First: check where the sound is going
Start with the output: your computer may be sending sound to its speakers, a monitor or another USB device instead of what your headphones are plugged into. Choose the right output in your system’s sound settings, check that it isn’t muted, then play the headphone test’s left and right tones. Microsoft names four causes of silent wired headphones: the wrong output, muted sound, audio enhancements and an audio driver that isn’t working. The steps below take them in that order.
Which output to choose
Wired headphones have no entry of their own: pick the device they are plugged into. If that is a USB microphone, an audio interface or a mixer, choose that microphone, interface or mixer as the output. If it is the computer’s own headphone socket, choose the computer’s headphone or speaker output. USB and Bluetooth headphones are their own device, so choose them by name. If calls play in one headset and everything else in another, Windows’ second default is the cause: see default device or communication device.
On Windows
Open Start, Settings, System, Sound. Under Output, select the right device, and check that the volume isn’t muted and the slider is up. To make it the default for every app, go to More sound settings, Playback, right-click the device and choose Set as default.
Still silent? Select the device under Output, scroll to Advanced settings and set Audio enhancements to Off. Microsoft says enhancements can cause exactly this. On Windows 11, the Audio troubleshooter in the Get Help app runs its own checks. If it finds nothing, update the audio driver: open Device Manager, expand Sound, video and game controllers, right-click your sound device and choose Update driver, then Search automatically for drivers. Microsoft’s sound troubleshooting page covers reinstalling the driver and Windows’ own generic one.
On a Mac
Open Apple menu, System Settings, Sound, then Output, and select the device your headphones are plugged into. For the Mac’s own sound port, choose Headphones. Drag the Output volume up, clear the Mute checkbox and check that the Balance slider is in the middle.
An app’s own volume can only be equal to or lower than the Mac’s output volume, so a low system volume keeps every app quiet.
Silent only in OBS monitoring
If system sound plays but you can’t hear what OBS monitors, check OBS’s Monitoring Device in Settings, Audio, Advanced. It should be the device your headphones are plugged into. The source also needs monitoring on, in the Audio Mixer’s Advanced Audio Properties. Monitoring without echo covers which monitoring path to use.
Questions
Sound comes from only one side. Check the balance setting, then push the plug fully in. If one side stays silent with every source, the headphones or their cable are the likely cause.
My headphones work on my phone but not on my computer. Then the headphones and their cable work, and the fault is on the computer’s side: the output it sends to, its volume, enhancements, the driver, or the socket or port. Go through the checks above in order; if the right output is already chosen, push the plug fully in or try another port before the driver.