AudioWinFix

Français

A tiny Windows tray app that pins your default audio devices - playback, recording, and communication - so Windows stops hijacking them every time you plug in a headset, monitor, dock, or USB DAC. You can still switch devices manually whenever you want; AudioWinFix only fights the automatic switches.

Why

Windows loves to promote a freshly-connected device to "default" on its own. Existing fixes either can't tell an automatic switch from one you made on purpose (so they revert everything), or they're closed-source CLI hacks bolted to Task Scheduler. AudioWinFix does exactly one thing, and does it invisibly.

How it works

AudioWinFix watches Windows' default-device changes and device plug/unplug events. When the default changes:

• Right after a device was plugged/unplugged (within a short, tunable grace window) → it's treated as an automatic switch and reverted to your pinned device.
• On its own, with no recent plug event → it's treated as a manual switch and silently adopted as the new pin.

So switching in the normal Windows Sound settings just works - that becomes your new pinned device. Only Windows' unsolicited switches get undone.

It tracks all three of Windows' default roles (Console, Multimedia, Communications) for both playback and recording.

Install

1. Download AudioWinFix-win-Setup.exe from the latest release.
2. Run it. It installs to %LocalAppData%\AudioWinFix (no admin needed) and starts to the system tray. Updates are delivered automatically (Velopack).

Binaries are Authenticode-signed (Certum, timestamped).

Screenshots

Tray menu, and the default-device picker - set your default output / microphone (and their communication variants) straight from the tray:

 

Settings - the auto-switch grace window, the language, and per-device volume locks:

Use

AudioWinFix has no window - it lives in the tray. Right-click the tray icon:

• Pause / Resume - stop reverting temporarily (switches and volumes float freely while paused; pins still track whatever you land on).
• Default devices - set the default / default-communication device for output and microphone straight from the tray, without digging through the Windows menus. Your choice is adopted as the new pin.
• Settings… - the grace window (ms), the language (Auto / English / Français), and volume locks (see below).
• Start with Windows - per-user auto-start (no admin).
• Check for updates, Open log folder, Quit.

The tooltip lists the currently pinned devices.

Volume locks

Windows (and some games - Black Ops 3 is notorious for resetting the mic level) love to change device volume on their own. In Settings → Volume locks, tick a device to freeze its current volume and mute; anything that changes it is reverted. Unlike device switching, volume can't be auto-classified as deliberate vs involuntary - there's no signal to tell a game's change from yours - so the lock is explicit: to change a locked level, untick it, adjust in Windows, tick it again, and save. Pausing (tray) releases all locks temporarily.

The grace window

Default 3000 ms. A default-device change within this delay of a plug/unplug counts as automatic and is reverted; a change made later is kept. Lower it if your machine auto-switches fast and you want manual switches right after plugging something to stick; raise it if auto-switches slip through.

Files

• Pins: %AppData%\AudioWinFix\pins.json
• Settings: %LocalAppData%\AudioWinFix\settings.json (written by the Settings dialog)
• Logs: %LocalAppData%\AudioWinFix\logs\ (daily rolling)

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/Kenshin9977/AudioWinFix
cd AudioWinFix
dotnet build AudioWinFix.slnx -c Release
dotnet test AudioWinFix.slnx -c Release
# Self-contained single-file installer:
pwsh build/publish.ps1 -Pack -PackVersion 0.1.0

Requires the .NET 10 SDK (Windows). AudioWinFix.Core targets net10.0-windows because it uses the Windows CoreAudio API, so it builds and tests on Windows only.

Layout

src/
  AudioWinFix.App/    WinForms tray app (entry, tray UI, settings, hosting)
  AudioWinFix.Core/   UI-free library
    Audio/            AudioMonitor, the switch heuristic, IPolicyConfig interop,
                      pin store
tests/
  AudioWinFix.Core.Tests/   xUnit tests (heuristic + pin persistence)

Tech

• NAudio - CoreAudio device enumeration and default-change notifications.
• IPolicyConfig (COM interop) - sets the default endpoint per role, the same interface the Sound control panel uses.
• Velopack - installer + auto-update. Serilog - logging.