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There is no way to fix the Windows “Volume Mixer Not Opening” issue, which affects a lot of people. The Volume Mixer is an important part of the Windows operating system. It lets you control the volume of each app and easily choose the input/output device connection.
Volume Mixer panel helps you choose Input/Output device, volume level for a particular app, etc. Sometimes you want to change the volume of an app to make it a better place to work, but you can’t open the volume mixer. This means you can’t change the volume anymore and are stuck with how it was set before the volume mixer went away.
But if you have the same problem and are looking for a way out, this post will help you. If you do what we say, we’re sure you’ll be able to solve your problem without any chaos. For further information regarding this error, you can also visit official Microsoft support website.
Ways To Fix Windows ‘Volume Mixer Not Opening’ Issue
Update the Generic Audio Driver
Make sure that the audio driver you’re using is the latest version if the troubleshooter didn’t help. This driver should be kept up to date and maintained automatically by Windows Update.
But there are times when you can’t do anything because your audio driver is out of date and doesn’t work with your OS. Several Windows 11 users have said that the problem was finally fixed when they used Device Manager to force their OS to update the driver.
- To start, press the Windows key + R to bring up the Run box. Next, open Device Manager by typing “devmgmt.msc” and pressing Enter.
- If a pop-up from User Account Control asks you to give admin access, choose “Yes.”
- When you’re in Device Manager, use the list of installed apps at the bottom of the screen to expand the Sound, Video, and Game Controllers drop-down menu.
- Right-clicking in the Sound, Video, and Game Controllers menu will let you choose your HD audio driver.
- Click on Properties in the new menu that just popped up.
- On the Properties screen, use the top menu to choose Driver, then click the Update Driver button.
- On the next screen, click Search automatically for drivers.
- Wait a while to see if a new version of the audio driver is found. If a new version of the driver is found, follow the steps on the screen to install it.
- If a new audio driver was installed, restart your computer the next time it starts up to see if the Volume Mixer problem has been fixed.
Uninstall the Realtek driver
Another common problem could be causing damage to the Volume Mixer part of Windows 11. Using a dedicated audio disc that was moved from Windows 10 or Windows 8.1 to Windows 11 after upgrading to the latest version of the OS instead of doing a clean installation of Windows 11 may cause this problem, according to other users who have had it.
It’s likely that your specialized driver doesn’t work well with Windows 11 in this case. To fix this problem, you need to get rid of the current specialized driver and use a generic audio driver instead.
- Press the Windows key + R to bring up the Run box.
- Next, type “devmgmt.msc” and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open Device Manager as an administrator.
- User Account Control (UAC) will ask you if you want to give admin access. If you do, click Yes.
- Scroll down the list of installed drivers in Device Manager to make the drop-down menu for Sound, video, and game controllers bigger.
- To get to the context menu, right-click the audio driver and choose Properties from the menu that comes up.
- From the Properties menu of your audio driver, go to Driver and choose “Uninstall Device.“
- When asked to confirm, check the box next to “Try to delete the driver for this device” and click “Uninstall.”
- After the driver has been taken out, just restart your computer. When Windows 11 starts up again, it will notice that there is no active audio driver and will install and turn on a generic driver right away.
- Check to see if the problem with the Volume Mixer is fixed after your desktop computer restarts.
Run the Audio Troubleshooter
When trying to fix this problem, you should check to see if your Windows 11 installation can fix this problem automatically. It turns out that Microsoft already knows about this problem, and the developers have already put out a few automatic fixes for the Windows 11 volume mixer problem.
To use these automatic fixes, you must run the Audio Troubleshooter and do what it tells you to do. Many customers who were affected have confirmed that this fix works, especially those who updated from Windows 10 to Windows 11 instead of installing the latest version of Windows from scratch.
- To start, press the Windows key + R to bring up the Run box.
- Type “ms-settings:troubleshoot” and hit Enter to go to the Troubleshooting tab in the Settings app.
- To get to it, click on Other Troubleshooters under Options in the upper right corner of the Troubleshoot tab.
- The Run button for Playing Audio can be found in the “Most used” section of the next menu. To start the process, click on it.
- After starting this troubleshooter, be patient and wait until the preliminary investigation is done.
- The next step is to choose the default audio device. Make sure you pick the device you’re using right now.
- After running this scan, wait until the tool is done looking for problems on your Audio device.
- If something is wrong, you will be told what to do to fix it. Click “Yes, Apply fix” or “Yes, Open *menu” when the on-screen prompts ask you to do so. This will apply the suggested patch.
- After the second start-up is done, restart your computer to see if the problem is still there.
Disable Exclusive Mode
This problem can happen when a volume mixer-controlled programme is used to send DTS or DOLBY bitstreams over HDMI or SPDIF. These streams can’t be changed because the audio has already been encoded. No audio can be added to them as they travel to a receiver like a TV.
If you are using DTS or Dolby bitstreams over HDMI or SPDIF, you can’t use the volume mixer interface because of this. In this case, the problem can be fixed by turning off Exclusive Mode for the Playback device you are using at the moment.
- Press the Windows key + R to bring up the run box. When you type “mmsys.cpl” and hit Enter, the Sound window will show up. If the UAC (User Account Control) asks you if you want to give admin access, click Yes.
- Once you’re there, click on the Playback tab. Then, right-click on the active playback device and choose Properties from the menu that pops up.
- Once you’re on the Device Properties page, choose the Advanced tab from the menu across the top of the window.
- Go to the Advanced tab and click on the Exclusive Mode section. Uncheck the box next to Allow programmes to take full control of this device.
- After you click “Apply” to save the change, you will need to restart your computer for it to take effect.
- Open the Netflix app again after the next startup process is done to see if the problem has been fixed.
FAQ
How do I fix the Action Center not opening in Windows 11?
- Check if there are any pending Windows updates and restart your computer.
- Start the System File Checker Tool….
- Use the tool called DISM.
- Sign up for the Action Center again.
- Change things in Registry Editor.
- Use the Local Group Policy Editor.
- Try restoring the system.
What happened to Volume Mixer Windows 11?
On the taskbar of Windows 11, there isn’t a full-fledged volume mixer like there is on Windows 10. To get to the volume mixer, right-click on the volume icon and go to the Settings app. There, you can change the volume for certain apps or games.
How do I reset Windows volume mixer?
Right-click the sound icon on the taskbar, which is near the clock, and choose Sound settings. Clicking Settings > System > Sound or typing ms-settings:sound are other ways to do this. Use the command. In the section called “Advanced,” click on Volume mixer. Select Reset at the bottom of the screen.