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I just got a new bluetooth speaker, an Urbanears Stammen (concrete grey)

I can connect to it from my phone, using Bluetooth, and play back sound without problems. But I can't get my Windows 10 laptop (Dell XPS 15) to use it as a playback device.

I can connect and pair to the laptop without problems, as you can see in the screenshot below

bluetooth

It also shows up under bluetooth in the device manager. It's not listed under "Audio inputs and outputs" though, which I thought it should be, but I can see it under "Sound, video and game controllers".

device manager

But I can't select it as a playback device.

speaker

I found this relevant superuser question Windows 10 computer paired w/ bluetooth speaker, but doesn't send music to speaker and I tried the suggested steps listed there, but nothing helped.

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  • Try removing the Dell Bluetooth drivers.
    – Daniel B
    Dec 1, 2018 at 13:32
  • You mean to uninstall the Dell Bluetooth device from the device manager? Tried that - no luck :(
    – Tobbe
    Dec 1, 2018 at 13:54
  • No, you’ll most likely have to uninstall it from “Add or remove programs”, then let Windows install the default driver. It’s a long shot anyway, but in the early days of Bluetooth on PCs, the drivers varied widely in functionality and stability.
    – Daniel B
    Dec 1, 2018 at 14:20
  • Tried that. Windows automatically reinstalled the same Dell drivers again
    – Tobbe
    Dec 1, 2018 at 20:35
  • I always put the device in pairing mode and re-pair. That works for me.
    – Brad
    Apr 19, 2020 at 1:38

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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Windows does not appear to play friendly with bluetooth pretty much at all. Rather ridiculous but whatever.

My Fix was to go to settings; Bluetooth & other devices; then from there go to your device and just completely remove it. Then add your device again and you'll get your setup prompts (if any originally) again and it'll function as it's supposed to.

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  • Had the same problem. Sadly removing it and adding it back again was the only thing that helped. Before it was shown as connected but couldn't be used. This is such a typical Windows solution, but I thought maybe in 2021 they would be a bit more advanced.
    – Trilarion
    Nov 7, 2021 at 10:49
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I have the same problem with a Megablast Bluetooth speaker. Audio with phone ok and no sound with Desktop PC. What I found is I have to use the right sequence of turning things on. First add the device to the laptop or PC. Then turn off everything. Then switch on the Bluetooth speaker and wait for the beep if it has one. Next turn on the PC or laptop and wait for the beep if it has one. If in Settings it says the Bluetooth is not connected, click connect. With my PC when it says connected in settings/Bluetooth decices I get no sound, but when it says connected music I get sound. Maybe it's Windows Media Player which is what I use. Also it can sometimes take a while like a few minutes for sound to start working and sometimes at first it is cutting in and out before it is seamless.

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I've found a way besides removing and re-pairing the device and I'm looking for a shorter method.

Have your bluetooth speaker (or headphones) on and paired. Right click the audio icon in the task tray and select "Sound Settings". Scroll down and click "Sound Control Panel". If your device is still on the list you can usually right mouse click it and select "Connect" to force it to connect manually.

You can then find the device listed as a possible output.

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