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
    2022-08-23T01:53:00+00:00

    You are correct Carlo. Windows 10 had the handsfree option under the microphone. Windows 11 doesn't have that option anywhere. Every time I do a Zoom meeting I have to go into tge Zoom settings and make sure my Bluetooth headset/microphone are selected. In Windows 10 I didn't have to do that....

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-08-19T23:37:56+00:00

    Well spotted - this does sound relevant and suggests the issue is at the Windows level rather than Teams.

    Not clear to me how to ensure this issue is formally lodged (discussion here is just a community chat not a bug report). There is a link at the bottom of the insider blog but this doesn't seem like correct channel.

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-08-09T23:40:12+00:00

    Yes, factory reset as I said. Your link is for the buds. Relevant link for the headset is

    https://helpguide.sony.net/mdr/wh1000xm4/v1/en/contents/TP0002752746.html#:~:text=Turn%20off%20the%20headset%20while,and%20the%20headset%20is%20initialized.

    Windows version is 21H2 build 22000.856

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-08-09T16:53:22+00:00

    Hi logularjason,

    Your case and mine may be different.

    My case is very similar to Kartikey's case.

    This did not work for me. Model is WH-1000MX4. I tried deleting all connections under windows 11 followed by a factory reset and reconnection.

    Does "factory reset" mean "Initialize the earbuds to restore factory settings" on the following site? https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/wireless-headphones-bluetooth-headphones/wf-1000xm4/articles/00264029#Initialize

    Also, unrelated or not, I have done the following operations

    • Unregistered all audio devices from my iPhone and iPad.
    • Uninstalled the pre-installed THX Spacial Audio.
    • Downloaded and installed the latest drivers from Intel.

    Windows version is 21H2.

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  5. Anonymous
    2022-08-09T10:09:33+00:00

    This did not work for me. Model is WH-1000MX4. I tried deleting all connections under windows 11 followed by a factory reset and reconnection.

    Status: MS Teams still does not show the hands-free bluetooth profile and if I try and use these headphones with my Yeti mic, there is no sound to the headphones.

    I *do* see the two bluetooth profiles under device manager (in both bluetooth and sound devices). So, it seems to me that Windows is OK but MS Teams is not.

    In case it's helpful, when placing a test call in MS Teams, I can initially hear the call commence but MS Teams seems to cutt off the sound to the headset shortly after the call starts - it's actually quite obvious when the audio is cut.

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