

You’ll see the applications playing audio on that particular device. To see which applications are playing audio on which device, you can open the Volume Mixer by right-clicking the sound icon in your notification are and selecting “Open Volume Mixer”.Ĭlick the “Device” menu and select a device. The bars to the right of a playback or recording device in the Sound panel will show you which devices are playing sounds. How to See Which Device an Application is Using The device you choose here can be separate from your system-wide setting, making Skype use different audio devices from the other applications on your computer.

From here, you can choose your microphone and speakers, and even select a separate device that will be used for ringing when someone calls you. However, many individual applications also provide options that let you choose playback and recording devices in that individual application’s settings.įor example, in Skype you can select Tools > Options > Audio Settings.

The Sound panel controls the default devices in applications that respect your default setting. This allows you to use your computer’s speakers for normal audio while the audio from a voice call is played on your headset, for example. Communications–like video and audio calls placed over Skype–will use the communication device instead of your normal device. There’s also a “Set as Default Communication Device” option you can use. If anything is currently playing or recording on your system, it should switch to the device you choose as your default. Right-click a device and select “Set as Default Device” to make it your default audio device. Use the Playback and Recording tabs to choose your devices. Select “Playback devices” if you want to select your default speakers or “Recording devices” if you want to select your microphone. To do this, right-click the speaker icon in the notification area. You also need to do this to change your default recording device–for example, to select between different microphones–even on Windows 10’s Anniversary Update. On previous versions of Windows–or if you just need more advanced settings–you must use the Sound control panel. How to Set Your Playback and Recording Devices from the Sound Menu If you’re currently playing audio, it should automatically switch to the device you chose.
