Deleted Audio Driver Best Page

Title: HELP: Accidentally deleted Audio Driver, now no sound (Realtek/High Definition Audio)

Result: Windows can't auto-find it, my motherboard's driver installer says "device not found," and my PC is now a very expensive paperweight with a screen.

Just accidentally deleted my audio driver instead of updating it. 😑

I meant to update my audio driver. I clicked "Uninstall device" AND checked "Delete the driver software for this device." Big mistake.

Any help is appreciated. How do I force Windows to recognize the hardware again?

Me: "I'll just clean up some old drivers real quick." Also me: deletes the one driver keeping my PC from being a silent brick Current status: Watching YouTube with subtitles only. SOS. 🦻🔇

PSA: Be careful in Device Manager.

I was cleaning up old drivers in Device Manager and accidentally uninstalled (and deleted) my audio driver. Now I have no sound, and there's a yellow exclamation mark next to "Multimedia Audio Controller" or nothing shows up at all.