All of a sudden your bluetooth headset or headset is not working on one side? Do you think your phone broke? What if I told you that this problem is easier to solve than you think? In this article we will see different solutions to this problem!
We recommend watching our video below that talks about it, how I found the solution and what steps I tended to, but the article also teaches in detail about it both in macOS like on Windows.
In my situation the problem happened with my Edifier Headset, but it can happen with any headset. Even style airbuds or airdots.
What are the steps to resolve the issue?
Many websites recommend that you reset or reset the headset/headset, or bluetooth of your device, computer, or device. That didn't work for me.
Many say to reinstall drivers or update the system, which doesn't make much sense since the phone works on one side. Others imagine that one side has burned, but this is rarely the case.
For some random reason, some systems both Windows and macOS can end up out of nowhere fining one side of the Headset. It doesn't matter if you reset or reinstall Bluetooth, the device will remain muted unless you turn up the volume on the system.
Some even opened calls on the Complaint here about the problem, and not even the companies found this solution. I didn't find it easily on the web myself, but I ended up finding it by accident.
So, before you want to reset your headset or update your device's drivers, simply open your device's audio properties and check the volumes on either side of the headset.
Headset only working on one side on Windows
To change the volume on each side of the Headset, first right-click on the speaker icon, which is next to the Windows clock. Click on the “Playback Devices” option.
Then, right-click again on the option that represents your headset and go to “Properties”. Go to the “Levels” tab and click on “Balance”. See if both options are set to maximum.
If not, set both to maximum and click “Ok”. Just do this and the chances of your problem being solved are very high. If that doesn't work then you should try to reset or install audio drivers.
Headset working on one side on macOS
The macOS process is easier, but it ends up being unknown to many because it is not in the system's audio settings, nor on bluetooth devices.
Open Lauchpad (which shows all apps) and look for Audio and MIDI Settings. You can also use Spotlight, the app icon is a musical keyboard.
Look for your Headset device and see if in the Main Flow part the two options that appear are at the maximum. Usually each number represents one side of your phone.
It may happen that the system displays more than one bluetooth connection as in the print below, just find the one that is active and that it is possible to change the output in the main flow.
Headset does not work on one side on Linux
On linux things can be a little more complicated, each distro may display the option in a different place, but usually you find it in the volume control or in the audio properties.
In some cases you can check the sound settings in Linux graphical mode or using a program by running the alsamixer command in the terminal.
By using this program you can check that you are not on any side of the world and change the balance of your audio device. In some cases you can try other programs like gstreamer-properties or PulseAudio.
Phone working only on one side on Mobile
For this audio balance related solution, each operating system has its way of doing this, but generally audio balance is in accessibility.
If your operating system does not allow you to change each side of the Headset, you must move the selector ball to the middle, thus concentrating the audio on both headphones.
On some phones you will find it in the Accessibility menu itself, in other cases you will find it in a submenu called Hearing or audio and spoken text within accessibility.
In Apple's iOS operating system, you also find this option under Accessibility within the Audio/Visual sub-menu. So this solution is complete for all systems.
How to Reset Headset or Earphone?
Each model can have a different way of resetting the Headset or Phone to the factory settings, thus clearing the data regarding the bluetooth connections.
Usually the reset can be done by holding down both volume buttons for 5 to 15 seconds until the headphone lights flash, informing you that the reset is complete.
If this combination of buttons does not work with your phone, just look for information from the manufacturer or try other buttons. A little Google keyboard can help you.
I hope the tips in this article have helped you find the solution to your headphones that are only working on one side, just like my article on the blinking alexa helped thousands with the problem.