Windows 10 laptop not recognising headphones

[MitchT]

The OH's laptop running Windows 10 Home has suddenly stopped recognising when headphones are attached. The sound just continues coming out of the speakers. The OH isn't remotely technically minded and I'm a lifelong Mac user so I'm used to stuff just working. I have a Windows laptop for work but if anything goes wrong with that IT Support just fix it, so I don't know where to begin. Any ideas?

Edited by MitchT on Sunday 27th August 21:30

[CoolHands]

Bluetooth? Might need to re-pair, which will be some weird procedure on the headphones. I think in the icon tray bottom right you might be able to see Bluetooth connections, right click and experiment. Or in search magnifying glass search Bluetooth and have a look in settings.

[MitchT]

Not Bluetooth, just the “plug-in” earphones that came with an iPhone 6 years ago. Always worked until yesterday!

[MitchT]

I have a log in on my OH’s laptop. I just tried logging in as me and the sound came through the earphones, but when my OH logs in in comes through the speakers, even with the earphones plugged in.

[MitchT]

EmailAddress said:

Not a power user then. Just as much random bullst with Mac as Windows.

What’s the definition of a power user? I use Adobe Creative Suite and Logic Pro.

EmailAddress said:

Just change the output in control settings. If it absolutely cannot see that the jack is engaged then the connection is fubar'd.

No idea what “change the output in control settings” means. I literally need an explanation for a five year old… well, a (nearly) 49 year old who probably knows less about IT than a five year old!

[MitchT]

EmailAddress said:

It's probably defaulting to something else.

Maybe she used an HDMI output at some point...

Check in sound settings and select the output.

Nope, she has only used it with headphones or with its own speakers. She wouldn’t even know what HDMI is!

Again, literally need a dummy’s guide as to how to find sound settings as nothing we can find even gives an option to choose an output.

[MitchT]

The only option was “Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)” - there was no other option but, with the control panel actually open, plugging the headphones in actually made the headphones option appear, so it’s now fixed. Strange! Anyway, thanks for the input!

Still curious as to what constitutes a “power user” though!