In case your VLC Media player suddenly has no more sound, and you are running Vista or Windows 7, why don’t you check your audio mixer? You may have set it to mute at some point, and forgotten all about it. Windows will remember these settings and mute the program the next time around as well. Here’s how to get there:
- At the bottom right in the startbar near your clock, there’s a small speaker icon:
- Double-click it
- Click on ‘Mixer’
- If you have VLC media player running, it should show up in the mixer:
5. Unmute VLC Media player here and close.
6. Your sound works again! Enjoy the movie!
50 comments
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Larry
February 3, 2011 at 22:19 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
VLC media player is running and has video, but it does not show up in the mixer.
Running Vista
admin
February 4, 2011 at 07:45 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Hi Larry,
Have you checked whether you have
1) Audio enabled (Tools>Preferences>Audio>Enable audio
2) Set the correct output module? (Tools>Preferences>Audio>Output)
It seems to me that if VLC isn’t showing up at all in your sound mixer, it may be that VLC isn’t sending any sounds to your mixer, causing this behaviour.
Dominique
CS
April 14, 2013 at 05:57 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
How about for windows 7? the Vlc nor the amp media player doesnt show up. I cant hear any sound. huhuhu. please help me.
Karin
July 7, 2011 at 18:48 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
I have the same problem as Larry and i am running windows xp. I have checked the audio like you said previous and it s still not working. Really dont know why my audio suddenly stopped since it worked before!
Many thanks
maung chan
July 31, 2011 at 13:15 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
i had sound problem with vlc player ,i followed ur instruction and solved
thanks
maung chan
Mason
September 27, 2011 at 10:37 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
i downloaded a codec, for VLC 1.1.1 and i still have no sound but i do have a perfect picture. am i doing something wrong wtf lol
Bjorn Sigurdsson
November 13, 2011 at 22:07 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Thanks very much! I have this problem for 4 months and finally it is solved, thanks!
mike
November 20, 2011 at 19:17 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
After messing about with preferences, uninstalling, reinstalling, rebooting….and being completely stuck, found you on google and realised i’m an idiot! Thank you
John
November 27, 2011 at 20:44 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Nop! Mine stll doesn’t work! Funny the mixer shows there is sound but nothing comes out through the speakers.
xenia
April 26, 2012 at 13:24 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Hi i have exactly the same using windows 7. mixer showes its not muted other players have sound but vlc doesnt… shows that there is sound shows perfect video but nothing to hear.., Did you fix it? if yes how please?
Yab Rajiv Camder
December 6, 2011 at 08:19 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
I hav sound problem in vlc, but i did it through ur instruction and i solved D problem quickly..
thanks…
Prasam
December 13, 2011 at 12:17 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Totally worked!!!!…………Thanx
sam
March 10, 2012 at 18:33 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Totally worked……………………Thanks mate.
Glenn M. Eades
April 2, 2012 at 09:26 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Fixed it… but for the benefit of others, let me provide a few more details.
I left the VLC player playing in the background.
I opened the audio mixer on my Win XP machine, and found only like 4 of the available items was showing.
I clicked on properties and enabled all items.
Then I found that the Aux and Mic faders were muted. So, I unmuted the Mic and suddenly the sound came back.
I remuted the Mic, and the sound kept playing.
So, just for good measure, I unmuted the Aux and the MIc, and then remuted the Aux and the Mic, and VLC player kept playing audio just fine.
Thanks for the heads up on tinkering with the Audio Mixer settings. It doesn’t have to be what’s obvious or makes sense, but whatever changes are written to the system when those mixer settings are muted or unmuted sure did the trick for me.
Glenn M. Eades
April 2, 2012 at 09:30 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
P.S. In Windows XP VLC Player does not show up in the audio mixer as a separate item. If you don’t see it there, don’t worry, it’s not supposed to be there. XP doesn’t add programs to the audio mixer… programs are just routed through the mixer as they need to be in Windows XP.
Marta
April 29, 2012 at 11:46 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
I’m having this issue on Windows 7. The audio does show a separate line for VLC (which is not muted) but it doesn’t show Aux and Mic lines and I have no idea how to enable those cause we don’t have anything that says Properties that we can click on. Thoughts?
