No Sound on Any XBOX Cloud Game Launched Using XBOX App

Question

No Sound on Any XBOX Cloud Game Launched Using XBOX App

Paul 0

Sound works fine for any XBOX cloud games launched through Edge or Brave.

Sound works fine for any XBOX games installed locally

There is no sound at all for any XBOX Cloud games launched using XBOX app.

I have disabled all sound input and output devices except my LG TV (which is default)

In XBOX app, I have verified that output device is set to LG TV.

I am using an XBOX controller on Windows 25H2. I dont use a headset or have any chat features enabled currently.

I have beat this issue to death for hours following Gemini, ChatGPT, and Copilot (all garbage)

I have deleted all sound devices and rebooted to do a clean install (per AI)

I have set audio to non-exclusive and dont mute other apps....

I have run XBOX app repair. I have deleted and reinstalled all XBOX related services.

Context sensitive help is garbage. Troubleshooter detects NOTHING wrong.

God Microsoft makes it damn near impossible to get the simplest things to work and there is never a person to call. Im really ready to cancel my XBOX Cloud Ultimate account. Its ultimately difficult to get the simplest things working.

Please can someone nail this. I dont want to implement workarounds like launching from Edge.

I want the XBOX app to work as designed.

My game pass renewal is coming up. Rest assured i have no intention of renewing it if this isnt resolved.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

Carl-L 21,320 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello Paul,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.

Before we proceed, may I know what have you tried so far? Please let me know so I can avoid giving you suggestions that you already did.

Also, I have seen reports in which people say somehow the streaming session in Xbox app launching muted. So when the stream start, can you please press Win + G to open the Game Bar and Open Xbox Cloud Gaming Widget to see if it is muted?

I'm waiting for your reply.

Paul 0 Reputation points

2026-09-04T16:29:33.2833333+00:00

SFC, DISM, Set audio output device in control panel and in xbox app. Checked for muting in XBOX and in volume mixer. Changed output device to different device. Checked latest drivers. Delete audio stack and rebuild. Removed dolby enhancements. The list is endless.

What I found out suprisingly is that ALL Modern Windows apps cant play sound while all traditional apps and games play fine. WMPlayer is only app that actually shows error log. I get error C00D36FA.

Event viewer audio operation log shows ZERO warnings or errors anywhere.

My preferred audio is NVIDIA HD Audio to LG monitor. However I also tried bluetooth wireless buds just to try alternate path.

This is very frustrating.
Carl-L 21,320 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-05T12:54:36.2466667+00:00

Hello Paul,

Thanks for letting me know.

I'll see what I can do. I'll keep you updated.
Carl-L 21,320 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-09T13:00:59.6466667+00:00

Hello Paul,

Disclaimer: Let’s try performing an in-place install or in-place upgrade which will refresh your Windows files and operating system without removing files or applications. That being said, we always recommend that if you have important data, you should back it up before making large system changes. If you want to back up your data first, please do so. Once you are done backing up, you can follow the steps in the following guides: How to run In-place upgrade in Windows 11 - Microsoft Community
Carl-L 21,320 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-10T13:21:25.2333333+00:00

Hello Paul,

Just want to make sure that you have received my reply. Please let me know if you have any updates.

1 additional answer

Your answer

Paul 0 Reputation points

2026-09-04T16:29:33.2833333+00:00

SFC, DISM, Set audio output device in control panel and in xbox app. Checked for muting in XBOX and in volume mixer. Changed output device to different device. Checked latest drivers. Delete audio stack and rebuild. Removed dolby enhancements. The list is endless.

What I found out suprisingly is that ALL Modern Windows apps cant play sound while all traditional apps and games play fine. WMPlayer is only app that actually shows error log. I get error C00D36FA.

Event viewer audio operation log shows ZERO warnings or errors anywhere.

My preferred audio is NVIDIA HD Audio to LG monitor. However I also tried bluetooth wireless buds just to try alternate path.

This is very frustrating.
Carl-L 21,320 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-05T12:54:36.2466667+00:00

Hello Paul,

Thanks for letting me know.

I'll see what I can do. I'll keep you updated.
Carl-L 21,320 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-09T13:00:59.6466667+00:00

Hello Paul,

Disclaimer: Let’s try performing an in-place install or in-place upgrade which will refresh your Windows files and operating system without removing files or applications. That being said, we always recommend that if you have important data, you should back it up before making large system changes. If you want to back up your data first, please do so. Once you are done backing up, you can follow the steps in the following guides: How to run In-place upgrade in Windows 11 - Microsoft Community
Carl-L 21,320 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-10T13:21:25.2333333+00:00

Hello Paul,

Just want to make sure that you have received my reply. Please let me know if you have any updates.

Answer 1

Hi,

Thanks for following up. I did an in-place upgrade but that didnt fix it. I then tore down and rebuilt the audio stack which didnt help.

Eventually i stumbled on to the fix. The root issue appears to be that xbox app requires an active microphone which browser-based cloud gaming and the actual game itself doesnt require.

I have my all audio inputs disabled and disconnected for privacy reasons unless I am actively using it.

I dont use chat while playing. The XBOX app doesnt log anything nor does it popup indicating that a microphone is required. It just silently fails and for some reason this affects audio output.

To be a bit more accurate, for me, the fix came immediately when I set an audio input to be "default communication device". I had previously enabled the audio input device, but that didnt seem to be enough.

To maintain privacy, I selected an audio device that doesnt have a microphone connected.

I guess the only wish list item would be the XBOX app to log failures somewhere where users can see. Maybe source=xbox in the application event log or maybe create their own separate log.