What to Do When EarTrumpet Won't Open

Look for a hidden tray icon first

Click the small up-arrow in the taskbar to reveal hidden icons — EarTrumpet may already be running but tucked out of sight. If you find it there, click it normally; if that still does nothing, exit it and relaunch from the Start menu.

Restart the app from the tray

If EarTrumpet appears in Task Manager under Processes but never shows its flyout, right-click its tray icon and choose Exit, wait a few seconds, then start it again from the Start menu.

Restart the Windows Audio service

1. Open the Run dialog with Win+R.
2. Type services.msc and press Enter.
3. Right-click Windows Audio and select Restart.
4. Try opening EarTrumpet again.

Check Sound settings and permissions

Open Settings > System > Sound to make sure at least one playback device is available and set as default — EarTrumpet has nothing to display if Windows has no working output device. Also confirm in Settings > Apps > Startup that EarTrumpet is enabled to run.

Reinstall from an official source

If the app still won't open, uninstall it via Settings > Apps and reinstall from the Microsoft Store or Chocolatey (choco install eartrumpet). This replaces any corrupted files from the original install.

Check the issue tracker for launch problems

Startup failures tied to a specific Windows build are sometimes already tracked. Search the GitHub repository's issues for similar reports before filing a new one.

Why the flyout sometimes fails to appear

A tray-based app like EarTrumpet depends on Windows correctly registering its icon and process at startup. Occasionally a Windows update resets tray icon settings, moves EarTrumpet into the 'hidden icons' overflow without your noticing, or interrupts the app during its normal startup sequence, leaving a process running in the background that never draws its window. None of these situations point to a corrupted install by themselves, which is why checking the hidden icon tray and restarting the process should always come before a full reinstall.

If you also use the native Windows mixer for comparison, see Windows sound settings to confirm your playback device and audio service are in a healthy state independent of EarTrumpet.

When Task Manager shows EarTrumpet but nothing appears

Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) and check the Processes tab for EarTrumpet. If it's listed but no flyout ever shows, end the task, wait a few seconds for Windows to fully release the process, and relaunch it from the Start menu rather than trying to click a tray icon that never registered correctly.

Ruling out a corrupted Start menu shortcut

Occasionally the Start menu tile or shortcut for EarTrumpet becomes disassociated from the actual installed app after a Windows update, so clicking it does nothing even though the app itself is fine. Searching for 'EarTrumpet' directly in Start search and launching it from the search result, rather than a pinned tile, sidesteps this without requiring any repair steps.

If that launches the app successfully, you can safely unpin and re-pin the tile once the underlying install is confirmed to be working.

When only a full reinstall resolves it

If EarTrumpet still won't open after restarting it, restarting Windows Audio, and confirming Sound settings and permissions, a reinstall from the Microsoft Store or Chocolatey replaces every app file with a known-good copy, which resolves the remaining cases where a partial or interrupted update left the app unable to start.

A note on multiple user profiles

On shared PCs with several Windows accounts, EarTrumpet needs to be launched separately in each profile the first time; it does not automatically appear for every account just because it's installed once.

If EarTrumpet worked yesterday but not today

A sudden overnight change almost always traces back to an automatic Windows update or driver install that happened while the PC was idle. Checking Settings > Windows Update > Update history for anything installed in that window is a fast way to confirm the timing before assuming EarTrumpet itself changed.

Frequently asked questions

EarTrumpet is running in Task Manager but no window appears — why?

EarTrumpet lives in the system tray rather than a normal window, so check hidden tray icons first; if it's genuinely unresponsive, exit and relaunch it.

Could a missing default audio device stop EarTrumpet from opening?

Yes. Confirm in Sound settings that a playback device is connected and set as default, since EarTrumpet's flyout is built around active audio sessions.

Does reinstalling fix a launch failure?

Often, yes — a reinstall replaces any corrupted app files that may prevent it from starting.

Should I try Chocolatey if the Microsoft Store install fails?

It's a reasonable alternative distribution method; run choco install eartrumpet from an elevated prompt after uninstalling the previous copy.