How to Change Your Audio Playback and Recording Devices on Windows

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

Bluetooth

or another audio device to your Windows PC and you 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 do not need to change the settings. Just plug in a headset and your computer will likely be set to automatically use the headset. Unplug the headset and it will start using its speakers again.

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

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. 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 the system tray), click on the “Select playback device” option and select the playback device you want to use in the menu.

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You have finished. 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 also need to do this to change your default recording device, for example to choose between different microphones, even in 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 communications device instead of your normal device. This allows you to use your computer's speakers for normal sound while the sound of a voice call plays through your headset, for example.

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

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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

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 play 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.

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