How to update audio drivers the easy way!
If you're experiencing issues with your sound you may need to update your audio driver. That's because the driver is what connects your computer to audio devices allowing you to hear the sound coming out of the speakers. If this connection breaks down you could experience crackling noise or none at all. This is obviously less than desirable and going to cause you frustration and make some tasks impossible.
In order to keep your sound working in tip-top shape, you need to make sure you're running the latest sound driver. We're going to show you three ways to do this today:
- Updating your Windows 10 operating system
- Manually updating audio drivers on Windows 10
- Automatically scanning and updating all of your drivers using a third-party tool
1. How to update Windows 10
As the latest Microsoft operating system, Windows 10 will run automatic checks to make sure you are using the latest version so long as you have automatic updating selected. When you update your operating system it will check for outdated drivers and replace these for you. However, there are times when it misses certain updates due to the sheer volume of new drivers being released daily. You could also be in between a scheduled Windows 10 update when a new driver is released so might need to manually update it.
To manually check and update for the latest Windows 10 release, follow these steps:
- Go to your Windows start button and find "Settings"
- Select "Update & Security"
- Click on "Windows Update" and choose "Check for updates" which will scan for any updates and install this automatically, if available
Or if you'd find an automated process easier, try CCleaner Professional which will update drivers for you and also includes lots more features to keep your PC working at peak performance. Otherwise, here's how to update audio drivers specifically.
2. How to update audio drivers Windows 10
If you have performed a system update as we showed you above and your audio still isn't working or is playing up you can target just the audio driver.
To manually check for an audio driver update, follow these steps:
- Go to the "Start" menu and type in "Device Manager".
- Click on "Device Manager" then scroll down until you find "Sound, video and game controllers". Click on this and you should see options appear below this category.
- Right-click on your sound card and then choose "Properties".
- Go to the "Driver" tab and click on "Update Driver"
- Choose "Search automatically for updated driver software"
- If Windows can find a newer version you can follow the instructions to install it
If Windows doesn't find a new version, you should compare your version against the manufacturer's most current driver listed on their website. If they have a newer version displayed you should download and install the latest one using the instructions on the manufacturer's page.
If that sounds a little tricky, you can try an automatic tool that will search and install driver updates for you like CCleaner Professional.
3. How to automatically update all drivers
If you wanted to update all of your drivers at once, you can do this using an automated updater. What other drivers might you need to update? They can be built-in components (graphics card, trackpad, etc.) or plug-in devices (mouse, keyboard, audio MIDI controllers, etc.). Each different device has a corresponding driver designed to connect it to various operating systems.
If you were to try and search for all of the outdated ones manually and install newer versions this could take a lot of time. That's why we came up with our CCleaner Updater Tool, to do this for you and take the stress away while giving you valuable time back. No one has time to waste these days, especially on tasks that can be performed by a tool in just a few seconds (depending on how much needs updating!).
Why not try it today and see how many outdated drivers it finds and upgrades for you? We've bundled it into our CCleaner Professional package so you'll get to try lots of other useful features too that will help clean, sort, and optimize your PC. You can try it obligation-free for 14 days and see for yourself just how much it can do. If you don't want to keep using it after the trial period that's fine, you just won't sign up for it. In the meantime, you can use all the cool features and make the most of them!