Microsoft reverts the change that muffled audio in Windows 10 and suggests a workaround. Sep 16, 2019 12:00 EDT Hot! Microsoft is having a bad run of updates with its latest Patch Tuesday. If you play games like Half-Life, CS on Win10 you might have noticed that sounds are very quiet, generally rifles being louder than footsteps you can fix this if you have Realtek Audio. This should apply to all audio across the system when using headphones. So sound quality with Realtek HD drivers has been a recurring issue from what I've seen and experienced in Windows 10. My personal issue was the HD audio sounding kindof 'tinny' or muffled when the 'Hey Cortana' feature was activated. After multiple driver uninstall/reinstall's, I found a solution in a related webpage. Whenever audio played, it sounded quiet and muffled, as if the speakers were covered by a thick pillow.
If you are facing “Microphone not working on Windows 10” issue, “No Sound Issue” or “Sound is muffled”, then you are in right place. Here, we are discussing about “How to Fix Windows 10 microphone not working Realtek” in details and providing some recommended tips to fix this issue on Windows devices. Let’s starts the discussion.
What is Realtek microphone driver Windows 10?
Realtek is Taiwan based producer of Microchips and produce & distribute communication Network ICs (Integrated Circuits), Computer Peripherals ICs, and multimedia ICs. Most Motherboard manufacture purchase ICs from them for different components including Audio Chips that require the latest driers in order to work properly.
Realtek Company offers drivers for the ICs. When we talk about Microphone, the company offers Realtek microphone driver for Windows 10/8.1/8 or other version Windows Operating System based devices. The Microphone driver is required to communicate your microphones with your Operating System. In other word, we can say that Mic driver acts as mediator between microphone device and Operating System version like Microsoft Windows or other OS you have.
Now comes to matter, many Windows users reported about “Windows 10 microphone not working Realtek” on various online platforms including Microsoft Official forum site and Realtek Official forum site as well, and asked for the solution. Users explained that they found internal Microphone not working properly on Windows 10. Let’s take have a look at one user report,
“I have been looking for months for Microphone and had just purchased one recently and the thing has not cooperated with me one bit. Is there any solution?”
Users reports indicate that something went wrong with their Windows 10 computer in which their Microphone or headset mic doesn’t work. It can extremely frustrating doing audio and video calls or even during entertaining activities like video gaming or singing. If you are one of them who are facing the same, then you can follow our instructions to fix.
Since, Microsoft releases many updates to fix numerous problems especially when we talk about Windows 10 microphone not working Realtek, Microsoft with Realtek has resolved this issue with its latest updates. However, many users are still facing Realtek microphone driver not working issue on Windows 10. Don’t be panic, please read & follow the instructions given below.
Reasons behind Windows 10 microphone not working Realtek
- It might possible to get this error when microphone itself or audio port you are using, has been corrupted or not working
- Microphone not working error might occur if microphone is disabled for specific application. With your settings, you can enable microphone and check if it works.
- It might possible that your microphone is muted and result of it, you are getting no sound. So, you can simply raise volume of microphone or unmuted the microphone to fix.
- Missing, outdated, corrupted Microphone driver or audio driver causes “No Sound Issue”
- Missing or corrupted Windows update causes serious issues like Windows 10 microphone not working Realtek
- “No Sound” issue or “Realtek microphone driver not working on Windows 10” issue can cause malfunctioning in System drivers.
[Tips& Tricks] How to fix Windows 10 microphone not working Realtek?
Procedure 1: Check Microphone Driver
Step 1: Press “Windows + X” key together from keyboard and select “Device Manager”
Step 2: In the opened “Device Manager” window, locate “Sound, video and game controllers” and expand it
Step 3: You will see “Intel (R) Audio Display” and “Realtek High Definition Audio” under “Sound, video and game controllers” section
Step 4: Right-click on “Intel (R) Audio” and select “Properties”
Step 5: In the opened “Properties” window, click on “General” tab and check to see if the device is working properly.
