the manufacturer’s website then search for the product model name.

3) Go to the driver download page of the product.

4) Download the latest version of Realtek audio driver.

After downloading the driver, you can install the driver easily.

Generally, the downloaded driver file is a .zip file or a .exe file. If it’s a .zip file, extract it first, then double-click on the installer (.exe) to install the driver. If it’s a .exe file, just double-click on it and follow the on-screen instructions to install the driver.

Way 2: Download from Microsoft Update Catalog

You can download the latest Reatlek audio driver Microsoft Update Catalog. To do so:

1) Go to Microsoft Update Catalog.

2) Verify the latest version of Realtek audio driver by checking the version in the Version column.

In the screenshot below, the latest version is 6.0.9297.1.

latest Realtek audio driver from Microsoft update catalog

3) Click the Download button next to the driver, then follow the on-screen instructions to finish the process.

The downloaded driver file will be a .cab file. You need to install the driver through Device Manager.

Here’s how to do it:

1) Extract the .cab file to a folder.

2) Open Device Manager (learn how to access Device Manager).

3) Under “Sound, video and game controllers”, right-click on the Realtek audio driver and select Update driver.

latest Realtek audio driver from device manager

4) Select Browse my computer for drivers.

5) Click Browse.

6) Navigate to the folder where you extracted the .cab file to and then click OK.

7) Click Next, then the driver will be installed automatically.

Hopefully you find the article helpful. If you have any questions, feel free to drop a comment below. I’ll get back to you ASAP.

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