Bluetooth audio from an iPhone to windows 10 PC (A2DP sink)

I was able to find the answer on microsoft forums here

I have included the quote, as the answer is a ways down. The user Celestrion stated:

Microsoft's Bluetooth stack presently supports only the "source" role of the A2DP profile, which lets it send audio. It does not support the "sink" role of the A2DP profile, which would let it receive audio.

There is a Toshiba driver that installs this service on their laptops to make up for this regression (the Bluetooth stack Toshiba shipped with Windows 7 had this feature), but its INF file is set up to only install on Toshiba computers.

The rest of us are stuck until Microsoft learns that some of us plug our computers into nice speaker systems and might want to stream audio digitally instead of dealing with cables and the associated logistical hassle. Or, we might want to use the same headset for Skype and telephone calls.


2020-05-29 Update:

Microsoft is re-adding A2DP sink support to Windows 10 in version 2004.

Please find the more detailed version of this answer here.


It seems like Microsoft has disabled A2DP sink capabilities since Window 8, or it just doesn't work anymore.

You could try to download and update the audio driver with software supplied by the manufacturer of your Bluetooth card/chip.

If that doesn't help, you could replace the Microsoft Bluetooth Stack with a third-party product, such as :

  • BlueSoleil Bluetooth Stack ($27.99)
  • Toshiba Bluetooth Stack (for the right hardware)
  • WIDCOMM/Broadcom Bluetooth Software (for the right hardware)

So the only options I can think of are:

  1. Try BlueSoleil and buy if it fixes the problem and the free version is too restrictive.

  2. Replace your network adapter with one that has better Bluetooth Stack available.