If your monitor has built-in speakers but produces no sound, you are not alone — this is one of the most common audio complaints among PC gamers. The symptom usually looks like this: everything seems to play normally, videos have moving audio meters, Discord notifications arrive on schedule, but the sound comes out of your laptop speakers, a disconnected headset, or nowhere at all. Sometimes you’ll see a red “X” over the speaker icon in the system tray; other times Windows happily shows an audio meter bouncing along while your monitor stays silent. On some displays the speakers work one day and die the next after a driver update, a GPU swap, or simply a new cable.
The good news: this is almost never a hardware failure. In the vast majority of cases, monitor speakers are silent because Windows is sending audio to a different output device, the HDMI/DisplayPort audio driver is disabled, or the monitor’s own volume is muted. Most fixes take under five minutes and require no tools. Work through the list below in order — the easiest and most common fixes are first — and you’ll very likely be back to gaming with monitor audio tonight. If you’re still silent after all eight fixes, the “If Nothing Works” section covers the rare cases where the display itself is at fault.
Likely Causes
| Cause | How to confirm | Fix difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Windows is outputting to the wrong audio device | Open Settings > System > Sound and check the “Output” dropdown | Easy |
| HDMI/DisplayPort audio driver is disabled or missing | Right-click Start > Device Manager > Sound, video and game controllers — look for “NVIDIA High Definition Audio,” “AMD High Definition Audio,” or “Intel Display Audio” | Easy |
| Monitor volume is at zero or muted in the OSD | Press the monitor’s menu button and check the Audio section | Easy |
| Cable doesn’t carry audio | Check whether you’re using a DVI or VGA cable, or a DisplayPort adapter without audio support | Easy |
| Audio services stopped | Press Win + R, type services.msc, and check “Windows Audio” status | Moderate |
| Monitor speakers disabled as a communications device or set as “unavailable” | Control Panel > Sound > Playback tab — check for a grayed-out monitor device | Moderate |
Fix 1: Select the Correct Output Device in Windows
What causes it
Windows remembers the last-used audio device. If you plugged in a headset, USB DAC, or controller with audio passthrough at any point, Windows may have switched the default output and never switched back — even after the other device is unplugged. Game clients with their own audio settings (Steam, Discord, NVIDIA Broadcast) can also pin output to a device that no longer exists.
How to check
Click the volume icon in the system tray. The small arrow or dropdown next to the volume slider shows the current output device. If it says “Headphones,” “Speakers,” or anything other than your monitor’s model name, this is your problem. You can also click Start > Settings > System > Sound and look at the “Output” section.
What to do
Click the output dropdown in Settings > System > Sound and select your monitor (it will appear under its model name, e.g., “LG ultrawide,” “DELL U2723QE,” or “ASUS VG27AQ”). In some setups it appears as “Digital Output” or with “(NVIDIA High Definition Audio)” or “(AMD High Definition Audio)” appended. Select it, then play any audio to test. For per-app control, scroll down on the same page to “Advanced > Volume mixer” and confirm individual apps aren’t routed elsewhere.
How to undo it
Simply select a different output device from the same dropdown. Nothing is permanently changed.
Fix 2: Enable the Monitor’s Volume in Its On-Screen Display (OSD) Menu
What causes it
Monitor speakers have their own hardware volume and mute controls, completely separate from Windows. Many gaming monitors ship with the speaker volume set to zero or muted by default, and some models mute automatically when a headphone is plugged into the monitor’s audio jack — even after you unplug it.
How to check
Press the physical menu/joystick button on your monitor (usually bottom edge or back). Look for an “Audio,” “Sound,” or speaker-icon submenu. Check the volume percentage and mute state. Also check whether an “Audio Source” or “Line Out/Headphone” option is set to headphones instead of speakers.
What to do
In the OSD’s audio menu, raise the volume to 50–80 and unmute. If there’s a “Speaker” vs. “Headphone” or “Line Out” audio-source option, set it to “Speaker.” If there’s an “Auto Mute when headphone plugged” toggle (common on ASUS and Gigabyte models), disable it if no headphones are connected.
How to undo it
Re-open the OSD and restore your previous volume or mute setting. OSD changes are stored on the monitor and persist through reboots.
Fix 3: Re-Enable the Disabled HDMI/DisplayPort Audio Driver
What causes it
GPU drivers install a virtual audio device that carries sound over the video cable. These devices get disabled by Windows during troubleshooting, by cleanup utilities, or by a driver rollback, leaving the monitor with no audio path even though video still works perfectly.
