Fix: ‘The device is being used by another application error’ on Windows

This guide explains Fix ‘The device is being used by another application error’ on Windows 11/10. The Device is being used by another program error in Windows means that your device has problems with audio or video. Most of the time, these problems are caused by an HDMI connection. A High-Definition Multimedia Interface lets people connect multimedia interfaces so they can watch TV or play games on a much bigger screen. There are also other reasons, like corrupt drivers or files that were put wrong.

Here is the full error message you may see on your Windows 10/11 screen: “The device is being used by another application.” Please turn off any other devices that are playing music to this device and then try again. You might also see something like “This Device Is Being Used by Another App.” This usually happens when you are playing a video or music, and you may be using an HDMI cable to do so. There could also be other reasons, which we’ll talk about how to Fix ‘The device is being used by another application error’ on Windows.

Rollback audio drivers to the previous version

1. Open a Run dialog again.
2. To open the Device Manager window, type devmgt.msc.
3. Find the Sound, Video, and Game controls and expand them.
4. Click on the driver you want to use.
5. Click on Properties.
6. You can find choices under the Driver tab.
7. If you started getting this problem after a recent driver update, click Roll Back Driver.

Disable exclusive application control

1. Right-click on the picture of the speaker in your task bar.
2. From the context menu, choose Open Volume Mixer.
3. You can see which programs are using the audio sources in the Volume Mixer dialog box. Take note of these ways to use it.
4. Open task manager by hitting together Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
5. Here, find the apps you wrote down in the Volume Mixer under the “Processes” tab.
6. Put an end to the programs you found there.
7. Then, click right again on the speaker icon to open the context menu.
8. Click on Sounds here.
9. Go to the Recording tab.
10. Select your usual audio device. Select Properties.
11. Under the “Advanced” tab, uncheck the box next to “Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device.”
12. Select OK.
13. Restart your PC.

Update drivers

1. Press Windows + X and then click Device Manager.
2. Sound, video, and game controls can be added.
3. Right-click the sound driver that is already loaded, and then click Update Driver.
4. Choose Search to have drivers immediately downloaded and installed.
5. Start Windows again.

Restart Audio service

1. By hitting Win + R, you can bring up the Run menu.
2. To open the Windows Services box, type services.msc.
3. Click twice on the Windows Audio icon.
4. Under Service state, click the Stop button.
5. Click on the Start button once the service has stopped.
6. When the service starts up again, click OK.

Uninstall Windows Update

Most of the time, your drivers may be changed by a Windows Update, or the problem may be caused by a Windows Update. If you recently loaded a Windows Update, there’s a good chance that uninstalling that update will fix the problem. The Windows update we’re looking for is KB2962407. If you have that, remove this Windows update and everything should be fine. If the problem isn’t caused by a recent update, it might not be a bad idea to remove the ones you just put on if you’re trying to figure out what’s wrong.

1. Hold the Windows key and press R.
2. Type appwiz.cpl and press Enter.
3. In the top left part of the window, click View Installed Updates.
4. Find the most current updates you installed. If you see KB2962407 as a Windows update, you should get rid of it. If not, you should remove the updates you just loaded.
5. Click Uninstall after selecting the update.

“The device is being used by another application” is a fairly regular video and audio problem on Windows devices. It usually has to do with a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) link and can happen when you use a digital camera projector, monitor, or TV. The problem message doesn’t seem to have anything to do with a specific piece of software or hardware. Even so, it is something that most Windows users do. If you want to know more information about this visit official Microsoft support site.