Realtek HD Audio Manager in Windows 10- All about Downloading and Re-installation

| Updated on February 13, 2024

Realtek HD Audio Driver is one of the largely used sound drivers that lets you manage the sound settings for Windows. Realtek HD Audio Manager comes with in-built Realtek audio driver. This sound driver has so many valuable features and also supports a six-channel Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) with 16.20.24-bit Pulse Code Modulation in channel audio of 5.1.

Along with offering a high-quality sound to your system with the help of the audio card, the sound driver also handles the sound control play on the Windows. To improve the sound, you need to connect it with your audio device.

There can be a scenario when you face issues in accessing the sound driver or when the Realtek audio manager icon has gone missing from the taskbar, system tray or notifications section.

The problem may start arising when you have performed the Windows update or if there is a change in the audio card driver.

To troubleshoot the problem, first, you must know where to find the Realtek HD Audio Manager

Where to Look for Realtek HD Audio Manager?

Realtek HD Audio Manager is normally installed together with Realtek HD Audio Driver. If you have already installed the Audio driver, you can possibly find the Realtek HD Audio Manager from the Control Panel. 

In case, you are not able to find Realtek HD Audio Manager in Control Panel, follow the directions given below:

  • Go to the C drive of your device, open Program Files, click on Realtek, and then open Audio folder
  • In the HDA folder, double-click on RtkNGUI64.exe and doing this will open Realktek HD audio manager.
Double click on RtkNGUI64.exe

If you still failed at finding Realtek HD audio manager, you may need to reinstall it after updating Realtek HD Audio driver.

Reinstalling Realtek HD Audio Manager

To reinstall Realtek HD Audio Manager, you will be required to update the audio drivers first but before that uninstall the outdated ones.

Uninstalling the Drivers

Begin with uninstalling all the existing drivers as to avoid getting duplicate drivers downloaded and to do this follow the instructions given below-

  • Click on Start menu button and go to the Device Manager.
  • You will see a list there and you have to expand Sound, video and game controllers.
  • Look for the audio driver Realtek High Definition Audio.
  • Right-click on it and from the drop-down menu, select ‘Uninstall’ option.
Click on uninstall device
  • Tick mark the option ‘Delete the driver software for this device’ and click on ‘Uninstall’.
Select ‘delete the driver software for this device’, click uninstall
  • Open Views tab and click on ‘Show hidden devices’ from the drop-down menu.
Click on ‘show hidden devices’
  • Now check if there are any duplicate drivers. If yes, right-click on it and press the Uninstall button. After that, restart the system.

Download and Re-install the Realtek HD Audio Manager

After uninstalling, now you can update the  audio drivers, follow these instructions:

  • Go to the Realtek website in a browser.
Go to realtek website
  • Find the right drivers for your device and download them manually. Once you have downloaded the file, you can run the file and follow the instructions to install the update. 
Look for the drivers and download them manually

Troubleshooting Realtek HD Audio Manager

Even after updating the Realtek HD Audio driver, if the problem is still there, you can follow the given troubleshooting tips:

  1. Disable Microsoft UAA Bus Driver
    • Go to the Device Manager and expand the System Devices.
    • Look for Microsoft UAA Bus Driver for HD Audio.
    • Right-click on it and from the drop-down, click on ‘Disable’.
    • Go to ‘Windows Settings’ and then click on ‘Apps and Features’.
    • Click on ‘Realtek High Definition Audio Driver’ and then click on ‘Uninstall the driver’.
    • Click on ‘realtek high definition audio drive’ and click ‘uninstall the driver’
    • Then go to Device Manager and right-click on the disabled driver.
    • From the drop-down menu, click on ‘Uninstall’.
    • Now, you can reinstall the Realtek HD Audio Driver.

  2. Enable the Startup
    • Using the ‘Start’ menu, open the Task Manager.
    • Then go to the Startup tab and look for Realtek HD Audio Manager.
    • If the status is showing as ‘Disabled’, right-click on it and click Enable from the drop-down menu and then restart the system.
    Click on enable

  3. Update the Sound driver software
    • Go to Device Manager and click on (+) to expand Sound, video and game controllers.
    • Right-click on Realtek High Definition Audio and from the menu, click on Update driver option.
    Click on update driver
    • If you have the latest driver setup file on your system, choose ‘Browse my computer’ under driver software.
    Click on browse my computer for driver software
    • Click on the option ‘Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer’.
    • Look for the latest driver by date and then click on ‘Next’ to update.

  4. Add Legacy hardware
    • Go to Device Manager and click on (+) to expand Sound, video and game controllers.
    • Click on the ‘Action’ tab, search and click on ‘Add legacy hardware’ from the menu.
    • In the action tab, click on ‘add legacy hardware’
    • Click on ‘Next’ and select the radio button that says ‘Search for and install the hardware automatically’.
    • Select ‘search for and install the hardware automatically’ and click next
    • Click on Next and then install the driver again.

That’s how you can download and reinstall Realtek HD audio manager windows 10.


Adam Green

With more than 3 years of experience as a software and tech writer on GetAssist.net Adam has been writing articles, blogs, and featured stories centered around the software and tech niche since he graduated from Virginia Tech University. He writes savvy articles, tutorials, and reviews that explain difficult concepts to readers of all levels. His expertise includes software development, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and emerging technologies. Through simple and engaging writing, Adam constantly delivers useful insights that enable readers to feel at ease in the ever-changing technological scene.

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