• If your headphones are not working in Windows 11, don't hesitate to check your sound card drivers.
• Making sure that the cable is connected properly and resetting your peripherals might help you.
• The system troubleshooter will support you to scan and fix some of the related problems too.

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For a full-on PC experience it’s best to use headphones, but many reported that Windows 11 is not recognizing wired headphones.

As not all devices are perfect, you are bound to find some issues while using them, with a variety of levels of complexity.

In some cases, it might be just a headphones connection problem, or in others, the earphones are not working at all. This issue can appear on any OS, and many reported that headphones aren’t detected on Windows 10 as well.

That being said, generally speaking, headphones issues can be split into two categories:

• Physical damage
• Software-related issues

Physical damage to your headphones can vary from dropping them on the floor to damaging the cable connection or submerging them into the water.

To avoid issues relating to water, it is recommended that you invest in a good set of sweat and waterproof headphones.

There are situations in which the inconveniences are caused by the OS you’re running on your device, and to that effect, some users have complained about encountering them on their Windows 11 devices.

What issues you may encounter while using headphones?

• Damaging the cable

One of the most common signs of using your headphones wrong is not taking care of the cable. This can cause distorted audio, audio buzzing, or crackling noise, which will result in a bad audio experience.

• Over-using the sound volume

Drivers can sometimes fail, no matter if we’re talking about wireless in-ears or other types of headphones. This issue may occur due to a driver setup that doesn’t have a long life by design.

• Not respecting the Ingress Protection Code (IP Rating)

Some users misunderstand the IP ratings of their headphones. The Ingress Protection rating tells you if your device is resistant to different kinds of interactions.

As you can see from the graphic presented above, the IP rating will be formed out of two digits:

• The first digit stands for protection from solids, like dust, where we note the following aspects:
  • 0 means no protection
  • 6 means total protection
  • X typically means that the producer didn’t test for protection against solids
• The second digit refers to the protection against liquids, where we consider these:
  • 0 represents, again, no protection
  • 8 means an excellent protection

If there’s a hardware problem, you might get No jack information available message on Windows 11.

Are wired headphones better than Bluetooth ones?

Wired headphones usually offer better sound quality and less latency. In addition, they are easier to set up since all that you need to do is to connect them to the audio port on your PC.

On the other hand, wireless models are more convenient to use, and you don’t have to worry about the cables snagging, plus you can move around the room without removing your headphones.

In most cases, Bluetooth headphones are useful if you don’t want to deal with wires, but in most cases, we’d go with wired models instead.

What can I do Windows 11 not recognizing wired headphones?

1. Update your audio drivers

Press Windows key + X and choose Device Manager from the pop-up.

Expand Audio inputs and outputs, then right-click on your headphones, and select Update driver.

Click on Search automatically for drivers.

With this option, Windows will search on your PC for the best available driver and install it on the computer. If the playback device is missing, you might have to update your chipset drivers as well.

To completely eliminate the possibility of causing even more issues, a simpler way to deal with this problem is to use specialized software such as DriverFix.

2. Ensure that the headphones are connected properly

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Some users forget to check the cable connections, and sometimes this can be the cause for no sound on Windows.

When Windows 11 is not detecting wired headphones, you should first make sure that the cable is connected properly to your PC.

If this doesn’t do the trick, you should also consider restarting both your headset and the computer. This will ensure that you will be able to notice if audio jack stops working.

3. Set the headphones as a default sound output

Right-click on the Sound icon from the taskbar, and select Sound settings.

In the Output section select the Headphones option.

This is a simple solution, but it can work if Windows 11 isn’t recognizing wired headphones.

4. Run the sound troubleshooter

Press Windows Key + X and choose Settings from the pop-up that appears.

Select System, then click on Troubleshoot.

Select Other troubleshooters.

Search for Playing Audio, then click on the Run button.

Sometimes a simple solution is all it takes to if headphones are not detected in Windows 11 on Dell devices. Keep in mind that this solution also works for other brands.

5. Update your OS

Click the Search icon found in your Windows Taskbar.

Type update and choose the Check for updates option from the list.

Once the Settings app opens, simply click the blue Check for updates button.

Do headphones require special drivers in order to work?

Most headphones are plug and play, which means that you just need to connect them to your PC and they should start working automatically.

However, high-end models, USB or Bluetooth headphones, might require special drivers in order to work properly.

If your Windows 11 is not detecting headphones mic, it’s possible that there’s a hardware issue present.

Are USB headphones better than 3.5mm audio jack ones?

3.5mm headphones are universal, and they can work with any audio device that has an AUX port.

In order to produce sound, these devices convert audio from digital to analog signal, which can sometimes result in loss of quality.

Wear is also a common problem, which results in noise and other audio-related issues.

On the other hand, USB headphones offer better sound quality, without loss of information. This is achieved thanks to the digital to digital conversion.

We also have to mention that these headphones have their own audio processing system, which results in higher audio quality.

As you can see, there are plenty of solutions you can choose from if your headphones aren’t working in your Windows 11 device. Since these are the best available options, our article should prove helpful.

In most cases, the issue is related to your configuration or drivers, but sometimes your sound card can be the source of the problem.

If you managed to fix the problem, why not consider using headphone software to boost your audio quality even further?

Because your opinion is important to us, do not hesitate to share it in the section below. Also, subscribe to our newsletter to get the most interesting Windows 11 related subjects.

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