Step 6: If it is not working properly, then click on “Driver” tab and select “Update” options
Step 7: Once done, restart your computer and check if “No sound” issue is resolved.
Note: you can repeat these steps to check & update other audio drivers.
Procedure 2: Check Sound Settings
Step 1: Right-click on “Speaker icon” at far right corner in Taskbar and select “Sound” options
Step 2: In the “Recording” tab, click on “Microphone” and select “Properties” options
Step 3: Go to “Levels” tab and increase the volume of both Microphone and Microphone Boost
Step 4: Now, go to “Enhancement” tab and check the “Immediate Mode”
Step 5: Finally, click on “Apply” and “Ok” to save changes and then restart your computer.
Procedure 3: Run Sound Troubleshooter
Step 1: Right-click on “Sound” icon at far right corner of Taskbar and select “Troubleshoot Sound Problems”
Step 2: This process will detect any problems exists with your audio and recommended fixes for you.
Step 3: Wait to complete the process. Once done, please check if Windows 10 microphone not working Realtek is resolved.
Procedure 4: Modify Privacy Settings
Step 1: Press “Windows + I” key together from keyboard to open “Settings” App
Step 2: Go to “Privacy > Microphone”
Step 3: Click on “Change” under “Allow apps to access your microphone”
Step 4: Now, scroll down and head over to “Choose which apps can access your Microphone”. You can allow any apps for this
Step 5: Once done, please check if the issue is resolved.
Audio Sounds Muffled Windows 10 Iso
Procedure 5: Re-enable Realtek microphone driver Windows 10
Step 1: Press “Windows + R” key together from keyboard to open “Run Dialog Box”
Step 2: In the opened “Run Dialog Box”, type “devmgmt.msc” and hit “Ok” button to open “Device Manager”
Step 3: In the opened “Device Manager” window, locate “Audios, inputs and outputs” and expand it
Step 4: Right-click on your microphone and select “Disable Device”
Step 5: Wait for 5-10 seconds and then right-click on your Microphone again and select “Enable Device”. Once done, please check if Windows 10 microphone not working Realtek is resolved.
Procedure 6: Update Realtek microphone driver Windows 10
Step 1: Press “Windows + X” key from keyboard and select “Device Manager”
Step 2: Locate “Audio inputs and outputs” and expand it
Step 3: Right-click on your Microphone driver and select “Driver”.
Step 4: In the next window, click on “Search automatically for updated driver software”. This process will automatically install the latest Microphone driver software on machine.
Step 5: Once done, restart your computer and please check if the error is resolved.
Procedure 7: Check for Windows update
Step 1: Go to “Settings App > Update and Security > Windows update”
Step 2: Click on “Check for updates” under “Windows Update” section.
This process will automatically install the available updates in your Windows devices.
Procedure 8: Perform System Restore
System Restore reverts everything to a saved restore point, but you must have created restore point to use this tool. You can apply this method if your microphone stopped working recently and restore your System to such System restore points were created before you started experiencing issues with microphone. To do so, you can read & follow the steps below.
Step 1: Press “Windows + R” keys together from keyboard to open “Run Dialog Box”
Step 2: In the “Run Dialog Box”, type “rstrui.exe” and hit “Ok” button
Step 3: In the opened “System Restore” window, click on “Next”
Step 4: In next window, check the “Show more restore points” checkbox to see more restore points
Step 5: Select any one restore point from list depending to the time created and hit “Next”
Step 6: Do not select a restore point at time when the microphone problem were already preset. And if you are sure that this is correct restore point, then hit “Finish” button to starts restore operation
Step 7: Once done, please check if the problem is resolved.
Muffled Sound With Windows 10
Conclusion
Audio Sounds Muffled Windows 10 Pro
I am sure this article helped you to “fix Realtek microphone driver not working on Windows 10” with several easy methods. You can follow one or all procedures to fix this issue.
Audio Sounds Muffled Windows 10 Media Player
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