Audio no longer works when connecting to Windows 11 via AirLink/Link Cable

[Note as of 12/6/2025 - For me, this was fixed by the latest update to the Horizon Link software, and joining the Beta Channel is no longer needed.]

The Problem: As of 11/26, I no longer get any audio through my Quest3 headset while I'm connected to my Win11 PC via AirLink. This has worked for me for years, and this is the first time I've had an issue with it. The only change I'm aware of, is that I did a 'Repair' using the Oculus Installer to solve a different issue I was having (a "can't find OculusClient.exe" error). After the Repair (which looked successful), I started having this audio issue. To be clear, audio works fine for me in the headset when I'm not connected over AirLink. Once in AirLink, I get no audio from any desktop Oculus app that I run. I've tested a few. When I leave AirLink, I get local audio in my headset again.

Solutions I've Tried: There are a fair number of support threads on this kind of issue here and in Reddit, and I believe I've Googled and found them all. None of them have solved my issue. Here is the list of things I've done:

[Note: Just because a solution didn't work for me doesn't mean these are bad solutions. Some of these have worked for others. Indicated by a (*). As of 12/4 the solution marked with (***) now works for me!]

(Last updated 12/4/25)

• Use cable instead of AirLink
• (*) Run the repair using the Meta Quest Link (Oculus) Installer
• (*) Uninstall Meta Horizon Link, reboot PC,  reinstall the app, reboot PC and Quest 3, and try again
• Scan the Setup and Driver install logs for errors (I don't see a smoking gun, but the logs are attached to this post)
• (*) Manually uninstall the Oculus Virtual Audio Device input driver from device manager, then uninstall and reinstall Horizon Link (also rebooting in between steps again, to be sure)
• (*) Rename my Oculus Virtual Audio Device to "Headphones" (It used to be named "Quest VR", and it worked fine, but I changed it back to Headphones after reading another forum post)
• (***) Join the Horizon Link Beta Public Test channel, let the app update, reboot my PC and Quest, and trying again
• Unpair my Quest3, uninstall Horizon Link, delete ...AppData\Local\Oculus directory, reboot, reinstall, repair the Quest and try again
• Uninstall Horizon Link using Revo Uninstaller, let it do a complete post uninstall clean, reboot, reinstall, try again
• Reboot my PC and Quest 3 many times by now during various troubleshooting steps
• Obvious steps: make sure I can get audio on my PC through other outputs, make sure the volumes are correct, make sure that correct audio devices are selected at the right times, etc.

My Settings

Here are what the relevant settings on my PC look like when I'm connected via AirLink.

Audio Devices

Meta Link Program

I have also tried all the combinations of Hear VR Audio from Computer and Hear Computer Audio in VR, but the screenshot below shows what used to work for me and now no longer works.

Audio Devices

The Virtual Audio device is present, enabled, and can get audio. It is also named "Headphones". NOTE: Something I find a little bit weird is that when I'm connected via AirLink, the volume is always showing at 1/2 level, even when I have no audio playing on my PC. When I disconect from AirLink, it stops doing this, and only shows the audio bar when something is actually playing. I don't know if this behavior occurred before my issue started, or if it coincides with it.

Audio Devices

Here are all the audio devices on my PC. I don't know exactly what I'm looking for, so I don't know if this is correct or not. It looks correct, although I do find it a bit strange there is no Oculus Virtual Audio Device under the Sound, video and game controllers section

Drivers

I can tell that the drivers are being updated whenever I install the Meta Quest Link Program, because the timestamp of these files is always updated

NOTE: I do find it a bit strange that the Oculus Virtual Audio Device shows different driver information depending on where I look.

Here it is in Win11 basic settings:

Here it is in the Device Manager:

When I click 'Update Driver', it takes me here, which also seems a bit weird (is 'Audio Endpoint' the normal name?)

Worth Mentioning (Windows error after Installation)

Whenever I finish an installation or repair, I always get this error. I don't believe this is related to my audio issue, because my installation seems successful, as shown in my previous screenshots. But it's worth mentioning. 

NOTE: the Meta Quest Client is NO LONGER called 'oculus-client\OculusClient.exe', but simply 'oculus-client\Client.exe'. I don't know where on my PC there is old data pointing to the old filename, but it clearly affects the installer (even though I just downloaded the latest version from the website). I also had to manually fix my Meta Quest Link shortcut that had this same problem. I've been a user since the original retail Oculus, so maybe that's why this happened to me once the devs changed the client exe name; not sure. Again, I doubt it's even relevant. Obviously I didn't have this issue way back when I first bought my Quest 3 and set all this up.

What I see when I click 'Next' and the installer tries to open the client

Thanks for any help with this issue.