How to Enable or Disable a Sound Output Device in Windows 10
In Windows 10, the user can specify the default sound output device. This can be speakers, a Bluetooth device, headphones, or other audio device connected to your PC or built into your device. Today, we will see how to disable or enable a sound device in Windows 10.
Apr 04, 2017 1. Navigate to Control Panel - Hardware and Sound - Sound. Highlight the default Playback device and select Properties. On the Advanced tab, set the default format to be 16 bit, 48000 Hz (DVD Quality). Only thing is, when I get to the last step, it won't let me change the default format. Nov 22, 2016 Enable Windows Start-up Sound. Next, we need to go to the sound options in Windows 10. In the notification area at the bottom-right corner of your desktop, right-click the speaker icon, then click Sounds. In the Sound window click the Sounds tab, then tick the “Play Windows Start-up sound” box. Your PC should now play a jingle whenever it.
Windows 10 introduced a new style of items and their panes/flyouts which open from the notification area. All of the applets which open from the system tray are different now. This includes the Date/Time pane, the Action Center, the Network pane and even the volume control. Once you click the sound icon in the system tray, the new volume indicator will appear on the screen.
Note: In a number of situations, the Volume icon can be hidden in the taskbar. Even when you have all the drivers installed, the icon might remain inaccessible. If you are affected by this issue, see the following post:
Tip: It is still possible to restore the good old 'classic' sound volume control.
Refer to the following article:
The default sound input device is the device that the operating system uses to record or hear sounds. If you have connected several audio devices to your PC or laptop, such as microphones, a web camera with a built-in microphone, a Bluetooth headset, you might want to disable one or a few of them. This can be done with Settings, Device Manager, using the classic Control Panel, or with a Registry tweak. Let's review these methods.
To Disable a Sound Output Device in Windows 10,
Open the Settings app.
Go to System > Sound.
On the right, select the sound output device under Output.
Click on the Device Properties link.
On the next page, check the Disable box to disable the device. It is unchecked by default.
Uncheck the Disable box to re-enable the device.
You are done.
Also, there is an extra page in Settings that you can use to disable sound devices. It is called Manage sound devices.
Disable a Sound Output Device with Manage sound devices Page
Open the Settings app.
Go to System > Sound.
On the right, click on the link Manage sound devices under Output.
On the next page, select your sound output device in the list in Output devices.
Click on the Disable button to disable the selected device.
Click on the Enable button to enable the disabled device.
You are done.
Besides the Settings app, you can use the good old Device Manager app to enable or disable devices, including the sound devices installed in your computer.
Disable Sound Output Device in Device Manager
Press Win + X keys together on the keyboard and click Device Manager. Tip: you can customize the Win + X menu of Windows 10.
In the device tree, find your device under Audio inputs and outputs.
Right-click on the device and select Disable from the context menu to disable it.
To enable the disabled device, right-click on it and select Enable from the context menu.
Confirm the operation if prompted.
You are done.
Also, the classic Control Panel applet 'Sound' can be used to disable or enable a sound output device.
Disable a Sound Output Device using Control Panel
Open the classic Control Panel app.
Navigate to Control PanelHardware and SoundSound.
On the playback tab, select the device you want to disable.
Right-click on it and select Disable from the context menu. This will disable the sound output device.
You are done.
To enable a disabled sound output device, do the following.
Ensure that you have the disabled devices listed: Right-click on any device and see if you have the Show disabled devices entry checked. If not, click on it.
Now, right-click on a disabled device in the list.
Select Enable from the context menu.
This will enable the disabled device.
You are done!
Tip: To save your time, you can open the classic Sound dialog using the following command:
Windows 10 Sound Set Default Greyed Out Windows 10
Refer to the next article:
Finally, you can disable or enable a sound output device in the Registry. Here is how.
Disable a Sound Output Device in Registry
Open the Registry Editor app.
Go to the following Registry key. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionMMDevicesAudioRender See how to go to a Registry key with one click.
In the left pane, expand the Render key and open the Properties subkey of each GUID until you find the device you want to disable.
