How to Fix Audio Services Not Responding in Windows 10

How to fix Audio services not responding in Windows 10: So you have been using Windows 10 for quite a while but suddenly one day out of nowhere an error pops up saying “Audio services not responding” and audio is no longer working on your PC. Don’t worry this is totally fixable but let’s first understand why you are getting such an error.

How to Fix Audio Services Not Responding in Windows 10

The Audio service not running error can occur because of outdated or incompatible audio drivers, audio related services might not be running, incorrect permission for Audio services, etc. In any case, without wasting any time let’s see How to Fix Audio services not responding in Windows 10 with the help of the below-listed troubleshooting steps.

Audio services not responding in Windows 10 Fix:

A suggestion by Rosy Baldwin that seem to work for every user, so I have decided to include in the main article:

1.  Press Windows key + R then type services.msc and hit Enter to open the Windows services list.

Press Windows Key + R then type services.msc

2. Find Windows Audio in the services list, press W to find it easily.

3. Right-click on Windows Audio then select Properties.

Right-click on Windows Audio then select Properties

4. From the Properties window navigate to the “Log on” tab.

Navigate to Log On Tab | Fix Audio Services Not Responding in Windows 10

5. Next, select This account and make sure Local Service is selected with Password.

Note: If you don’t know the password then either you can type a new password and click OK to save changes. Or else you can click on the Browse button then click on the Advanced button. Now click on Find Now button then select LOCAL SERVICE from the search results and click OK.

From the Log on tab select This account and make sure Local Service is selected with Password

Now click on Find Now button then select LOCAL SERVICE from the search results. 

6. Click Apply followed by OK to save changes.

7. If you’re not able to save changes then first you need to change the settings for another service called Windows Audio Endpoint Builder.

8. Right-click on Windows Audio Endpoint Builder and select Properties. Now navigate to the “Log on” tab.

9. From the “Log on” tab select Local System account.

From Log on tab of Windows Audio Endpoint Builder select Local System account

10. Click Apply followed by Ok to save changes.

11. Now again try to change the settings of the Windows Audio from the “Log on” tab and this time you will be successful.

Method 1: Start Windows Audio services

1. Press Windows key + R then type services.msc and hit Enter to open the Windows services list.

Press Windows Key + R then type services.msc

2. Now locate the following services:

Windows Audio 
Windows Audio Endpoint Builder 
Plug and Play

Locate Windows Audio, Windows Audio Endpoint Builder, Plug and Play services

3. Make sure their Startup Type is set to Automatic and the services are Running, either way, restart all of them once again.

Right-click on Audio Services and select Restart | Fix Audio Services Not Responding in Windows 10

4. If the Startup type is not Automatic then double-click the services and inside the property, window set them to Automatic.

Note: You may need to first stop the service by clicking on the Stop button in order to set the service to Automatic. Once done, click on the Start button to again enable the service.

Make sure the Startup type is set to Automatic

5. Press Windows Key + R then type msconfig and hit Enter to open System Configuration.

Type “msconfig” in the Run dialog & hit Enter for launching the System Configuration

6. Switch to the Services tab and make sure the above services are checked in the System configuration window.

Windows audio and windows audio endpoint msconfig running

7. Restart your computer to apply these changes.

Method 2: Start Windows Audio Components

1. Press Windows key + R then type services.msc

Press Windows Key + R then type services.msc

2. Locate Windows Audio service and double click it to open properties.

3. Switch to the Dependencies tab and expand the components listed in “This service depends on the following system components.”

Under Windows Audio Properties switch to the Dependencies tab | Fix Audio Services Not Responding in Windows 10

4. Now make sure all the components listed above are Started and Running in the services.msc

Make sure Remote Procedure Call and RPC Endpoint Mapper are running

5. Finally, restart the Windows Audio services and Reboot to apply changes.

See if you’re able to fix Audio services not responding in Windows 10 error, if not, then continue with the next method.

