Headphones recognized as Speakers in Windows 11/10

Have headphones plugged into your PC, but Windows insists on treating them like speakers? This frustrating issue can disrupt your audio experience because your PC fails to apply headphone-specific configurations. This article will look at ways to fix the issue where Headphones are recognized as speakers in Windows 11/10.

Why are my Headphones recognized as Speakers?

Several factors can cause your headphones to be recognized as speakers. These include:

• Incorrect Audio Jack Configurations: If you are on a desktop, the front jack is likely an output-only jack, which causes your headphones to be detected as speakers.
• Outdated Or Faulty Drivers: Drivers are crucial for the performance of any peripheral device, and if your audio drivers need to be updated or corrected, similar issues may arise.
• Windows Settings: Sometimes, Windows settings might be configured to treat all devices as speakers.
• Hardware Issues: In rare cases, your PC’s hardware may not be able to distinguish between headphones and speakers.

Fix Headphones recognized as Speakers in Windows 11/10

This section will suggest a few fixes for the issue of headphones being recognized as speakers in Windows. Make sure to use an administrator account.

1] Use Splitter

If your PC had a single jack for audio input and output on the front end, it could lead to devices being detected as speakers. To fix this, you can use an audio splitter, which allows you to plug in the mic and headphones jacks separately in the jacks from the rear end of your PC cabinet, allowing your headphones to be detected as headphones.

2] Update or Reinstall Audio Drivers

Corrupt or outdated audio drivers are one of the prime causes of this issue. You can either update your audio drivers if updates are available or try to reinstall them:

• To check for driver updates and update them, go to Windows settings (Win +I) and open the Windows updates section in the left pane.
• In the Windows Update section, find Advanced options.
• Please scroll down to find the Optional Updates option and then open it.
• If you see an update available for the audio drivers on your PC, download and install the update from there.

You can install the OEM driver, if any, or keep using what Windows installed. Ensure that the issue is resolved after making every change.

To reinstall the audio drivers on your PC, you need to head over to the device manager:

• Right-click the Windows start icon and open Device Manager.
• In the Device Manager, please scroll down to find Sound, video and game controllers and expand it.
• Now, find the speaker drivers (often named Realtek ® Audio), right-click it, and click Uninstall device.

• To reactivate the hardware, right-click the space in Device Manager and scan for hardware changes. 

Windows will automatically scan and reinstall the device and install the default driver.

Read: External Microphone being recognized as Headphones

Headphones and Speakers are registered as the same in Windows

If your headphones and speakers are registered as the same, the chances are that there is an issue with either the default audio drivers on your PC or some basic hardware and software issues. Here are two ways you can fix them.

1] Switch to Windows’ default HD audio driver

Most PCs are shipped with the Realtek HD audio drivers, but the same is laden with issues for many users, and in such a case, switching to the Windows default HD audio driver can fix all those issues. Here’s how:

• Open Device Manager by right-clicking the Windows Start icon.
• In the Device Manager, please scroll down to the Sound, video and game controllers section and expand it.
• In it, right-click the Realtek Audio driver and open properties.

• Head to the Driver tab in the properties window and click Update Driver.

• Click Browser my computer for drivers and then click Let me pick from the list of available drivers on my computer.

• From the list, select High Definition Audio Device and proceed.

2] Make a few initial checks

If there are issues with your headphones and speakers being registered as the same, ensure the basics are checked. Firstly, make sure that both devices are working fine. To check this, try plugging them into a different PC. Also, if you are plugging your headphones and speakers in the mono jack, try plugging the headphones in the split jack (usually found at the rear end of the cabinet) to check if the headphones are still detected as speakers.

We hope that you found this article helpful and that you were able to fix the headphones’ being recognized as a speaker issue.

How do I change my default audio device?

In Windows, go to Settings > Sound and select the audio device you want to set as default. On the device page, select is default for audio next to set as default device label.

Why cannot I hear the sound in my headphones?

Your headphones seem either not connected to your PC or not set as the default audio device. You can change the default audio device from Windows settings to resolve this. Alternatively, if you are using an application, you can check its settings to make sure your headphones are selected as the default audio device for that particular app.