Audio Device Routing Policy Registry Path

Windows manages audio stream routing and endpoint configurations through specific subkeys in the Windows Registry. This article details the exact registry paths responsible for system-wide and application-specific audio device routing policies, explains what data is stored within these paths, and outlines how to safely locate them using the Registry Editor (Regedit).

Primary Registry Path for Audio Device Routing

In modern versions of Windows (Windows 10 and Windows 11), application-specific and system audio routing policies are stored in the user-specific low-rights registry store. The exact path is:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\LowRegistry\Audio\PolicyConfig\PropertyStore

Despite the legacy Internet Explorer naming convention, this subkey houses the modern Windows Core Audio Policy Configuration (PolicyConfig). It stores the explicit input and output device assignments for individual applications configured under Settings > System > Sound > Volume mixer (or Advanced Sound Options).

System-Wide Audio Endpoint Registry Paths

To manage system-wide audio device properties, states, and global endpoint definitions, Windows references the MMDevices (Multimedia Devices) registry keys:

• Playback Devices (Render):

  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\MMDevices\Audio\Render

• Recording Devices (Capture):

  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\MMDevices\Audio\Capture

Under each of these keys, each physical and virtual audio endpoint is assigned a unique Globally Unique Identifier (GUID). Within each GUID folder: * Properties: Contains metadata such as friendly names, driver details, and hardware configuration flags. * DeviceState: A DWORD value representing whether the device is active (1), disabled (2), not present (4), or unplugged (8).

How to Navigate to the Routing Policy in Regedit

1. Press Windows Key + R, type regedit, and press Enter.

2. Paste the following path into the address bar at the top:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\LowRegistry\Audio\PolicyConfig\PropertyStore

3. Expand the subkeys to view individual application policies. Each subkey corresponds to an application executable path hashed alongside the assigned audio endpoint GUID.

4. To reset all custom routing policies to Windows defaults, deleting the subkeys under PolicyConfig\PropertyStore will force Windows to regenerate standard routing configurations upon restarting the Windows Audio service (Audiosrv).