Method 3: Uninstall Sound drivers

1. Download and Install CCleaner.

2. Go to the Registry window on the left, then scan for all the problems and let it fix them.

Delete Temporary Files used by Programs using CCleaner

3. Next, press Windows Key + R then type devmgmt.msc and hit enter to open Device Manager.

devmgmt.msc device manager

4. Expand Sound, video, and game controllers and click on the sound device then select Uninstall.

uninstall sound drivers from sound,video and game controllers

5. Now confirm the uninstall by clicking OK.

confirm device uninstall

6. Finally, in the Device Manager window, go to Action and click on Scan for hardware changes.

action scan for hardware changes | Fix Audio Services Not Responding in Windows 10

7. Restart to apply changes.

Method 4: Restore Registry key from Antivirus

1. Open your anti-virus and go to the virus vault.

2. From the system tray right-click on Norton Security and select “View Recent History.

norton security view recent history

3. Now select “Quarantine” from the Show drop-down.

select quarantine from show norton

4. Inside Quarantine or virus vault search for the Audio device or services that are quarantined.

5. Look for registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CURRENTCONTROL and if the registry key ends in:

AUDIOSRV.DLL
AUDIOENDPOINTBUILDER.DLL

6. Restore them and Restart to apply changes.

7. See if you’re able to resolve the “Audio services not responding in Windows 10” issue, otherwise repeat steps 1 and 2.

Method 5: Modify Registry key

1. Press Windows Key + R then type regedit and hit enter to open Registry Editor.

Run command regedit

2. Now inside Registry editor navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\AudioEndPointBuilder\Parameters

3. Locate ServicDll and if the value is %SystemRoot%\System32\Audiosrv.dll, this is the cause of the problem.

Locate ServicDll under Windows Registry | Fix Audio Services Not Responding in Windows 10

4. Replace the default value under Value data with this:

%SystemRoot%\System32\AudioEndPointBuilder.dll

Replace the default value of ServiceDLL to this

5. Restart your PC to apply changes.

Method 6: Run Audio Troubleshooter

1. Press Windows Key + I to open Settings then click on Update & Security. 

Press Windows Key + I to open Settings then click on Update & security icon

2. From the left-hand menu select Troubleshoot.

3. Now under the “Get up and running” heading click on Playing Audio.

4. Next, click on “Run the troubleshooter” under Playing Audio.

Click on Run the Troubleshooter under Playing Audio | Fix Audio Services Not Responding in Windows 10

5. Try the suggestions by the troubleshooter and if any issues are found, you need to give permission to the troubleshooter to fix Audio services not responding error.

Try the suggestions by the troubleshooter-min

6. The troubleshooter will automatically diagnose the issue and ask you if you want to apply the fix or not.

7. Click Apply this fix and Reboot to apply changes.

Recommended for you:

If you have followed each and every step according to this guide then you just fixed the issue “Audio services not responding”  but if you still have any queries regarding this post feel free to ask them in the comment section.

51 thoughts on “How to Fix Audio Services Not Responding in Windows 10”

  1. I tried every single step, restarted every single step, yet my “windows audio service” is still unable to start. I tried resetting windows and an error came up that didn’t allow me to. I have no options at this point???

    1. Thanks for this link. I have had this no sound problem since I installed an SSD in an old windows 7 PC.

      Using the BennyC076 note I found the High Definition Audio Controller in the device manager page with an exclamation mark and the yellow triangle on it. Using BennyC076’s solution did not work immediately.

      Eventually, using other comments in your link, I found the “plug and play” service through the dependencies for the AudioWindows service had not started – even though it was on automatic start.

      So I restarted the plug and play service and went back to device manager after another system restart. Still had the yellow triangle on the High Definition Adio controller in device manager. Tried all the solutions in the BennyC076 post to no avail.

      Tried all the other options for drivers, deactivate/reactivate but still no joy. So I tried disinstalling the device. Horror of horrors it dissapeared. Tried another desperate system restart and got an error message saying the system was looking for drivers for a PCI device through Windows Update. After 30 minutes wait – still no joy, so clicked on “do not use windows update”. After another few minutes search the system found the original driver on my PC! Driver loaded – sound back on.

  2. Not sure if my issue might be related, but I have an issue with a Win10 Home PC (MeeGo) that boots the Intel SST Audio Device speaker to 37 while the HDMI connected device reboot where ever I last left the audio level. Wondering if there is a solution?