On the right of the appropriate GUID key, modify or create a new 32-Bit DWORD value DeviceState. Note: Even if you are running 64-bit Windows you must still create a 32-bit DWORD value.
Set its value data to 1 to enable the device.
A value data of 10000001 will disable it.
That's it!
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Missing of Volume icon on Windows is one of the etching parts of computer handling experiences, as it is really a troublesome if you are not able to access the volume control or moderate the sudden increase in the volume in the midst of a video, song or any other media content. If you are a novice and not fully aware of the short keys to turn up or down the volume without manually doing it from the taskbar, then the missing of this icon might create hassle for you indeed. Just imagine how gruesome it would be if you constantly find it disturbing when the sound shoots up and declines to a very low level and you simply can’t do anything about it.
The reason for such a cause need not be technical all the time, but intentional due to some stranger making changes in the system settings on purpose, or can possibly be some minor system policy modification. Thus you may find it difficult to sort out the problem.
But in this article we would extend the help to let you know how to deal with this volume icon missing issue without any serious tumult.
Windows 10 Sound Set Default Greyed Outlook
Also read: How to Disable Cortana in Windows 10
Method #1: Fix Volume Icon Greyed out Using Group Policy Editor
Modifications in the group policies can turn out to be one of the causes for this issue. Thus, here in this section, we would deal with rectifying the errors arisen due to policy changes with the help of Policy editor. Continue reading to fix volume icon greyed out on Windows 10:
Step 1. From the Windows 10 home screen, press “Ctrl + R” and the “Run” search box would emerge at the bottom left corner.
Step 2. Input “gpedit.msc” and press “Ok” to open the policy editor.
Sound Set Rhymesayers
Step 3. After the Editor operating screen turns up, navigate to the following location from the left sidebar:
“User Configuration> Administrative Templates> Start Menu and Taskbar”
Step 4. Now, on the right hand side of the panel, look for the “Remove the volume control icon” in the list of policies and double-click on it.
Step 5. On double-click, the property window would turn up where you have to make sure that the “Not Configured” or “Disabled” option is selected.
Step 6. Once you are sure about the mentioned status, click “Apply” and then “OK”.
There you go; your specific change for the specific problem has been rendered which would definitely resolve the issue. If not, then you may proceed with your reading for other methods mentioned ahead.
Read More: How to Delete User Profile in Windows 10/8/7?
Method #2: Restore Sound Icon from Settings
Soundset 2009
Windows 10’s advanced interface has enabled users to make serious changes to the system very easily and conveniently, thus finding the solutions within the settings would save you the trouble of policy changes previously mentioned. Just follow the steps to fix Volume Icon Greyed out issue in Windows 10?
Step 1. Open “Settings” app from icon in the “Start” menu or you can press “Windows logo key + I” from the keyboard to open it directly.
Step 2. From the list of options, click on “Personalization”.
Step 3. From the left hand sidebar, select “Taskbar” and then click “Turn system icons on or off” link.
Step 4. From the new operating Window, make sure that the Volume is set to “on” mode. If it is not in the “on” mode, then turn it “on” to make the volume icon appear in the taskbar.
Method #3: Adding Values to Registry using CMD
To fix Volume Icon Greyed out Issue in Windows 10, you can also use the CMD to fix, make sure that you have created a backup of your registry just in case you make any mistake, because even a slightest mistake with registries can cause serious damage to your system. Thus be cautious while going through the steps mentioned below:
Step 1. From the home screen, press “Windows logo key +X” to open the “Power User menu”
Step 2. Select “CMD (Admin)”.
Step 3. Once the black dialog box of command prompt opens up, type the following line of commands:
Now, go back to the Taskbar and check if the volume icon has appeared or not. This would certainly have resolved your issue by now if done correctly.
Conclusion:
Icons in the taskbar are all meant to ease your system handling experience, thus if any of those icons do not appear in their designated location, it would inevitably reduce the work rate of the user. In case the techniques mentioned still don’t help you with the trouble, you may need to reinstall the system.