Headphones Not Working on an Acer Laptop? Try These Fixes

There’s nothing more annoying than when your headphones suddenly won’t work. Okay… There may be some things more annoying but still, you’ve got to wonder, what do you do when your headphones won’t work with your Acer laptop? Do you need new ones, or is there an easy fix?

The most common reason headphones won’t work with an Acer laptop, is that they aren’t selected as the output speaker. You can fix this by clicking on the speaker icon, near your date and time, and scrolling through till you find the name of your headphones.

If your headphones don’t seem to be working with your Acer laptop, you’ve come to the right place. In our troubleshooting guide below, we will walk you through the most common fixes that work. We will even cover what to do if you have wireless headphones and an adapter. So let’s see if we can’t get your sound back on again!

First, Rule Out the Headphones Themselves

Before you assume the laptop is the problem, it’s always a good idea to rule out the headphones first. The simplest way to do this is to use an old pair of your own or borrow someone else’s, and see if they also have problems working. 

If you don’t have any other headphones on hand, however, you can test them by using them with a different device. If your headphones won’t work on your computer or your phone, then they have likely gone bad. 

Wired Headphones Not Working on an Acer Laptop

When wired headphones won’t work with your Acer laptop, it can be especially frustrating. Wired headphones aren’t supposed to have a complicated setup, right? What could be going on to lead to their malfunctioning? 

We’ve provided you with the following two suggestions to help you figure out why your wired headphones won’t work with your Acer laptop: 

Ensure the Headphones Are Plugged in all the Way

Sometimes you can plug in your headphones and not realize they aren’t all the way in. Before anything else, double-check that they are plugged in all the way.

It might sound overly simplistic, but it’s always a good idea to rule out the simplest solutions first when you’re troubleshooting. 

Ensure the Headphones are Selected for the Speaker Output

The most common reason wired headphones won’t work with a laptop is that the speaker output is not set to them. Fortunately, this problem is only a few clicks away from being fixed.

Follow the steps below to select your headphones as the speaker output: 

• Click on the speaker icon in the bottom right of your screen: On your taskbar, right next to the date and time, you should see a little speaker icon. Click it. 
• Click on the speaker name above the volume control: A little box should pop up just above the taskbar that has the volume control on it. Above the volume line, you should see the name of the speaker it is currently using. 
• Click on the name of the speaker and select your headphones: When you click the name of the speaker another box will pop up with a drop-down menu. Go through until you find the name of your headphones. Often it is just the name of the company that makes them. Click on it. 

Now test out using the sound by sliding the volume down or up. If you hear the ding in your headphones, congratulations, you have now fixed the issue!

Wireless Headphones Not Working on an Acer Laptop 

Nowadays more and more people simply use wireless, Bluetooth headphones for everything. If that sounds like you, you’ll need to know what to do when they won’t connect with your laptop, or simply won’t play.  

Below we’ve listed four things you can try to get your Wireless headphones to work with your Acer laptop: 

• Ensure the headphones are selected as the output: This is the same as the last step of troubleshooting wired headphones. The only difference is, when you get to the dropdown box, look for your wireless headphones to be connected. 
• Disconnect and reconnect your Bluetooth adapter: Sometimes there can be a USB error. If you have a Bluetooth adapter, disconnect and reconnect it to see if the problem is resolved. 
• Disconnect and reconnect your headphones: The error could also lie in the headphones themselves. Disconnect them from Bluetooth and then reconnect them. This works a large percentage of the time. 
• Unpair and repair your headphones: The final step would be to unpair and repair your headphones with your Bluetooth adapter. How you do this will vary based on what type of Bluetooth adapter you have. Check the guide for your brand to find out. Still, it’s usually a really self-explanatory process.

If none of these options work, it is also possible that the Bluetooth adapter you have has gone bad. You might want to try pairing something else with it, to make sure it actually works.  

Final Thoughts

There are many reasons why headphones won’t play sound from an Acer laptop. The headphones themselves could be damaged, they may not be plugged in all the way or you could have some adapter issues if yours are wireless. Still, the most common problem is that your headphones aren’t selected as the output speaker.

Just to review one last time; you can set your headphones as the output speaker in the control panel or by simply clicking the speaker icon in the corner of the screen. Best of luck!