  3. I got this problem after a restart and none of the options worked as I was unable even to stop/ restart the Windows audio in services. Turns out I got my problem because I had changed my power plan/ options the day before. It wasn’t until changing it back and restarting that it worked as usual.

  4. I also have this problem. All look to be working OK, but no sound with the error “audio service not responding”.

  5. Had this problem with no Audio, no Cortana/Taskbar search, and a region stuck in Afghanistan after resetting my PC. Tried the above steps to fix audio, but to no avail.

    At my wits end, I used Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool on their website to re-install Win10, and to my amazement all the aforementioned issues were resolved.

    Hope this helps the next person Google-ing a solution.

  6. So I had the same problem, I tried a lot of things and all was supposedly ‘working’ but I had the same ‘No Audio Output Devices Installed’ and ‘Audio Services not responding’ problem showing and the red x on the speaker icon. But I freaking fixed it, in my own way. Im sharing it here incase someone would need it. Though its slightly risky.

    I went to HP Recovery Manager and clicked on the Windows System Restore.
    There, you can see which installs, updates or any changes affected your apps.
    It explains that you can return to the same state it was in before the update, install etc.
    When I checked the list of affected programs deleted, I saw something that said ‘Semiconductor’ I didn’t get to read the full name or write it down but I think it also said ‘Realtek’ and thought that maybe that was why no audio would play no matter what I did. (Assuming that as long as ‘Realtek’ was involved, its connected to my audio problem)
    So I went back to that state that the system was in before the event under the ‘Critical Update’ type named Windows Update and let the computer do its job.
    When it restarted, the problem was thankfully solved!

    Dont worry about your files getting deleted, but do check the ‘Scan for affected
    Programs’ before you click Next.

    Now I have a feeling that the reason why I had this problem was because I didnt let the update continue and stopped it numerous times. And I really didnt want the Windows 10 update- we should be given a choice whether we want the update or not, seriously. But I hope this helps? If anyone’s confused, ask I’ll try to answer.

  7. My MIC did not work. In any app. Tried everything, none worked.
    BUT went to PRIVACY Settings in Windows 10 and checked “allow apps to access the mic.”
    SOLVED

  8. Avatar photo
    Bradley Loudermelk

    My computer is showing that the sound is working fine as far as it showing the volume lever in the volume mixer. I have no sound or mic either. I have no red X over my speaker in the task bar. I’ve installed every new driver possible and nothing. What should I do!? Please help!

  9. hello evryone all people who have this problem i dont want notting only i wantto tell u real solution of your roblem
    ther is only one soultion is this
    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10startfresh
    use this tools to make your windows lik new its online u have choice to keep ur file document video and picture u have choice to keep ore reset all .
    when u finish nothing gonna change on ur desktop u can keep everything safe
    i have 4mg conection ads and time i spend is 8hour ore 10 to make my audio work again
    i try all but only this tool work for me thx after u audio work say ( lah irham lwalidin) ur bro hicham from morocco

  10. So I tried the first one (well, all of them, but the first is where I got farthest), but it won’t let me click “restart”. It shows the button is there, but it’s grey, not black, and won’t let me click on it. Any tips? It seems to be where the problem is — it says “stopped” as opposed to “running”.

  11. Many thanks. You’ve saved me more headache.

    I used the Device Manager to uninstall the sound driver. The computer reinstalled the driver automatically. Your method worked perfectly.

  12. I followed each and every step. Nothing worked, got very frustrated until i tried Gerhard’s recommendation and it worked perfectly. This should be step 1 before going through all of these other steps. Will save you an hour at least!

    “Gerhard Volk
    I went to msconfig. In General I Checked “Normal system start” and rebooted the system. Worked perfectly!”

  13. Microsoft removed sound drivers form manufactures (OEM)

    the 2018 driver for Real-tech Audio can not be removed, or deleted or overwritten with a 2019 drivers from the OEM. It is Microsoft’s GOD DAM Fault. They must have used the Trustedinstaler security permission to prevent the denstallation of the MS driver. I will blast this on the internet. You fucked up assholes. How many users had to re-install Windows 10 to over come the MS’s deception. Everyone should complain. Loud.

