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Hello,
Windows 11 keeps swapping between audio output devices at random times. Even if I "don't allow" a device in the settings or disable it through 'more sound settings'. Sometimes it happens after a reboot, sometimes it just does it for no reason. Sometimes it goes well for a day, maybe two, and then it'll swap things around again.
Is there a way for me to 'lock' the output device? My default device is set as the default. Sometimes it changes volume to maximum after a swap which you can probably understand is very inconvenient.
Did I miss a setting somewhere?
I'm using my earbuds plugged in to one of my monitors and the monitor is connected through DP, so the audio controller is my graphics card (nvidia) rather than the on-board one.
Can anyone help me out?
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.
Hi, I had a similar issue and managed to fix it. It happened after I reinstalled Windows 11. The audio output kept switching between the built-in audio and my Galaxy Earbuds 3 when connected. My laptop is a Lenovo Ideapad 3, and I updated the Realtek audio driver from the Lenovo website. The issue was fixed after installation. Hope this helps anyone trying to find a solution. Best of luck.
This is a wrong headed design decision associated with USB hotplug that surfaced at windows 10.
Whenever a new audio device is plugged in, the system default audio is set to the new device.
This is exactly the wrong approach. If I set laptop speakers or similar to the default, when I plug in a music or communications audio device it should not override that default.
You don't want system noises going out the music/communications interface.
Happens every reboot, or if you undock/redock the laptop.
It's not a driver issue, happens independent of audio device. It's a hot plug issue.
Again, this worked fine in Win 7, it was a conscious change at Win 10 apparently.
Only thing I can figure is the devs felt users were too dumb to know they could change the default to a new device if desired.
At the minimum, there should be a check box to allow that behavior to be disabled. IE: Pin the system default to a specific device even if new ones are plugged in.
The most frustrating thing about this issue, is that my preferred audio device is set as "default", so why does Windows 11 not respect that and switch audio device when a new device is connected?
I can only conclude that the "Set default" option in the Control Panel->Hardware and Sound->Sound is broken and MS doesn't know how to fix it, or its a very low priority on their backlog.
I have a similar problem. It does not appear to change source by it self, but there may be no sound on the speakers - even though settings show them active. System sounds come through, but not video or mp3 sounds from e.g. browser or VLC. Usually, connecting my earphones will direct the sound to my earphones. When I take them out, sound often returns to the speakers - but not always - WHY?
Then sometimes, one browser will play and another one will not. Also, changing from Stereo to mono and back to stereo sometimes works. But what is really weird is that the sound may come back 10 secs AFTER I made the switch. How on earth does that happen.
I think it got fixxed with the latest w11 insider build because for me it doesnt switch by itself anymore