How to check
Right-click Start and open Device Manager. Expand “Sound, video and game controllers.” You should see an entry like “NVIDIA High Definition Audio,” “AMD High Definition Audio Device,” or “Intel Display Audio.” If there’s a small down-arrow icon on it, the device is disabled. Also check “Audio inputs and outputs” — if your monitor appears there grayed out, it’s disabled.
What to do
In Device Manager, right-click the disabled HDMI/Display audio entry and choose “Enable device.” If you see no such entry at all, click Action > “Scan for hardware changes.” If it still doesn’t appear, reinstall your GPU driver (see Fix 7). Once enabled, repeat Fix 1 to select the monitor as your output.
How to undo it
Right-click the device again and choose “Disable device.” Windows may prompt you to restart.
Fix 4: Set the Monitor as Default in the Legacy Sound Control Panel
What causes it
Windows keeps two parallel audio interfaces, and some apps (especially older games and voice chat software) read from the legacy Control Panel default rather than the modern Settings page. A monitor can be enabled in one and set as default only in the other.
How to check
Press Win + R, type mmsys.cpl, and press Enter. In the Playback tab, look for your monitor. If it’s listed but has a gray speaker icon, it’s disabled. If it’s enabled but lacks the green checkmark, it isn’t the default device.
What to do
Right-click your monitor’s entry and choose “Set as Default Device,” then also “Set as Default Communication Device” if you use in-game voice chat. Click Apply, then OK. Play a test sound; the green level meter next to the device should bounce when audio plays. If the meter moves but you still hear nothing, jump to Fix 5 — the signal is reaching the monitor and its volume or hardware is the issue.
How to undo it
Return to mmsys.cpl, right-click your preferred device, and set it as default again.
Fix 5: Swap or Replace the Cable
What causes it
Audio travels inside HDMI and DisplayPort cables, but not all connections carry it. DVI and VGA carry no audio at all. DisplayPort-to-HDMI adapters frequently lack audio support, and HDMI-to-VGA or DP-to-DVI converters never carry it. A damaged or budget-tier cable can also drop the audio lanes while video still works.
How to check
Identify your cable type. If you see DVI or VGA anywhere in the chain, that’s your answer. If you’re using an adapter, check its product documentation for “audio support” — many cheap DP-to-HDMI adapters are video-only. A quick test: temporarily connect the monitor with a straight HDMI cable and see if the monitor appears as an audio device.
What to do
Replace video-only or adapter-based connections with a single HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort 1.4 cable running directly from the GPU to the monitor. Both reliably carry multi-channel audio. Avoid running the cable through KVM switches, docking stations, or monitor daisy-chains (DisplayPort MST) while testing, since these can strip audio. If you’re driving high refresh rates, a certified Ultra High Speed HDMI cable or VESA-certified DisplayPort cable avoids bandwidth issues that can knock out audio lanes.
How to undo it
Swap back to your original cable. There’s no software change to reverse.
Fix 6: Restart the Windows Audio Services
What causes it
Windows audio depends on three services: “Windows Audio,” “Windows Audio Endpoint Builder,” and “Remote Procedure Call (RPC).” After sleep/wake cycles, fast startup, or driver installs, these services can hang, leaving devices enumerated but silent.
How to check
Press Win + R, type services.msc, and press Enter. Scroll to “Windows Audio” and “Windows Audio Endpoint Builder.” Both should show status “Running” with startup type “Automatic.” If either is stopped, or running but audio is still dead across all devices, this is your fix.
What to do
Right-click “Windows Audio” and choose Restart. Do the same for “Windows Audio Endpoint Builder” (restarting it also restarts Windows Audio, which is fine). If they won’t start, double-click each, set Startup type to “Automatic,” click Apply, then Start. Alternatively, run these commands in an elevated Command Prompt:
net stop audiosvc then net start audiosvc
Also try a full shutdown (hold Shift while clicking Shut Down to bypass Fast Startup) rather than a restart — Fast Startup preserves a stale driver state that a cold boot clears.
How to undo it
Service restarts are harmless and self-reverting; Windows restarts these services automatically at every boot. To restore stopped services manually, repeat the steps and click Start.
Fix 7: Reinstall or Roll Back the GPU Audio Driver
What causes it
A GPU driver update, rollback, or a cleanup utility like DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) can remove or corrupt the companion HD Audio driver. Without it, the monitor never appears as an audio device at all — which you’d have noticed in Fix 1’s dropdown.