  14. Microsoft removed sound drivers form manufactures (OEM)
    the 2018 driver for Real-tech Audio can not be removed, or deleted or overwritten with a 2019 drivers from the OEM. It is Microsoft’s GOD DAM Fault. They must have used the Trustedinstaler security permission to prevent the de-installation of the MS driver. I will blast this on the internet. You fucked up assholes. How many users had to re-install Windows 10 to over come the MS’s deception. Everyone should complain. Loud.

  15. Hi. I wrote the above comment to help solve the audio problem with the Windows 10 update, but I see that I inadvertently put “LOCAL ACCOUNT” instead of “LOCAL SERVICE” in the last 3 paragraphs. 🙁 “LOCAL SERVICE” should replace “LOCAL ACCOUNT” in all incidences where it occurs. I apologize for the errors. I guess I’ve been trouble-shooting this problem for the better part of a week and I’m rather fatigued! Here is my revised version. Thanks.

    Hi. I am on a Windows 8.1 OS Acer Aspire laptop but my sister owns an Acer Aspire running Windows 10. Shortly after the latest Windows updates (including KB4515384) were installed, her audio refused to work! For the past week, I’ve tried every fix I could find from scouring the web for countless hours. I want to thank everyone for posting their technical advice regarding this sound dilemma. I had reached the point of deciding to toss my sister’s laptop into the nearest trashcan and to buy her a new one! Here is a partial list of what I tried:

    1. Reinstalling sound drivers from Realtek numerous times, rebooting after each installation
    2. Inputting net localgroup Administrators /add localservice via Windows Shell (Administrator)
    3. Running sfc/scannow , and then Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth, many times, eventually not getting any “errors” in my reports but STILL NOT GETTING SOUND
    4. Troubleshooting and always getting the “Audio services not responding/Not fixed” error
    5. Turning off “Enhancements” in the Realtek settings utility and trying different Sample Rates and Bit Depths in the Default Format window but I got no sound but only the dreaded “Error! Failed to play test tone” message endlessly
    6. I set the “Normal Boot” option in the Configuration setting
    7. I tweaked some settings in the Registry (after exporting a clean copy of it first!!), per detailed instructions from various tech sites
    8. I turned on, off, restarted and made sure that my Services showed Windows Audio Services and Windows Audio Endpoint Builder were Running and set to Automatic and STILL I got nary a sound from her Realtek speakers nor from my Bose Mini II Soundlink Bluetooth speakers.
    9. I uninstalled the Windows 10 KB4515384 patch twice
    10. I did a System Restore
    11. I kept searching far afield for the answer to this frustrating problem of “Audio Services Not Responding.” After too many late hours and too much coffee, I decided that her laptop’s motherboard and/or sound module must be faulty!!! and I opened up one easily accessible panel in the back, gently wiggled the hard drive and RAM chip but saw no loose wires or anything. I was too exhausted (wisely!) to open up the entire laptop back and examine the mobo for the sound module. I was getting so desperate to solve my audio problem that I planned to open up the entire computer the next day, as a last resort.
    12. Then…EUREKA! I was examining my own Windows 8.1 laptop’s Services screen and because my own sound was FINE, I decided to see if my settings looked different than my sister’s (taking into account that we ran different operating systems). Right away I saw that my “Windows Audio” showed “Running”, “Automatic” and “Local Service” while my sister’s computer showed “Windows Audio” displayed “Running”, “Automatic” and “Local System” for that parameter!! I highlighted and double-clicked the Windows Audio line and opened the Log On tab. That’s where I saw that “Local Service” could not be activated unless one used the second option: “This account” with an accompanying password. I took note that I could not use that option unless I made sure that “Local Service” was typed in that top window, before the password. I pasted my sister’s Computer Name as the Password and re-pasted it to confirm it. It appears that if you try to change the Services parameters for the Windows Audio Services [but not the Audio Endpoint Builder which can be changed with the first option, “Local System Account”] you will NOT get the proper services for your audio and will get the “Audio Services Not Responding” error forever. 🙁 Remember, this is accessible by opening the Log On tab from double-clicking the main entry; same window that also opens the “Dependencies” tab.
    13. I was very nervous, waiting to see if this “minor” change was really my answer….and it WAS!! SOLVED at LAST! YouTube videos played and my sister’s Realtek and Bluetooth both worked flawlessly.

