How to Change Your Audio Playback and Recording Devices in Windows

Connect speakers, headphones, a webcam with a built-in microphone, a

Bluetooth

headset or other audio device on your Windows PC and you'll need to choose which devices Windows actually uses. It's easy to set up and now even easier on Windows 10.

On computers with a headphone jack, you often don't need to change any settings. Simply plug in headphones and your computer will likely be set to use headphones automatically. Unplug the headphones and it will resume using its speakers .

If your headphones or speakers connect through a different port, like USB or Bluetooth, your computer will see them as a separate output device and you'll need to specifically set them as the playback device in Windows.

Windows 10: Use this simple taskbar shortcut to set playback devices

What's New in Windows 10 Anniversary Update

It's now faster and easier than before if you were using Windows 10 with

the anniversary update

.You don't need to open the Sound panel like you do in Windows 7 or 8 (see next section).

Simply click on the sound icon in your system tray (also known as your system tray) - click on the "Select playback device" option and select the playback device you want to use in the menu.

You're done. If you're currently playing audio, it should automatically switch to your chosen device.

How to configure your playback and recording devices from the Sound menu

On previous versions of Windows, or if you just need more advanced settings, you should use the Sound control panel. You should also do this to change your default recording device, for example to choose between different microphones, even during Windows 10 Anniversary Update.

To do this, right-click the speaker icon in the notification area. Select "Playback Devices" if you want to select your default speakers or "Recording Devices" if you want to select your microphone.

Use the Playback and Recording tabs to choose your devices. Right-click on a device and select "Set as Default Device" to make it your default audio device. If something is playing or recording on your system, it should switch to the device you choose by default.

There is also a "Set as Default Communication Device" option that you can use. Communications, such as video and audio calls made on Skype, will use the communication device instead of your normal device. This allows you to use your computer speakers for normal sound while the sound of a voice call is played on your headset, for example.

How to Change Your Audio Playback and Recording Devices in Windows

The Sound panel controls default devices in apps that follow your default setting. However, many individual apps also provide options that allow you to choose playback and recording devices within that individual app's settings.

For example, in Skype you can select Tools > Options > Audio Settings. From here you can choose your microphone and speakers, and even select a separate device that will be used to ring when someone calls you. The device you choose here may be separate from your system settings, causing Skype to use different audio devices than other applications on your computer.

How to see what device an app is using

The bars to the right of a playback or recording device in the Sound panel will show you which devices are playing sounds.

To see which apps are playing audio on which device, you can open the volume mixer by right-clicking the sound icon in your notification and selecting “Open Volume Mixer”.

Click on the “Device” menu and select a device. You will see the apps playing audio on that particular device.

If an app continues to play audio on a device that you haven't set as default, you may need to go to that app's settings and change your audio device separately. Or, you may just need to close and restart the app to fix the problem and make it respect your new audio device choice.