How to check
If your monitor never appears in the sound output list even with a known-good HDMI/DP cable, the audio driver component is missing. In Device Manager, check “Sound, video and game controllers” and “Audio inputs and outputs” for any warning triangles (yellow exclamation marks).
What to do
Reinstall your GPU driver as a package, which includes the audio component. NVIDIA users: run the latest Game Ready driver installer and choose Custom > “Perform a clean installation.” AMD users: run the Adrenalin installer with the “Factory reset” option checked. Intel integrated graphics users: get the latest driver from Intel’s Driver & Support Assistant. If the problem started immediately after a driver update, you can instead roll back: Device Manager > the audio device > Properties > Driver tab > “Roll Back Driver” (available only if a previous driver version exists). Then reboot and reselect the monitor as your output.
How to undo it
Roll back by installing the previously working driver version from the GPU vendor’s archive, or use System Restore if a restore point was created before the update.
Fix 8: Disable Audio Enhancements and Exclusive Mode
What causes it
Windows audio enhancements (bass boost, virtualization, loudness equalization) and “exclusive mode” can conflict with monitor audio endpoints, which sometimes report unusual channel configurations to Windows. Audio enhancements in particular have caused silent-output bugs since the Windows 10 era, and the problem persists in current Windows builds.
How to check
Open mmsys.cpl, select your monitor’s playback device, click Properties, then the Advanced tab. If “Enable audio enhancements” is checked, or under Exclusive Mode both boxes are checked, a conflict is possible — especially if audio cuts out only in games or during voice calls.
What to do
In the monitor’s Properties > Advanced tab, uncheck “Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device,” then uncheck “Enable audio enhancements” (or “Disable all enhancements” on some builds). Click Apply, test, and if it still fails, also set the “Default Format” dropdown to “16 bit, 48000 Hz (DVD Quality)” — a conservative format that virtually all monitor amps handle. Apply and test between each change to identify the culprit.
How to undo it
Return to the same tabs and re-check the boxes you disabled. Restoring “Default Format” isn’t necessary if audio now works — Windows will negotiate correctly.
If Nothing Works
If you’ve worked through all eight fixes and the monitor is still silent, the problem is likely hardware. First, isolate it definitively: connect a different device — a laptop, console, or phone via HDMI — to the same monitor and cable. If that source produces audio, your PC’s configuration is still the issue; create a new Windows user account as a clean-slate test, since per-user audio settings can be corrupted. If the alternate source is also silent on multiple cables, the monitor’s amplifier or speakers have failed. At that point, contact the manufacturer’s warranty support (most gaming monitors carry a 1–3 year warranty; check your serial number on the vendor’s support site), or use an external workaround: a $10–20 USB audio adapter paired with desktop speakers, or a long 3.5 mm cable from the monitor’s headphone/line-out jack is irrelevant if the amp is dead — route audio directly from your PC’s motherboard audio jack instead. For gamers who rely on positional audio, a dedicated headset or desktop 2.1 speaker setup connected to the motherboard’s rear green jack will outperform most monitor speakers anyway.
FAQ
Do all monitors with speakers need a special cable?
No, but the cable must carry audio. Any HDMI or DisplayPort cable carries audio natively. DVI and VGA never do, and some video-only adapters (especially cheap DisplayPort-to-HDMI ones) strip audio. A single straight HDMI or DP cable from the GPU is the most reliable option.
Why does my monitor show audio playing but I hear nothing?
This means Windows is generating the signal and sending it somewhere — but possibly to the wrong device, at zero volume on the monitor’s OSD, or into a failed amplifier. Check the green level meter next to the device in mmsys.cpl: if it bounces, the signal is leaving your PC and the problem is on the monitor side (volume, mute, or hardware).
Can I use monitor speakers and a headset at the same time?
Not as a default output, but Windows supports per-app audio routing: Settings > System > Sound > Volume mixer lets you send, say, your game to the monitor and Discord to a headset. Some games with separate music/voice channels can also be split this way.
Why did my monitor speakers stop working after a driver update?
GPU driver packages include the HD Audio driver that carries sound over HDMI and DisplayPort. Updates occasionally disable, replace, or fail to reinstall this component. Reinstall the GPU driver with a clean-install option (see Fix 7), then reselect your monitor as the default output device.
