List Installed Sound Devices and Their Status (PowerShell)

Query Windows for every audio device it detects and see whether each driver reports OK.

Windowshardwareaudio-devicepowershellLow risk

Run Get-CimInstance Win32_SoundDevice | Select-Object Name, Manufacturer, Status in PowerShell.

01Command

Command

$ Get-CimInstance Win32_SoundDevice | Select-Object Name, Manufacturer, Status

02What it does

Win32_SoundDevice enumerates every sound card and onboard audio controller Windows has drivers for, returning the device name, maker and driver status. A Status of OK means the driver loaded properly; Error or Unknown points to a driver problem when sound is missing. If a device you know is built in does not appear here, look in Device Manager for disabled or unknown devices.

03Risk

RiskLow risk

!Warning: This lists internal audio controllers, not every Bluetooth or USB headset currently paired — those show up under their own class.

04Undo

✓No undo needed — this command does not change persistent state.

05Sources

Win32_SoundDevice class
Microsoft Learn · vendor-doc · 2026-09-17
Evidence: Documents the Win32_SoundDevice WMI class with Name, Manufacturer and Status properties representing installed sound devices.
Get-CimInstance
SS64 · technical · 2026-09-17
Evidence: Shows Get-CimInstance querying WMI classes such as Win32_SoundDevice and filtering with Select-Object.

Last verified: 2026-09-18 · Category: Media

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