PowerPoint headphone audio & video on TV

Ernest Novak 20 Reputation points
2026-06-17T19:32:26.31+00:00

MS Windows 11, PowerPoint version 2605. I have a file with audio embedded in the slides. The PPT and audio play fine on my computer. I can play the sound through a 1/8" headphone cable connected to my stereo. When I connect the HDMI to a TV set, video and audio play OK. When the HDMI cable is connected to the TV I don't have audio on the 1/8" headphone jack.

I would like to play the video on the TV, and audio on my stereo set. I know, I could use an HDMI splitter and an audio stripper, but is there a simple way of playing video on the TV through HDMI and get audio on my computer's headphone jack?

Thank you.

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Microsoft 365 and Office | PowerPoint | For home | Windows
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Answer accepted by question author
Xavier-D 13,400 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2026-06-18T00:49:44.5366667+00:00

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Hello Ernest Novak

Thank you for the detailed explanation about the issue with playing PowerPoint audio you are facing

Has the answer provided by AI able to help you solve this issue? If not, I would like to add an additional trouble shooting method:

If it still switches back to HDMI, go to Settings > System > Sound, then under Output, select the headphone/speaker output as the device to use for playback. Windows also allows setting the preferred output device from this Sound settings area.

If PowerPoint is already open when you change the output device, close and reopen PowerPoint before testing again. Some apps may continue using the audio device that was active when they started.

Feel free reply back to this post if you need further assistance, I'll be happy to help.

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  1. AI answer

    2026-06-17T19:32:35.75+00:00

    Windows normally sends all sound to a single output device at a time. When the HDMI cable is connected, Windows typically switches the default audio output from the PC’s headphone jack to the TV over HDMI, which is why the 1/8" jack goes silent.

    To try to keep (or switch back to) audio on the headphone jack while the TV shows video:

    1. Select the Speakers icon on the taskbar.
    2. Select the arrow to the right of the volume slider to open the list of audio devices.
    3. Choose your PC’s speakers/headphones (the device that drives the 1/8" jack) instead of the TV/HDMI device.

    If that device is selected and audio still goes only to the TV, the hardware/driver combination may not support using HDMI only for video while sending audio to the analog output. In that case, the external splitter/stripper solution is the practical workaround.

    References:

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