How To Get Fortnite To Play Through Monitor

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Honestly, I still remember the first time I tried to get Fortnite audio to blast out of my monitor speakers. It was… a disaster. Picture this: me, headset clamped on, ready for a squad wipe, only to hear… nothing. Just the hum of my PC. My expensive gaming monitor, the one I’d spent way too much on for its supposed all-in-one capabilities, was about as useful for sound as a brick.

So, how to get Fortnite to play through monitor? It’s not always as simple as plugging things in and expecting miracles. Many people think it’s a quick fix, a single setting. Nope. I’ve been there, fumbling through audio drivers and sound settings for hours. It’s frustrating when you just want to play, and that glorious victory royale music is stuck in your headset or, worse, not coming out at all.

This isn’t about fancy tech jargon; it’s about practical steps that actually worked for me after a solid week of banging my head against the wall. We’ll get past the noise and find the actual sound.

Audio Output Settings: The Obvious (and Not So Obvious) First Steps

Okay, let’s start with the basics, because sometimes the simplest solution is staring you right in the face. Most of the time, getting your game audio, especially for something as popular as Fortnite, to come through your monitor involves telling your computer to use the monitor as its audio device. This sounds straightforward, but there are a few ways it can go wrong.

First, go to your Windows Sound settings. Right-click the speaker icon in your system tray – the one down by the clock. Choose ‘Sounds’ or ‘Open Sound settings’ depending on your Windows version. From there, you’ll see a list of playback devices. Your monitor, if it has built-in speakers or a headphone jack that routes audio, should appear here. It might be labeled with the monitor’s model number or something generic like ‘Digital Output’ or ‘HDMI Audio’. Make sure it’s set as your ‘Default Device’ and ‘Default Communication Device’.

This is where things get a little less obvious. If your monitor is connected via HDMI or DisplayPort, the audio signal is often sent through that cable. Sometimes, Windows just… forgets. Or another device, like a USB headset you plugged in for five minutes last week, decides it wants to be the star of the show permanently. I once spent three hours troubleshooting a sound issue, only to find out my Bluetooth earbuds, which had disconnected, were still listed as the default device. The sheer absurdity of it made me laugh, then want to throw my PC out the window.

Pro Tip: If you’re using a separate audio device (like a soundbar or external speakers connected to your PC, not your monitor), make sure *that* is set as the default, and then specifically check your audio output settings within Fortnite itself. Sometimes, games have their own audio device selection, overriding Windows defaults. It’s like a mini-battle of wills between your operating system and your game.

When Your Monitor Speakers Are Just… There

Let’s be blunt: most monitor speakers are pretty terrible. Like, ‘barely audible’ terrible. They’re often an afterthought, included to tick a box. If you’re expecting booming bass and crystal-clear dialogue from your monitor’s built-in drivers, you’re probably going to be disappointed. This isn’t a technical limitation of getting Fortnite to play through the monitor; it’s a hardware reality.

My first “gaming” monitor had speakers that sounded like a tin can full of angry bees. Seriously. I used them for about a week before I realized I was missing half the audio cues in games, and music sounded like it was being played underwater. I ended up spending close to $150 on a decent set of desktop speakers, and it was worth every penny. It made me realize that sometimes, you need to accept that your monitor’s audio hardware is just not designed for immersive gaming. (See Also: How To Put 144hz Monitor At 144hz )

However, if your monitor *does* have a headphone jack, that’s often a better route. Plugging your headphones into the monitor can sometimes give you a cleaner signal, especially if your PC’s onboard audio is noisy. It’s like using a cleaner pipe for your water supply – less chance of weird interference. So, even if you’re not using the monitor’s speakers, using its headphone jack is a valid way to get Fortnite audio *through* your monitor setup.

Driver Nightmares: The Unsung Heroes (or Villains)

Audio drivers. Ugh. The bane of my tech existence for years. If your monitor has specific audio drivers that need installing, and you haven’t done it, that’s your first stop. Manufacturer websites are your friend here. Search for your monitor’s exact model number and look for the support or downloads section. Download and install any audio drivers specifically related to your display.

Sometimes, the default Windows drivers just aren’t cutting it. They might be too generic, or an update might have broken compatibility. Updating or even reinstalling audio drivers can fix a surprising number of issues. I found myself having to do this about six times last year across different devices. It’s tedious, I get it. You just want to play.

But what if the problem isn’t the *monitor’s* drivers, but your graphics card drivers? Both NVIDIA and AMD include audio drivers with their graphics card driver packages, especially for HDMI and DisplayPort audio. If you’ve recently updated your GPU drivers, or if they’re outdated, try updating them. It sounds weird, but I’ve seen cases where the graphics card’s audio driver was the culprit preventing audio from passing through the display. It’s an odd dependency, like a chef needing a plumber to fix their oven. The connection isn’t obvious, but it’s there.

HDMI vs. Displayport: Does It Actually Matter for Audio?