Cesar alayola
April 5, 2012 at 22:20 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
hey guys I solved my problem by going to control panel, sound, and from the list of playback devices changed default device. That worked out for me.
prabhat
April 12, 2012 at 16:48 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Cesar :
Thanks a lot man, it solved my same problem as well……….
working!
May 9, 2012 at 12:46 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Thanks cesar, that did the trick for me in windows 7
prabhat
April 12, 2012 at 16:53 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Though I got the sound back but its not smooth as before…..
Any ideas guys….???
Shoikat Chowdhury
April 13, 2012 at 19:02 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Thanks a lot man………..
jaydip
April 15, 2012 at 09:41 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
with ur help my VLC is working with proper voice..
thanx a lot!!!!
Princess Tsarah Tsubasa
April 29, 2012 at 17:52 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
EFFFN’ FINALLY FIXED IT!!!! I’m using Win7. In a nutshell, have Windows troubleshoot and suggest a fix by resetting the audio device.
Will work 100 percent of the time if you have these SPECIFIC symptoms: Using Windows 7. Speaker sound is NOT muted for the VLC program under the “Audio Mixer”. Sound works properly with other audio programs like Winamp or Windows Media Player, but no audio playback using VLC Media Player. WTF!?!
So, in other words, this is not a fix for…uummm… outdated audio drivers. Know what I mean jellybean;) Let’s go!
How to do it:
1) Search for the word “Audio” (Start Button => “Search Field Box” on the bottom with the little blue magnifying glass that says “Search Programs and Files” in faded italic).
2) Type over in that box the word “Audio”. Hit “Enter” to start the search.
3) Look on the left hand side for the phrase “Find and fix problems with devices”. Double click it.
4) A window opens up that says “Troubleshoot and help prevent hardware problems. Hardware and Device”. Double click “Next”
5) Now hold your breath as you watch the pulsating-green-Knight-Rider-progress-eye go back and forth.
6) At this point, widows will diagnose and suggest a fix that will reset the audio device. Double click “Apply this fix”.
7) Another window pops up saying “Resolving Problems”. Think of the Knight Rider theme song, and hold your breath again.
8) Test the audio playback by opening a movie in VLC.
9) And finally, bow down to your Queen!!! (…and resume breathing.)
Nestor Gonzales
October 30, 2012 at 10:08 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Thank you Princess Tsara Tsubasa. BOW!!!!
Luiza
December 17, 2012 at 16:32 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
I did exactly what you said and now my computer won’t play any sounds no matter what program I use. WTF.
Dominique
December 17, 2012 at 16:40 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Hey, did you perhaps click on mute somewhere in the process? If none of them respond anymore that seems reasonable. Alternatively, did you perhaps select a different sound output? For instance: it was your speaker system before and now it is a virtual sound system.
Please check and let me know!
Badeloch
May 3, 2012 at 08:10 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
I bow before you my queen!
*gulps in air*
Trish
May 11, 2012 at 19:14 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
HI…
all of a sudden had no sound with vlc (running windows 7) but other media programmes (e.g. itunes,windows media player and media centre) were fine. Tried all of the above but none worked!!!
ARRRRGH
Then remembered that there had been an update to vlc – i’d done the whole uninstall/re-install thing but no joy
All of a sudden realised that I had pinned the old version to the task bar – deleted this and pinned the updated one and beautiful sound blasted out….
Totally felt like an idiot …. but just wanted to say.. check the basics first.. lol
DraconMan
May 14, 2012 at 18:56 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
OS with problems : Winodws 7 Ultimate
Symptom : VLV no sound, all others work correctly (including same video under Winodws Media Player)
Check under ‘Control Panel’ – ‘Sound’
I had two speaker systems defined of which one was not working correctly (test is available under Configure button).
I deleted the ‘Speakers’ definition that didn’t work and VLC automatically switched to the working (default) speakers definition.
Yesfinally
June 10, 2012 at 23:14 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Omg, I’ve had trouble with the sound in my VLC- player for many months now. I’ve tried to install the newest version, uninstall it, install an older version and changed a lot of things in tools etc. and NOW (!!) my problem is finally solved. Thanks a lot!
