This problem usually occurs, especially when you normally have speakers or a soundbar, but you connect headphones (it’s the same the other way around, when you have headphones connected and you disconnect them for the sound to come out of the speakers). sometimes for a reason Windows does not save settings the volume you had and forces you to replay it to make it your own, so let’s see what you can do about that.
Use Windows Troubleshooter
Although it seems like this tool is for show because hardly anyone uses it, it can actually help you fix those Windows volume issues, so there’s nothing to lose by trying it out. To access this tool, you need to open Settings (Start -> Settings (the gear icon), in the System tab, select “Troubleshoot” and, on the screen that appears, select “Other troubleshooters”.
There you will see a screen like the one we show you above these lines, in which you must click on the Run button next to Play audio. This will launch a small troubleshooting wizard that will check for any issues with your audio devices, including those related to volume settings in Windows.
Update or reinstall the audio driver
An old or problematic driver can prevent volume settings from being saved in Windows, so if the troubleshooter didn’t help you at all, this is the second thing you should try. To do this, right-click on the Start button and select Device Manager. Here you need to display “Sound and video controllers and game controllers”, find the one that corresponds to your sound card, right-click on it and select “Update Driver”.
Next, Windows will ask you if you want to automatically search for the driver or if you want to tell it where you downloaded it. Initially, we recommend letting it search for it automatically as you most likely have a built-in sound card, in which case Windows will usually find the appropriate driver automatically. If not, you can always download the drivers for your sound card ahead of time and tell the wizard where it’s located so it can pick up the drivers from there.
If that didn’t solve your problem, in Device Manager itself, you can right-click on your sound card but select the “Uninstall device” option. Then restart your computer and Windows will automatically search and reinstall the correct driver.
What if none of this works?
If none of the above worked and Windows Volume Control still won’t save your preferences, there is still something you can do about it. Right-click on the speaker icon located in the lower right corner of the start bar, next to the clock, and select “Open volume mixer”.
In the window that opens, start by clicking on the “Reset” button in the “Reset audio devices and volumes of all applications to recommended defaults” section.
Once done, configure the volume bar of each application to your liking (the configuration that you put automatically must be saved), as well as the configuration of the main volume (the one that appears at the top).
If things continue like this, don’t despair, you still have one more thing to do: go to Settings -> System -> Sound, and at the bottom select “More sound options”. A window will open with your audio devices, and there you must click on your sound card and then on properties.
Clicking on Properties will open a new window, where you need to go to the Advanced tab. There you will see that there is a box that says “Allow apps to take exclusive control of this device”, and what you have to do is disable it; this will make ALL the sounds on your computer dependent on the Windows master volume control, which isn’t ideal, but should at least give you full control over your audio volume in Windows.
