By default, your PC plays audio in stereo by utilizing both speakers. However, if one of your speakers isn't working properly, or you're using a headset with one earphone, you might not hear a few sounds if they try to play on the "missing" speaker.
Fortunately, Windows lets you change your audio from stereo to mono, which will play all sounds through a single speaker. You can also use mono as a default setting for better accessibility if you hear more clearly with one ear.
What Is Mono Audio?
Mono is short for "monophonic," where "mono" means one and "phonic" means sound. When audio is played via a single channel, it's called mono audio. It's not about the number of instruments in a recording, but the channels those sounds are delivered through.
Most consumer electronics, including your computer and phone, are configured to use stereo. Unless you manually change the setting to play mono audio, you'll hear everything in stereo. If, for some reason, one of those audio channels isn't transmitting audio, it can translate to a poor listening experience.
Most of the time, the best solution is to grab some affordable PC speakers and get your stereo audio back. However, you can also fix the problem by enabling mono audio on Windows.
How to Enable or Disable Mono Audio via Windows Settings
Enabling or disabling mono audio isn't too complicated on Windows. Start by pressing Win + I to launch the Settings app. Select Sound from the right pane. Look for an option called Mono audio and toggle on the button to its right.
If some sounds weren't playing earlier, try playing the same audio again and see if they play now.
If you want to go back to using stereo, you can just toggle this button off again and you're good to go.
How to Enable or Disable Mono Audio via the Accessibility Settings
Going through the Accessibility Settings achieves the same goal as going through the regular Settings route, so it's just a different way to accomplish the same thing.
Press Win + I to launch the Settings app. Select Accessibility from the left sidebar and select Audio from the right pane. Search for the option called Mono audio and toggle on the button next to it.
Check your speakers by playing audio to double-check that it works. If you want to turn it off, just click the switch back off again.
How to Enable or Disable Mono Audio in VLC Media Player
If you don't want to enable mono audio for the entire operating system, you can simply use the settings in your media player. This will ensure that any media you play outside that specific media player still plays in stereo.
While many media players allow playing audio in mono, we'll use VLC as an example here.
Start by playing a video or audio file on VLC. Select the Audio option from the top ribbon and select Stereo mode. Select Mono from the list.
You should now be able to listen to audio in mono mode. When you want to revert to stereo, go to Audio > Stereo mode again and select Stereo.
Use Mono Audio to Listen to Audio via a Single Channel
Hopefully, you're able to listen to all sounds after switching to Mono audio. Listening to audio via just one channel is generally not as enjoyable as two channels, but it gets you by while you fix your audio device.
Once you have your new audio device, you'll want to get familiarized with all the audio settings in Windows to make the best use of your new device. For example, did you know Windows offers several built-in sound enhancements to improve audio quality?