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

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-11-04T07:33:51+00:00

    Good Day Kartikey,

    I appreciate your time getting back to this thread, it is the Bluetooth driver of the laptop.

    Have a wonderful day ahead and stay safe.

    Sincerely,

    Carlo T.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-11-04T07:32:04+00:00

    Hi RottweilerX,

    I agree with you that bluetooth is a completely different technology than Windows.

    The reason I posted this here is that the bluetooth modes were working fine on Windows 10.

    As soon as I upgraded to Windows 11 on the same laptop the Headset (for video-conferencing) mode is no longer visible.

    I'm using the same earphones and the same laptop, the only thing that changed was upgrading to Windows 11.

    This makes me believe that the issue is due to Windows 11 OR I need to do something else to get this working in Windows 11 which apparently I cannot find anywhere online.

    Thanks,

    Kartikey

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-11-04T07:22:01+00:00

    Hi Carlo,

    Do you mean the Bluetooth driver of the laptop OR the driver of the earphones themselves?

    Both have separate drivers in the bluetooth section of Device Manager.

    Thanks,

    Kartikey

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-11-04T07:21:05+00:00

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

    Sorry, that's not correct.

    When you pair Bluetooth earphones with Windows, you should expect to see two Bluetooth profiles in Windows:

    • Headphones, for listening to music; and
    • Headset, for video-conferencing.

    The Hands-free profile is for controlling a device with voice commands, and the most well-known applications are Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

    What's confusing, and frustrating, is that Bluetooth is its own technology, separate from Windows, so if you're having trouble with Bluetooth, you need to ask for help from the device manufacturer - in your case, the earphone manufacturer - not from Microsoft. Any advice you get here centers around reinstalling the device or the Bluetooth software, which only helps temporarily if it helps at all.

    Adding to the confusion and the frustration is that these three profiles were originally designed to be used with a mobile device - a phone, mostly - not a computer. So device manufacturers need to find a way to 'make it work' with a computer.

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  5. Anonymous
    2021-11-04T06:46:53+00:00

    Good Day Kartikey,

    I appreciate your time getting back to this thread, please proceed with these steps.

    -Go to Device Manager

    -Expand the Bluetooth

    -Look for Bluetooth driver that was installed

    -Right click and Uninstall

    Once uninstalled, go to this link below and click "Let HP Detect Your Product"

    https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/laptops

    Locate the latest Bluetooth driver, check if there's a driver that was release for Windows 11.

    Download and install it , restart once done and check.

    Have a wonderful day ahead and stay safe.

    Sincerely,

    Carlo T.

    Standard Disclaimer: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.

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