Windows 11 | No Hands free mode for bluetooth earphones

Anonymous
2021-11-04T05:17:20+00:00

Hi,

So, yesterday I upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11 and everything seemed to be working fine until I connected my bluetooth earphones.

When you connect your bluetooth earphones you expect to see two output devices, Headset (music) and Hands-Free mode (voice) but I can only see the Headset mode.

I checked the earphone properties from the Device Manager and I can see "Hands-Free telephony" in the Services tab but in the Output Devices, the hands-free mode is not visible at all.

I've tried everything from re-connecting to reinstalling drivers but nothing seems to be working.

This is preventing from attending any Meetings on apps like Google Meet or Microsoft Teams.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Regards,

Kartikey

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Devices and drivers

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-01-12T02:29:49+00:00

    Okay. This is VERY VERY weird. If a sysadmin can explain to me how this could happen that would be nice.

    It WORKS ONLY IF I go to the control panel -> sound(large icon) -> Recording tab.

    The moment I go the recording tab. IT WORKS LIKE MAGIC. The moment I close the sound settings, The headphones STOP WORKING. This is incredibly weird. Try it out to see if it works.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-12-03T08:01:06+00:00

    Hi Joseph,

    Thanks for this deep dive. But it does not help: No Bluetooth audio available in Microsoft Teams!

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  3. JosephT71 9,220 Reputation points
    2021-12-02T23:39:59+00:00

    Since Windows 7, it has been:

    • Set as default device - Audio from all programs will be played through this audio device unless otherwise configured
    • Set as default communications device - All calls and video call audio will be played through this audio device unless otherwise directed

    Read the Microsoft post I linked, Windows 11 is merely hiding the confusing 2 separate audio endpoints and combining into a single icon.

    It doesn't change anything.

    It is 2 separate devices because the Bluetooth protocol is specified as 2 separate devices. Nothing to do with "bad software design".

    There is no high quality mode that has microphone access.

    It's either:

    1. 8 kHz codec mic with mono sound
    2. stereo sound with no mic

    Or.

    1. selected high priced corporate (i.e. Plantronics) Bluetooth headsets that has 16 kHz "wideband" codec mic with mono sound.

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-12-02T20:26:18+00:00

    I'm running into the same issue running a new Dell Inspiron laptop and a Conambo K10C BT5.0 single ear headset. With Windows 10, I was able to switch devices to the hands-free version which reduces the quality and allows me more range to walk around freely. With Windows 11, it appears to be stuck in the high-quality mode which sounds very echo-ey and gives me a limited range of only 10-15 ft away from the laptop. I'll try the work-around mentioned on page 2.

    As Kartikey has emphasized, this does appear to be a Windows issue and not a driver issue. I can select the Hands-Free mic from apps like Teams just fine. Windows REALLY needs better Bluetooth management to select a specific audio profile. I know Windows sees two devices but this is a technical artifact of a bad software design. I definitely hope Microsoft addresses this because Bluetooth is one of the biggest pain points in Windows. Users should be able to select a system-wide or app-specific profile of a single audio device without having to confused!

    Thanks for listening!

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  5. Anonymous
    2021-12-01T09:41:35+00:00

    Hi Joseph,

    Thanks for this Enlightening! It's not a bug, it's a feature :-) ! Unfortunately this "feature" does not work for me.

    The Bluetooth headeset is set as the default communication device: Does not help....

    Current workaround: use bluetooth headset with cable!

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