How do I change the audio output device for a running application in Windows 7?
Solution 1:
I don't have an answer for Windows 7 (as I don't have any systems running Win7 anymore) but I can answer for Windows 10.
- Right click the speaker icon in the taskbar and select Sound Settings
- Under "Advanced sound options" you can find "App volume and device preferences"
- Any app that is making sound will be listed here, and you can change its output device with a dropdown under "Output"
If you haven't launched the app in question yet, you can left-click the speaker icon as you would to change the volume, then look just above the volume slider. The name of the current default output device is there, and if you click it you will be given a list of other output devices, where selecting one will change the default.
Solution 2:
In Windows, Audio Output is software defined. Each software that wants to output audio to a different output device needs to implement this feature itself. Depending on how well the programm is coded, you'll have to restart the application for the changes to take effect.
You can play around a bit with setting the default output device in windows sound settings but that's about. There may be tools to make switching the default output device more comfortable.
Solution 3:
I have had success disabling the output device that the program is currently playing on.
On Windows 10, try the following steps:
- Search for "Sound Settings" in the windows menu. It will say "System settings" in smaller text
- Select "Manage sound devices" under the Master volume slider.
- Click on the speaker that the program is currently playing on and "Disable"
- At this point the program should play on another audio device, if necessary disable that one as well
- You can now enable the audio device again by clicking on it and then clicking "Enable"