What are playback devices Windows 10? Do you know how to change default playback devices on your Windows computer when necessary? Please don't worry if you do not have clear answers to these questions. MiniTool Solution offers this page to show you how to get to playback devices on Windows 10 and how to change default playback devices.

Audio playback devices on Windows 10 are very essential for users to output or play sound on their computers. Playback devices Windows 10 include speakers, microphones, headphones, webcams, Bluetooth headset, etc. When you connect a new playback device to Windows, it will be set as the default sound device automatically. However, several audio devices may be connected to your computer simultaneously sometimes. Can you change default playback devices? Of course, you can choose which one to use by default; Windows 10 allows you to change the default output audio device you can use in the OS manually.

Playback devices Windows 10

Windows 10 playback devices help to record and play all kinds of multimedia files easily. It’s essential to make sure a playback device is configured properly and to know how to change the default playback devices when needed.

Tip: Please be careful enough when changing settings on Windows 10 computer since improper operations may lead to system problems and file loss cases. To minimize the impact on your important data, you may as well get a professional data recovery tool in advance. Here’s how to recover files missing from Win10.

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How to Change Default Playback Devices Windows 10

In this part, I’ll show you 3 easy ways to change default playback devices on a Windows 10 computer.

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Change Default Audio Device in Windows 10 via Settings

Step 1: how to get to playback devices on Windows 10.

  1. Open Windows Settings in the way you like. (There are various ways to open it and the easiest one is pressing Win+I.)
  2. Select System (Display, sound, notifications, power) from the menu.
  3. Navigate to Sound in the left-side panel.
  4. Look for the Choose your output device option in the right panel.
Tip: How to access Sound more easily? Right click on the sound volume icon in the lower right corner -> select Open Sound settings from the pop-up menu.

Step 2: change default playback devices Windows 10.

  1. Click on the down arrow to open its drop-down list and then select the audio playback device you prefer.
  2. Restart Windows 10 computer to make changes take effect.

Choose your output device

Change Default Audio Device from Control Panel

  1. Open Control Panel in the way you like.
  2. Click Hardware and Sound.
  3. Click Sound in the right-side panel.
  4. The Playback tab will be selected automatically in the opening Sound window.
  5. Look through the available playback devices in the list and select the one you prefer.
  6. Click on the Set Default button and then click OK.
  7. Restart Windows 10.
Tip: The easiest way to open Control Panel is double clicking on its icon on the desktop. If you can’t find the icon, please press Win+S -> type Control Panel -> press Enter.

Sound

Set the Default Audio Device Using Sound Flyout

This seems to be the simplest way to change playback devices Windows 10.

  1. Click on the sound volume icon in the system tray (on the right end of taskbar).
  2. Click on the up arrow in the top right corner of the pop-up sound flyout.
  3. Browse the audio devices list and select the one you want to set as default.
  4. Restart the audio apps or restart computer.

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Set the Default Audio Device Using Classic Sound Applet

  1. Right click on the sound volume icon in the system tray.
  2. Select Sounds from the content menu you see.
  3. The Sound window of the classic applet will pop up.
  4. Shift to the Playback tab and select the playback device you like.
  5. Click Set Default and then OK.
  6. Restart your PC.

Sounds

Tip: Another way to access the Playback tab in Sound window directly is right clicking on the Realtek HD Audio Manager and selecting Audio Devices.

Audio Devices

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About The Author

Sarah

Position: Columnist

Sarah has been working as an editor at MiniTool since she graduated from university. Sarah aims at helping users with their computer problems such as disk errors and data loss. She feels a sense of accomplishment to see that users get their issues fixed relying on her articles. Besides, she likes to make friends and listen to music after work.