    On analysis, it appears that the Windows 10 update or some other computer quirk erased the “Local Service” line in my second option and I did not have the normal Administrator privileges necessary to change parameters in the Audio part of Services. I was forced to use the improper first option and thus, did not have a correct connection to the proper audio services. In other words, for Windows Audio Services, you MUST use the second option with the passwords, making sure that you have “Local Service” on the first line when it asks you to input a name. I hope this helps!

    As a footnote, if your second option shows dots for passwords already, see if you can let them be and merely input the “Local Service” title mentioned above, because like you, I hate messing with passwords or trying to guess them. While in my sister’s case, her computer name seemed to work fine, I notice that on my account I have a rather long password indicated by dots, but my own computer’s name is very short!? :O

    1. I have deleted the last comment and thank you for sharing the solution that works for you since this will help other users.

  16. Rosy – thank you very much – I have spent over a week and bought a new sound card after a Windows update but could not get sound to output no matter all the other suggestions that people posted.

    I finally came across yours and tried it – and it worked !!!!!!

    Again thank you for posting this.

  17. Hi Rosy Baldwin,

    A ton of thanks! Tried EVERY possible measure – drivers, services, managers, etc. Nothing worked. ONLY your gem of an idea worked. Come to think of it, it wasn’t even the main article. It was just a comment on the main topic. However, it was what has provided succour to so many hapless users.

    Thanks again!

  18. Thank you so much!!!!
    I’ve been having this issue for almost a month now
    And i just realized that changing the log on options to local service was the main solution after surfing the web all this time!!! Thanks alot

  19. Avatar photo
    Roberto Tuda Rivas

    My computer got fixed once I applied the Windows Audio service logon configuration suggested above. If you apply this Method, follow the instructions exactly as they are explained. The sound came back magically. I had spent about 10 hours in 2 days trying with versions of the other methods presented (I did not tweak the registry though).
    This page is the only one I have found that presents the Windows Audio service logon configuration solution. Had I seen it in the first place and those 10 hours of mine would have been better spent.
    Thanks a lot.

  20. Thank you! Thank you!! Thank you!!! Aditya. Your curiosity, your love for your sister, your endurance made my laptop alive like before.??

  21. Had exactly same problem which i assume was caused by an update late last month
    All of the above did not fix the problem on my Acer Aspire
    Went to Device Manager /Software Components/
    In there – are 3 Realtek Services – Audio Effects Component ,Audio Universal and Hardware Support App
    I uninstalled all 3 ,restarted PC and all fixed
    Yahoo ! What a frigging nightmare

  22. You are a real hero–after hours of trying to figure this out Method 1 worked. My parameters were set differently. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!!

  23. Avatar photo
    Nyanchula Sauti

    I have tried alot of solutions which show the simillar steps as shown here, there is no doubt these solutions work for other people, but there is a solution which is not so popular and worked for me, the one below.

    “Gerhard Volk
    I went to msconfig. In General I Checked “Normal system start” and rebooted the system. Worked perfectly!”

  24. I LEGIT TIRED EVERYTHING!!! I came here and i dont know what exactly i did but it worked!!!!!! 12 fucking hours of testing shit and this worked!!

  25. Aditya, this is the most thorough range of methodologies I have found on the internet after weeks of searching and applying a range of ‘fixes’.

    Some of those other ‘fixes’ I am sure after reading your blog were inaccurate.
    In particular, I wanted to be sure how the ‘Logon’ should be set for Windows AudioEndpoint Builder. Notably it has to be set a ‘Local System’.

    My ‘RPC Locator’ in services was stated as running. However, when I referred to the Windows startup file for MSConfig after a cold boot, it stated it was not running after setting the above AudioEndpoint Builder ‘Logon’ to ‘Local System’.

    I re-entered services.msc and found it set to ‘Manual’. I altered this to ‘Automatic’ and a cold boot later found the speakers were again working.

    Thanks so much for listing the various methods to overcome this issue. I had about given up and now are stoked.
    Cheers Tim

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