Ok, this is very weird.
Wired headphones are plugged in and working.
But the internal laptop speaker has sound coming out?
The reason someone uses headphones is to avoid disturbing other people.
In my experience the internal speaker always mutes when headphones are plugged into the audio jack.
Not this time. What is happening and how do I fix it?
I’m stumped. I think this is Win 11 or 10.
Could be either a hardware or software issue.
One assumes that the headphone jack has some kind of sensor or switch which detects when headphones are plugged in and mutes the speakers. But I’ve never investigated whether this is a physical switch or if software is involved.
Someone who works in computer repair might know?
In most Windows laptops I’ve used, it’s ultimately software controlled, but hardware has a role.
The speakers and the headphones are treated as distinct audio output devices, which means software chooses which is used as Windows’ current default audio output. The headphone device doesn’t exist in the system unless a headphone is plugged into the jack. (The jack hardware senses what kind of device is plugged in, which is why the same jack can be used for a microphone plugin.)
If the jack isn’t detecting the headphones correctly, an output device switchover won’t happen, but you’ll also be unable to manually switch.
If the jack hardware is working correctly, it’s still up to the software to choose an audio output from all the available options. Some software like Zoom requires you to select your desired choice but it will remember. The system itself (for stuff like Windows sounds) requires you to switch devices and if you disconnect the current device it’ll switch to another (usually the speakers).
You can even have different programs outputting through different audio devices simultaneously.
The point is this: the headphones jack of a computer isn’t like the headphones jack of a transistor radio. The jack doesn’t cut the circuit to the speakers and substitute itself when you plug in. They’re independent devices and have to be selected by whatever software logic has control of the audio devices in that moment.
Sounds reasonable. Unfortunately, it could still be either a hardware or software issue.
The hardware in the jack could be faulty, or the software responding to the information provided by it could be misconfigured.
If this used to work properly but now doesn’t, my money would be on a hardware problem.
I’ve never had occasion to really dig deeply into the audio settings configuration of a laptop, though. Don’t know what settings or diagnostic may exist in Windows…?
Are you certain you’re plugged into the correct socket? Most laptop audio plugs are integrated (LRMic) and can/usually disable internal audio when an insertion is detected. But some have separate I/Os like a Line Out.
The way to tell if the hardware is faulty is by plugging in headphones and see if the headphones appear as an available audio output device. If the headphones are detected and presented for use, hardware is just fine. Especially if you can select the headphones and they work.
Would it be helpful to try wireless headphones? That would eliminate the audio port as the issue.
I clicked on 
and see a drop down list of audio devices.
Win used to offer a Mixer after clicking on speaker but thats not coming up in Win 10.
This is for an older resident at a Nursing home. The family tried bluetooth headphones. They worked great until it needed recharging. The resident gets confused and starts clicking stuff on the computer. Wired takes care of the charging problem.