Is your laptop sound not working?

Is your laptop sound not working? Your laptop speaker, like the charging port and aux input, are among the few directly exposed parts of your laptop. This makes them particularly susceptible to water damage, dust accumulation and the crumbs from your favorite snacks that accumulate during your extended Netflix marathons in bed. Damage doesn’t immediately have to mean that your sound stops working altogether; however, it often does result in a speaker that quickly deteriorates in volume and quality. Do you recognize this problem? Then this blog is for you.

• Why doesn’t my sound work?
• How do you recognize a damaged speaker?
• Fixing water damage and dust accumulation in your speaker

Why doesn’t my sound work

As we discussed earlier, water damage and dust accumulation are often the biggest culprits when your laptop’s sound stops working. Water damage can happen in all sorts of ways, such as a toppled mug of tea during a Netflix marathon or a bike ride through a downpour with your laptop in the bag. Spilling a drink on your laptop doesn’t immediately mean that the speakers fail immediately, but over time corrosion can occur, causing sound quality to deteriorate. Dust accumulation in your laptop speakers often occurs unknowingly, this is a process that you can only counteract to a limited extent, more on this later. In addition to these common causes, heavy use of the speaker over time can also lead to problems with the audio driver. This means that the software that controls the sound output becomes overloaded or outdated, which can lead to malfunctions.

How do you recognize the cause of a damaged speaker?

So, does your laptop speaker sound like you’re listening to a mashed potato? Then it’s tempting to immediately think that the problem lies with the internal components. This just doesn’t have to be the case. As we discussed earlier, that mashed potato can also have to do with the software. For example, outdated or corrupt audio drivers can be just as much the culprit as water damage or dust accumulation. If it’s down to the software, the sound distorts, crackles or even fails completely, when in fact your speaker is still fine.

But how do you know if the cause is software or hardware? Listen carefully to the sound coming out of the speaker: if the sound sporadically cuts out or falters, this is often a software problem. Check that your drivers have the latest update by going to your device manager and searching for updates to your audio drivers. Often a simple driver update is enough to solve your speaker problem.

Here is a step-by-step guide to checking updates for your audio drivers, both for Windows and MacBook:

Windows

1. Open Device Management:
   • Right-click on the Start menu and select Device Manager.
2. Find the audio driver:
   • Search the list for Controls for sound, video and games and click on it to expand it.
   • You now see your audio device, for example, Realtek High Definition Audio.
3. Check for updates:
   • Right-click on the audio device and select Update Driver.
4. Choose the update option:
   • Click Automatic search for updated drivers. Windows will now search for the latest version and install it if an update is available.
5. Restart your computer:
   • After updating the driver, it is important to restart your computer to make the changes.

MacBook

1. Go to System Settings:
   • Click the Apple menu at the top left and select System Settings (on older versions of macOS, this is System Preferences).
2. Check for software updates:
   • Click General and select Software Update. Your Mac will now automatically check for updates, including updates to macOS’ audio components.
3. Install available updates:
   • If updates are available, click ‘Update now’ at. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the update.
4. Restart your Mac:
   • After installing the updates, your Mac may ask you to reboot. Be sure to do this to fully implement the updates.

However, if your speaker is continuously crackling, the sound is distorted at any volume or if you can’t hear any sound at all, then it is more likely to be a hardware problem.

Fixing water damage and dust accumulation in your speaker

So, updating your speaker’s software is pretty easy to fix yourself with the aforementioned steps. If the speakers suffer from water damage, dust buildup or other debris, it needs to be cleaned from the inside. This is a delicate process that is difficult to do yourself, but fear not, at ThePhoneLab we offer special laptop cleaning services! Make your appointment here or feel free to walk in for a free consultation at any of our locations.