How to Enable Spatial Sound in Windows 10/11: A Complete Guide

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Get immersive audio using any PC headset or speaker

Co-authored by Glenn Carreau Reviewed by Stan Kats

Last Updated: January 18, 2026 Fact Checked

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Enabling Spatial Sound (Settings)

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Enabling Spatial Sound (Control Panel)

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What is spatial sound?

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Troubleshooting

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Video

Are you trying to get a more immersive audio experience by enabling spatial sound on your computer? You’ve come to the right place! All Windows 10 and 11 computers have access to one spatial sound option by default, and all it takes is a few clicks to turn it on! In this article, we’ll show you how to turn spatial sound on for your headphones or speakers—and offer a few troubleshooting tips, just in case you need some extra help.

Quick Steps to Enable Spatial Sound in Windows

Right-click the “Volume” icon and select Sound Settings.
Select the playback device (speakers or headphones) you’re using.
Scroll down and click the drop-down menu next to Spatial sound.
Select Windows Sonic for Headphones or another spatial sound option.

Section 1 of 4:

Turning On Spatial Sound in Settings

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1
Right-click the “Volume” icon and select Sound Settings. Find the Volume icon (which looks like a small speaker) at the bottom-right corner of your screen and right-click it. A couple of options will appear; simply select Sound Settings. A new window will open.^{[1]
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- Alternatively, you can open your sound settings by clicking the Start icon, then navigating to Settings → System → Sound.
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Select the playback device you’re using in the Output category. In your sound settings, scroll through the Output section (which is the first one) and look for the playback device (like speakers, or a pair of headphones) that you want to use with spatial sound. Click on it, and you’ll be taken to the Properties menu for that device.^{[2]
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- Sound settings will list your computer’s speakers under Output, as well as any headphones, earbuds, or other playback devices currently connected.
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Choose an option for the “Spatial sound” setting. On the Properties page for your playback device, scroll down to Advanced settings, where you’ll find the Spatial sound setting. Click on the drop-down menu to the right, where you can see any available spatial sound formats. Then, select Windows Sonic for Headphones from the menu to enable spatial sound!^{[3]
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- Windows Sonic for Headphones is available by default. However, other spatial sound options can be bought or downloaded from the Microsoft Store.
- For instance, there’s Dolby Atmos for Headphones, as well as DTS Sound Unbound. If you see either of those in the menu (because they came with the computer or device), you can select them as well.

Section 2 of 4:

Turning On Spatial Sound in Control Panel

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Click the Start menu (or press the Windows key) and type “control panel” into the search field. Then, select the Control Panel application from the search results to open it.^{[4]
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With the Control Panel window open, look for the Hardware and Sound option and click on it. Then, on the next page, select the Sound option. This will open a new, smaller window with a sound menu and several tabs.^{[5]
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The “Sound” window should open onto the Playback tab by default; if it doesn’t, select Playback from the tabs at the top of the window. Then, review the list of different playback devices to find the one you want to enable spatial sound on, select it, and click the Properties button.
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Click the Spatial sound tab and choose your settings. Select the Spatial sound tab, where you’ll see a drop-down menu with a list of spatial sound options. Click the menu and choose Windows Sonic for Headphones (or a different spatial sound option, if you prefer).
- As mentioned above, Windows Sonic for Headphones is the default available for all Windows computers, but others might be available depending on your specific device (or you can download one from the Microsoft Store).
Click Apply to implement the new setting, then click the OK button to close out the window. You have now enabled spatial sound!

Section 3 of 4:

What is spatial sound?

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Spatial sound is designed to be more realistic and immersive. Spatial sound uses various clever effects to make audio feel like surround sound—basically, like it’s coming from all around you, and not just being played into your ears. This gives audio a heightened feeling of realism and 3-dimensionality, especially when you’re watching movies and TV or playing games.
- Spatial sound can work on headphones, earbuds, soundbars, and speakers, and even bigger multi-speaker setups.

Section 4 of 4:

Troubleshooting Spatial Sound

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1
Turn mono audio off in your settings. Mono audio effectively combines the left and right audio channels into one, which is helpful if you need to hear everything through one ear. But, for spatial sound, you’ll need to disable the mono audio option! Here’s how:^{[6]
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- Select the Start icon and open your Settings.
- Select Accessibility → Audio.
- Ensure the Mono audio toggle near the top of the page is switched Off.
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Update your audio device driver. One common issue for Windows users is an error message saying that spatial sound isn’t available for that device. To troubleshoot, there are a few options, the first of which is updating your audio device driver. To do this:^{[7]
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- Select the Start icon and type “device manager,” then select Device Manager from the results. A new Device Manager window will open!
- Expand the Sound, video and game controllers category in the Device Manager.
- Right-click on the audio device you’re trying to use and select Update driver.
- Select Search automatically for drivers and wait for Windows to search for (and possibly install) an updated driver.
- Click Close to return to the main Device Manager.
- Expand Audio inputs and outputs, and find your speakers or audio output device.
- Repeat the same process (right-click on the speaker or device and select Search automatically for drivers, allowing Windows to search automatically and install drivers if necessary).
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Restart Windows Audio on your computer. If you’re still having issues with spatial sound, you can tinker with your computer’s audio to give it a manual restart. Just complete the following steps:^{[8]
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- Select the Start icon and type “services” into the search field, then select Services from the results.
- In the Services window, scroll down to Windows Audio and double-click on it.
- In the window that opens, ensure the Startup type is set to Automatic and the Service status is Running. Then, click OK.
- Right-click on Windows Audio from the main Services window and select Restart from the menu.
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Restart your computer, then check your spatial sound settings. After you’ve tried all of the above troubleshooting options, restart your computer by clicking the Start icon and then selecting the Power button → Restart. Once your computer reboots, you can retry enabling spatial sound using one of the above methods (either via Sound Settings or the Control Panel).^{[9]
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- Check to see if you can enable spatial sound before restarting your computer, too; it’s possible you won’t need to! But if the option still isn’t available, go ahead with the restart!