windows 11 does not recognize my bluetooth speaker as an audio device

I spent last 3 days looking through the net to find an answer for that... In short - my bluetooth device was connecting to PC, it was visible under Bluetooth devices as connected, with the green dot and all that, but it wasn't listed as an Audio Output device, and it was not possible to "Enable" it in the oldschool audio "playback and input" menu. I have bought new soundbar, because i thought something broke with my previous BT speakers (although those were working absolutely fine with both Android and Apple devices)... Nevertheless, try this:

Go to Settings -> Bluetooth and devices -> (all the way down) More devices and printer setting

Your BT audio output device (soundbar, headphones etc) should be listed there. Right click on it -> Properties -> Hardware tab

In there click on the line which contain "AVRCP" mentioned somewhere within (might need to enlarge column to see it) -> click Properties

In the "general tab" of this new window click -> Change settings

Go to "Driver tab" and choose -> update Driver, then -> Browse my computer for drivers -> Let me pick from a list of available drivers -> AND THEN, choose this exact one -> "Microsoft Bluetooth AVRCP Transport Driver.

Reconnect the device if needed.

It takes around 2 minutes to do all this, hopefully this helps!

Worked for me.

This finally solved it. Thank you!

THIs is hopeless. Very little of what you suggest is apparent or acessable.

W11 the worst operating system ever cannot even run Bluetooth without massive complications.

I'll never buy another MS device again... NEVER

* Open up a Windows Explorer window and paste this in the search bar Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Devices and Printers and press enter

* Click Devices

* Scroll to bottom of page and click More devices and printer settings

* Find the Bluetooth audio device that is not showing up as an audio output

* Right click on the device and select Properties

* Click the Services tab of the device's properties

* In the list of Bluetooth Services, if you see Handsfree Telephony enabled, disable it and click OK

You might need to play around with disabling other services (maybe Audio Sink) if that doesn't work, but Windows is generally a steaming turd so YMMV.

Here is how I fixed this issue on my laptop. I believe the 'Intel Smart Sound Technology drive is the culprit for this issue.

• Intel Smart Sound Technology for Bluetooth Audio
• Intel Smart Sound Technology for Digital Microphones
• Intel Smart Sound Technology for USB Audio

Open Devices and Printers, More Devices and Printer Settings, go to Sound, audio,controllers and uninstall all 3 of them. Restart.
Open the same option again, and then just click on Scan for Hardware changes.

These items will reinstall themselves after you do a 'Scan for hardware changes' so don't worry about uninstalling them. Restart your Windows If you get a prompt for that.

Check your sound setting, and you're done.

I tried literally everything on the internet, right from reddit to quora to other forums. This fixed my issue and is the only fix that worked on my Acer Laptop. let me know if it worked for you.

Thanks a lot for sharing this. This enabled audio output. Mic still doesn't show. I'm using a boat bluetooth headset with lenovo windows 11 laptop.

* Open up a Windows Explorer window and paste this in the search bar Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Devices and Printers and press enter

* Click Devices

* Scroll to bottom of page and click More devices and printer settings

* Find the Bluetooth audio device that is not showing up as an audio output

* Right click on the device and select Properties

* Click the Services tab of the device's properties

* In the list of Bluetooth Services, if you see Handsfree Telephony enabled, disable it and click OK

You might need to play around with disabling other services (maybe Audio Sink) if that doesn't work, but Windows is generally a steaming turd so YMMV.