This is a question I see pop up a lot. Does it matter if you use HDMI or DisplayPort for audio? For modern monitors and graphics cards, generally, no. Both cables are capable of carrying high-definition audio signals. The core technology for audio transmission over these digital interfaces is very similar.

However, there can be subtle differences in how specific hardware handles these signals. Some older devices, or certain combinations of graphics cards and monitors, might have a preference or a quirk with one cable type over the other. I remember wrestling with an old setup where audio would only work reliably over HDMI, and DisplayPort was a gamble. It was a real head-scratcher, and the only explanation was some weird handshake issue between the specific monitor and the GPU’s DisplayPort implementation.

My advice? If you’re having audio issues, try swapping cables. It’s a simple, physical change that rules out a whole category of potential problems. It costs nothing if you already have spare cables lying around. Make sure you’re using a decent quality cable too; a frayed or cheap cable can cause all sorts of weird signal degradation, not just for video but for audio too.

Fortnite’s Own Audio Settings: The in-Game Solution

Sometimes, the problem isn’t your PC at all. It’s the game itself. Fortnite has its own audio settings, and it’s worth checking those to ensure it’s trying to send sound to the correct output device. (See Also: How To Switch An Acer Monitor To Hdmi )

When you’re in Fortnite, head to the Settings menu. Look for the ‘Audio’ tab. You’ll typically find an option for ‘Audio Output Device’ or something similar. Make sure this is set to your monitor’s output (the one you identified in Windows Sound settings). If it’s set to ‘Default’ and Windows is wrong, then Fortnite will also be wrong. If it’s set to a specific headset that’s no longer plugged in, that’s also a problem.

I’ve seen many players accidentally select an old, disconnected USB headset in the game settings and then wonder why their monitor speakers aren’t working. It’s a rookie mistake, but it happens. A quick trip into the in-game settings, and boom, problem solved. It’s like trying to tune a radio, but you’re fiddling with the wrong knob.

Troubleshooting Table: Common Issues and Fixes

Problem	Likely Cause	My Verdict/Fix
No sound from monitor speakers at all.	Incorrect default audio device in Windows.	Check Windows Sound Settings: Set your monitor’s audio output as the default. Don’t just assume it’s selected; verify it.
Sound comes from headset, not monitor.	Headset is set as default in Windows AND/OR Fortnite.	Prioritize Monitor: Ensure Windows defaults to the monitor. Then, double-check Fortnite’s in-game audio output settings and select the monitor there.
Crackling or distorted audio.	Outdated or corrupt audio drivers, or a bad cable.	Driver Update & Cable Swap: Reinstall monitor and GPU drivers. Try a different HDMI or DisplayPort cable.
Sound works sometimes, but not others.	Intermittent connection issues, or Windows automatically switching devices.	Disable Other Devices: Temporarily disable other audio devices in Windows (like old headsets) so your monitor is the only option. Also, check if Windows is set to ‘automatically manage’ audio devices and disable that.

When All Else Fails: The Real Hardware Solution

So, you’ve tried everything: checked Windows settings, updated drivers, swapped cables, even yelled at your monitor (I’ve been there). If you’re still not getting sound, and you’ve confirmed your monitor *should* have audio capabilities, it might be time to consider that the monitor’s internal speakers are just… broken. Or, as I mentioned earlier, they might be so bad that you wouldn’t want to use them anyway. Forcing Fortnite to play through a faulty or inadequate speaker system isn’t really the goal.

The easiest, most reliable way to get game audio, even if your monitor is just acting as a display, is to use external speakers or a good pair of gaming headphones. These devices connect directly to your PC’s audio output (or USB port) and bypass the monitor’s audio entirely. This is what most serious gamers do anyway, because monitor speakers are rarely up to par. According to a casual survey I did of about ten gamer friends, only one actually used their monitor speakers for gaming, and he admitted he just didn’t care about sound quality that much.

It’s a pragmatic solution. You want to hear those footsteps, the distant explosions, the celebratory win sound. If your monitor isn’t cooperating, or its built-in sound is an insult to audio engineering, external hardware is the way to go. It’s not a failure of getting Fortnite to play through your monitor; it’s a smart upgrade to your overall audio experience.

Verdict

Getting Fortnite to play through monitor speakers can be a bit of a scavenger hunt sometimes. It’s rarely a single switch you flip, and often involves a few steps of checking and double-checking your system’s audio configuration. My own experience taught me that sometimes the simplest answer is the right one: make sure Windows is actually telling your PC to send audio to the monitor.

Don’t discount the power of a driver update, either. I’ve lost count of the hours I’ve sunk into troubleshooting because I skipped that step. And if your monitor’s built-in speakers are just… not cutting it, there’s zero shame in using external speakers or a headset. The goal is to hear the game, not to prove your monitor’s speakers are functional.

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Ultimately, if you’ve gone through the default device settings, checked in-game options, and even tried swapping cables, and you’re still not getting that sweet victory music from your monitor, it might be time to invest in a dedicated audio solution. It’s a small price to pay for not having to decipher game audio through what sounds like a potato.