Audio services not responding error in Windows 10

Sometimes when you are trying to play audio after an Windows 10 update or a hardware update you might get an error. The error will look like the screenshot below.

How To Fix Audio services not responding error in Windows 10

Follow the below methods one by one to fix the audio services not working error.

Give your Audio Services a Restart

A reboot to the audio service might help solve the problem. 

• Go to the search bar and type services.msc, hit enter. 
• Reach Windows Audio Service > Properties.
• Choose the Startup Type to Automatic and click on the Start button.
• You can stop and start again, if it already started.
• If you have Multimedia Class Scheduler Service, set that to Automatic too.
• Also, the dependency services, Remote Procedure Call and Windows Audio Endpoint Builder must be started and set to automatic too!

Check the Audio Components

Sometimes it is just a non-functional audio component that causes the problem. So check if all are running properly. Some recent third-party installation can often cause this interference, so try stopping it for a while and rechecking. 

• Press Windows + R to open Run and type services.msc, hit enter to reach Services.
• Check for these services RPC Endpoint Mapper, Remote Procedure Call (RPC) and DCOM Server Process Launcher and make sure these 3 services running if they are not running.
• Also set the Startup type for these three services to Automatic as shown in the screenshot below.
• Once it’s done, restart your computer and check whether the audio error is gone. 

Execute the add networkservice & add localservice commands

• Press Windows + R to open Run, type cmd, and open it with Ctrl+Shift+Enter. (Elevated Mode Command Prompt shall open this way).
• Type the comment between the quotes. Copy it without the quotes and execute it “net localgroup Administrators /add networkservice”
• After that execute this command “net localgroup Administrators /add localservice”
• Exit CMD window and restart your PC.

Go for Default Sound Driver Installation

• Press the Windows + R to open Run, type control system, press Enter.
• Go to Advanced system settings.
• Go to Hardware > Device Installation Settings.
• Now choose the radio button for No (your device might not work as expected).
• Save your changes and exit. Now no updates will happen in automatic mode. You can install the default driver that came originally or to the last good restore point.
• However, if this does not work, choose Yes again, instead of No to automatic updates.

Install Realtek or High Definition Audio Device

Some users could solve this problem by using Realtek or High Definition Audio Devices in place of IDT High Definition Audio CODEC.

• Go to Device Manager > Sound, video, and game controllers.
• Update Driver by right clicking on the sound device.
• Select “Browse my computer for driver software”.
• Look for High Definition Audio Device.
• Select it and click Next. Complete the installation and restart.

Try the Audio and Sound Troubleshooter

Running appropriate troubleshooters have been voted the easiest among all users when resolving software problems. Windows 10 comes equipped with a Playing Audio Troubleshooter and Recording Audio Troubleshooter, which can be executed from the control panel. 

Run the SFC and DISM scan

If you come across Audio services not responding issue, it means you have system file errors. You must then run a SFC or a DISM scan which will restore corrupted files. Restart to check if all works good now.

Perform A System Restore

If all the above steps fail, perhaps you can restore back to the last all functioning properly restore point that you’d saved. It will revert back to the date when your audio was working well without any errors. 

Do a Fresh Start, In-place upgrade repair or Cloud Reset

If you are still not able to solve the problem, there is this last method. In this scenario, you can go for a  Fresh Start, In-place upgrade repair to reset every Windows component. Also, if you’re running Windows 10 version 1909 or after, you can try Cloud Reset and see if that helps.

I hope you were able to fix the Audio services not responding error on your Windows computer with the help of our tutorial. Don’t forget to share it on social media if you found it helpful.

Also, leave your valuable comments below if you are still facing the Audio services error on your computer.