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Device test

Play each side and check it comes from the right place.

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Speaker test for Windows

Windows keeps at least three volume controls plus a per-application mixer, and any one of them can silence a working speaker. Play the tones first — if they work here but not elsewhere, the mixer is where to look.

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The short answer

To test speakers on Windows, play the left and right tones below and confirm each comes from the correct side. If you hear nothing, check the output device in Settings → System → Sound, then the per-app volume mixer, then whether the browser tab itself is muted — in that order.

Getting it right

Four things worth knowing

  • The volume mixer is per application

    Settings → System → Sound → Volume mixer keeps a separate level for every running app. A browser muted there stays silent whatever the main slider says.

  • Windows switches output when you plug in a monitor

    Connecting a display over HDMI usually moves audio to that monitor's speakers, which may not exist. If sound vanished the moment a screen was connected, this is why.

  • Use the built-in test for individual speakers

    Sound settings → your device → Configure → Test names and plays each speaker in turn. It is the right tool for anything beyond a stereo pair.

  • Disable enhancements before chasing a fault

    Loudness equalisation and virtual surround change level and imaging enough to make a channel test read wrongly. Turn them off, test, then decide what to restore.

Nothing leaves your device

This test runs entirely in your browser. There is no upload, no recording and no server that could receive anything — close the tab and it is gone.

  • No sign-up and no account
  • Nothing recorded or stored
  • Works with an ad blocker on
  • Free, and staying free
FAQ

Questions people ask

Anything we've missed?

Tell us

Sound works in one app but not another.

That is either the per-application volume mixer or that app having its own output device setting. Check the mixer first — it is much the more common of the two.

There is a red cross on my speaker icon.

Windows cannot see an output device at all. Check the physical connections, then Device Manager for a disabled or missing audio device, then reinstall the audio driver.

Audio moved to my monitor and I want it back.

Settings → System → Sound, and choose the correct output device. Windows remembers this per display, so it will switch again the next time that monitor is connected.

Why is there no sound from the front panel jack?

Front headphone sockets sit on a separate connector inside the case, and many drivers need the front and rear jacks configured as separate devices before either one works.

Test it for something specific

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Before it matters

Find the problem now, not mid-sentence

Every one of these runs in the browser and checks one thing properly. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is recorded, and none of them need an account.

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