Love listening to music or binge-watching videos on YouTube? We all do, and to really get into them, we all use headphones, an unavoidable necessity in today’s world. If your headphones stop responding or you can’t hear any audio in these times, you are mostly facing the error headphone jack not working on laptop.
The error laptop audio jack not working can occur from various problems like faulty hardware, system issues, outdated or corrupted drivers to the basic improper connections or loose wires. To resolve these, check your connection and try using the headphones on another device to ensure their proper functioning.
Table of Contents
- 1 How to Fix Headphone Jack not Working on Laptop
- 1.1 Method 1: Try Plugging in the Headphones and Restarting your Device
- 1.2 Method 2: Remove the Front Panel Jack Automatic Detection
- 1.3 Method 3: Try Changing the Sound Format from its Default
- 1.4 Method 4: Turn on the Playback Device and Set it to Default.
- 1.5 Method 5: Windows 10 Audio Troubleshooter
- 1.6 Method 6: Update Audio and Sound Driver
- 2 FAQs
- 3 Conclusion
How to Fix Headphone Jack not Working on Laptop
No matter the reason, the following detailed guide will take you through various methods and steps to fix the issue for you completely. So, let’s get into it!
Method 1: Try Plugging in the Headphones and Restarting your Device
In major cases, the laptop cannot detect the headphones while powering up. To check this, plug your headphones in when the device is on. Now restart,
- Open the start menu, or if it doesn’t work, use the windows key.
- Select the power icon.
- Now in the menu, find restart and wait for the device to restart.
Verify if the issue headphone jack not working on laptop persists.
Method 2: Remove the Front Panel Jack Automatic Detection
In the case of Realtek audio cards, try disabling the detection of the front jack panel. To do this,
- In the run search bar, enter Control Panel.
- In the view tab, change the icon size to large.
- Navigate to Realtek HD Audio Manager.
- Tap on the connector settings option.
- When you find the “Disable front panel jack detection” option, switch it on and exit.
Now restart the system and try using the headphones to check for laptop headphone jack not working error, if it persists try checking the USB ports.
Method 3: Try Changing the Sound Format from its Default
If your default format is faulty, then the error occurs too. To fix this,
- In the run search bar, enter Control Panel.
- In the view tab, change the icon size to large.
- Look for the Hardware and Sound tab.
- Tap on sound, and in the Playback section, navigate to the default playback device and double click it.
- Tap on the Advanced tab in the pop-up window.
- Change the sound format to something new from default.
Now retry using your headphones and check for the error why is my headphone jack not working.
Method 4: Turn on the Playback Device and Set it to Default.
Users also said that the error can occur if your device is disabled. To enable it,
- In the run search bar, enter Control Panel.
- In the view tab, change the icon size to large.
- Look for the Hardware and Sound tab.
- Tap on sound, and in the Playback section, open the show disabled devices by right-clicking anywhere.
- Right-tap on the name of your headphone and enable it.
- Choose and set it to default.
This will ensure that your headphone works as default on your device and the headphone jack not working on laptop error go away.
Method 5: Windows 10 Audio Troubleshooter
The common way to resolve the issue is to run the audio troubleshooter. To do this,
- In the start menu, search troubleshooting, or go to update and security in the settings.
- In the troubleshooting window, go to playing audio.
- Run the troubleshooter by clicking on next.
After the completion, check if the issue audio jack not working persists.
Method 6: Update Audio and Sound Driver
Sometimes the drivers might be causing the issue to pop up. To verify and fix this,
- From the windows key, or if it doesn’t work from the start menu, go to device manager.
- Tap on sound, video, and game controllers.
- Now find the audio driver and right tap on it.
- Press on update driver and further click on Search automatically for updated driver software.
This will install the proper drivers and fix the headphone jack not working on laptop issue.
FAQs
Do Windows 10 laptops have an in-built audio jack?
Yes, Windows 10 laptops come with audio jacks that connect input and output devices. Windows can easily detect them for you and make them very easy to be used.
How do I fix my headphone not functioning on a laptop?
The error laptop audio jack not working can occur from various problems like faulty hardware, system issues, outdated or corrupted drivers to the basic improper connections or loose wires. To resolve these, check your connection and try using the headphones in some other device to ensure its proper functioning or follow the above guide to resolve the issue.
Conclusion
With assistance from this guide, we hope you were able to solve the headphone jack not working on laptop error. Now that you have resolved all sound issues and headphone issues, like why aren’t my headphones working on my laptop, get back to enjoying your videos and music. Happy listening!
See also: FIX: Bluetooth Headphones Won’t Connect To PC

Gravit Sinha: Founder of ValidEdge, a problem-solving website, driven by his lifelong passion for fixing issues.