Fix The device is being used by another application error
If the sound on Windows 11/10 is not working and you’re facing The device is being used by another application error, here are some suggestions to help you:
1] Disable Allow apps to take exclusive control of the sound options
As the error states, it is caused by the device being used by other applications. A solution to that is to close any apps that you suspect are using the sound settings and then provide exclusive control to them, to avoid facing this issue in the future. Click on Ok and then Apply to make this setting change take effect and restart your computer. Check if the issue persists.
2] Restart your computer’s audio service
Restarting the audio services is another quick fix for the issue. The audio service takes care of the audio in all Windows-based programs. Stopping it would then stop any dependent service from functioning. Once the PC has rebooted, check if the issue has been resolved or not. Read: Sound is missing or not working on Windows 11
3] Check for an audio driver update
You should also make sure that there isn’t an update for a fresh set of audio/sound drivers. Incompatible drivers can cause all kinds of errors. Most updates ask for your PC to reboot, so do that and this should bring an end to the error in question.
4] Run an SFC scan to repair system files
To ensure that the audio services run smoothly, Windows requires certain files and folders to be running properly. If that is not the case, then you can encounter the error under discussion. Windows has two built-in file repair utilities namely SFC AND DISM, and you can run them to ensure that your system files are in order.
Search for the Command Prompt from the Search menu and click to run it as an administratorType the following command and press enter
The process will take a while after which, if there are any corrupt files, then you’ll be notified of the same
Alternatively, you can run the DISM utility too. Read on here about how you can do so.
5] Roll back your present drivers
Lastly, you can roll back drivers as well. This error can have been caused by some newly installed drivers, that may have an unresolved bug causing compatibility issues. A drawback with this solution is that it’s not something you can go through with every time, depending on the driver. If the Roll Back Driver option is greyed out, then it means that this option isn’t exercisable with the said driver. Fix: Sound and Audio problems and issues in Windows 11
How can I tell which app is using my speakers?
A common confusion with speakers is to find what all apps are using them simultaneously. The origin of an audio sound is ambiguous if too many apps are using the speaker at the same time. For this, you can take the help of the volume mixer. Type sndvol command in Start search and hit Enter or use the sound icon on the system tray to open the volume mixer, and it will show to you all the apps that are using your speakers. Read:
No audio input device found on WindowsNo Audio Output Device is Installed error in Windows
How do you fix your microphone is being used or blocked by another application?
If your microphone or any other device is being used or blocked by another application in Windows 11 or Windows 10 computers, you need to go through the aforementioned solutions. First, you need to disable the Allow apps to take exclusive control of the sound options setting. Next, you can restart your computer and check for an audio driver update. We hope that you find this to be helpful.