Barry
June 21, 2012 at 10:49 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
My VLC Media player is not sounding out. I just downloded and installed it yesterday. I am running on Vista. I have checked the preference and the mixer. They are set correctly BUT the sound is not coming out. What else should I do
Mac
July 2, 2012 at 21:04 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
I suddenly had no audio in VLC (only).
I found FIX here:
Control Panel>Hardware and Sound>Sound>
Manage Devices > Playback.
Played with enable, disable, +default settings, for “Speakers” device choices, till I found it.
VLC was using the 2nd “Speakers” listed, while all my other media was using 1st listing.
I Disabled that 2nd “Speakers”, and all was good.
andi
March 30, 2013 at 14:43 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
thank you so much! i tried everything else on this thread but this is what finally worked!!!!!
Teddy Mwas
July 16, 2012 at 06:03 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
guys do this :
tools/preferences/audio settings/
and
set the output module to DirectX audio output
That worked for me …. Enjoy the music
Ash
September 20, 2012 at 01:40 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
this worked for me ! I tried every other solution on this page and nothing helped, but this one did. thanks alot !
Panicked VLC User
May 16, 2013 at 11:52 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Worked for me too! Great relief–thanks
Cisco Trainer
July 20, 2012 at 11:13 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
I have a strange problem with VLC player in Linux. Only one speaker is working when I use VLC player.
But both the speakers are working fine with other media players like Totem media player and Dragon media player.
I tried the sound settings in Operating System Level and the application Level, but still it is not working.
Operating System is Linux Centos 6.2
Please Help. Thanks in advance…
Srikanth
August 12, 2012 at 07:36 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Thanks a lot………..
Chris Leboeuf
August 13, 2012 at 21:31 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
ok, so video from MY camera is working. when I use an online dropbox and try to view someone elses video from their camera, I get no sound. sound from my video, no sound from their video. how I solve this?
Bradley
November 5, 2012 at 22:24 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
I have tried all of these solutions, none have worked so far, and yes I know what I’m doing. I have windows 7 home premium, I am using my video card for audio output to my television, audio works in WMP along with all other system sounds. I have not updated or changed any vlc settings in at least a few months. Please, dont ask me to go through all these steps again, as I have already tried them. Never had this problem with mkv files or any others before. WTF?
Dominique
November 5, 2012 at 22:56 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
If you’re sure the settings aren’t different, maybe the file is the issue?
Does the file maybe contain multiple audio tracks? Have you confirmed that wmp and vlc use the same track?
Thymios
November 7, 2012 at 16:19 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
thanx your my hero
graiel
November 19, 2012 at 18:40 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
thanks men, your a genius. my vlc now works fine.
KUMAR
December 13, 2012 at 15:32 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Hi,
I used the steps and now audio is ok…..good…..thanks
Ajay Bhimani
January 16, 2013 at 10:12 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Thakns Buddy..
Ishu Bansal
January 20, 2013 at 19:14 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Thanks a lot. It works fine now.
An Idiot
February 16, 2013 at 20:43 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
I’ve never felt so stupid, tried EVERYTHING (Except this) and spend more than 10 full hours, trying to get sound in vlc. Had this problem on my old computer too, threw it out because i never could fix this sound problem in vlc, and then it turns out to be this solution, should have been the first thing i checked. I’m a morron clearly. Thank you a million times for pointing that out with this, extremely simple solution!!!!
Joakim
March 13, 2013 at 00:20 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
This worked great! Saw some ways of solving it going to registry etc. But this was by far the easiest and quickest way.
Thanks!
harsh
March 15, 2013 at 10:00 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
if u want to get back all sounds in vlc just do a simple thing first uninstall vlc from ur pc then install ”’realtek high definition audio driver”” if u dont have this download it from the internet . after installing this ,, just simply reinstall ur vlc player just dont do any changes into it. and play any file into vlc and all is normal.. if u want sounds in vlc it is only the best method
ryan
April 18, 2013 at 00:48 (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Thanks much, got here via google. Had forgotten I had muted VLC in the mixer.