Microphone Not Working? Fix It Step by Step

First, find out where the problem is

A mic problem sits in the app, your computer’s settings or the mic itself. The tester shows you which.

1. Test here. Press Start Mic Test, talk for a few seconds, then record a 5-second clip and listen back on headphones.
2. If it works here, your mic and system are fine and the app is the problem. Open its audio settings and pick the mic shown under Device in our details panel. On a Mac, also check the app’s switch in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Microphone. For Discord or video calls, see our Discord mic test or webcam mic test.
3. If it fails here too, the cause is the hardware, a driver or a system setting. Find your symptom below and try the fixes in order.

Find your symptom

• No sound at all: the meter stays flat when you talk.
• Too quiet: people ask you to speak up.
• Too loud or distorted: the meter turns red.
• Static, hiss or hum: a steady noise under your voice.
• Echo: others hear themselves, or you hear yourself.
• Cutting out: your voice drops in and out.
• Blocked or an error screen: the test can’t open the mic.

No sound: the meter doesn’t move

The tester shows No sound detected, and a recording ends with We barely heard anything. The browser opened a mic, but nothing it hears rises above −55 dBFS. Usually it’s muted, turned down or the wrong mic.

1. Check every mute: the headset ear cup or boom (many mute when flipped up), an inline remote on the cable, the button on a USB mic and your laptop’s mic-mute key.
2. Pick the right input. Choose your mic in the tester’s menu, then make it the system default. Windows 11: Settings › System › Sound, then under Input use Choose a device for speaking or recording. Mac: System Settings › Sound › Input.
3. Raise the input volume with the slider on the same Windows or Mac settings page.
4. Check the plug. Most laptops have one 3.5 mm combo jack that needs a four-contact (TRRS) headset plug. Headsets with separate mic and headphone plugs, and standalone mics with a three-contact (TRS) plug, need a splitter for that jack. On a desktop with separate jacks, a one-plug headset needs a splitter too. Plug USB mics straight into the computer instead of a hub.
5. Reconnect Bluetooth headsets. On Windows the mic may be a separate entry with “Headset” or “Hands-Free” in its name.
6. Reinstall the driver (Windows). Right-click Start, open Device Manager and expand Sound, video and game controllers. Right-click your audio device and choose Update driver, or Uninstall device and restart. On a Mac, restart and check that Audio MIDI Setup (Applications › Utilities) lists the mic.
7. Phones: on Android 12 and later, check the Mic access tile in Quick Settings. When it’s off, websites get silence instead of an error. Check that a case isn’t covering the mic holes.

Too quiet: people ask you to speak up

The bars barely move and the Recording check says Your voice is quiet. That means your Voice level stayed below about −42 dBFS.

1. Raise the input volume as in the no-sound steps, then record again.
2. Turn up the gain knob on a USB mic or audio interface. Some ignore the system slider.
3. Try Microphone Boost (Windows). Open the mic’s Properties from Settings › System › Sound › More sound settings › Recording. Depending on your driver, the Levels tab may have a Microphone Boost slider. Raise it one step at a time, because it boosts hiss too.
4. Get closer. Put a headset boom near the corner of your mouth. Many USB mics pick up from the side, so talk into the front face rather than the top.
5. Phones: remove the case and clear lint from the mic hole.

Too loud or distorted: the meter turns red

The meter turns red, the status reads Too loud – your mic is clipping, and a recording reports how many times it clipped. Your peaks reach 98.5% of full scale and the loudest parts get cut off.

1. Lower the input volume until normal speech stays out of the red.
2. Turn down the gain knob and switch off Microphone Boost if you raised it.
3. Move back a little and speak across the mic. A pop filter or foam cover softens “p” and “b” sounds.

Static, hiss or hum

The playback has a steady noise, the Background value is high, and the Recording check may say Background noise is close to your voice. That means the gaps between words are within 15 dB of your voice. Hiss usually means the gain is too high. A low hum points to electrical interference.

1. Lower the gain and get closer. Your voice stays as loud and the hiss drops.
2. Change the USB port or cable. Use a port on the computer itself (a rear one on a desktop) and avoid unpowered hubs.
3. Test on battery. If the hum stops when you unplug a laptop’s charger, try another outlet or charger.
4. Move phones, power bricks and monitors away from the mic and its cable.
5. Bluetooth headsets switch to a thin, crackly hands-free mode while their mic is on. A wired or USB mic sounds better.
6. Use noise suppression. Leave Raw mode off here and turn suppression on in your call app. On a Mac, many video apps offer Mic Mode › Voice Isolation in the menu bar during a call.

Echo

Echo doesn’t show on a meter, so listen to a recording on headphones. Then work out who hears it.

• Others hear themselves: your speakers are feeding their voices into your mic. Wear headphones, lower the speaker volume or move the mic away. Keep echo cancellation on in your call app. It’s on here unless you enable Raw mode. On a phone, use earphones instead of speakerphone.
• You hear yourself: something plays your mic back to you. On Windows, open the mic’s Properties (More sound settings › Recording) and untick Listen to this device on the Listen tab. Turn off sidetone or monitoring in your headset’s software too.
• Hollow, roomy sound: the room echoes. Get closer to the mic and add soft surfaces like curtains or a rug.

Cutting out: your voice drops in and out

The waveform goes flat mid-word, the playback has gaps or the test stops with Microphone disconnected. If the clip here is complete but calls still drop you, suspect your internet connection or the app.

1. Reseat the connection. Move the cable gently while you talk. If the sound drops, replace the cable or change ports.
2. Wireless headsets: charge them and stay close. USB 3 ports and devices can interfere with 2.4 GHz signals. Keep a wireless dongle away from them.
3. Stop USB power saving (Windows). In Device Manager, open each USB Root Hub under Universal Serial Bus controllers. If it has a Power Management tab, untick Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power. If your power plan’s advanced settings show USB selective suspend, disable it.
4. Check noise suppression and voice gates. Strong suppression or an app’s input sensitivity threshold can cut off quiet words. If a recording here has gaps that vanish in Raw mode, turn suppression down in your apps.

Blocked, busy or not found

Match the title on the tester’s error screen:

• Microphone access is blocked: your browser denied this site. Click the icon next to the address bar, set Microphone to Allow and reload. The allow microphone access guide has steps for every browser and phone.
• Your computer is blocking the microphone: on Windows 11, open Settings › Privacy & security › Microphone and turn on Microphone access and Let desktop apps access your microphone. On a Mac, open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Microphone, turn on your browser, then quit and reopen it.
• The microphone is busy: close other apps and tabs using the mic, like Zoom, Teams or Discord, then replug it. On Windows, untick Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device on the Advanced tab of the mic’s Properties so apps can share it.
• No microphone found: connect the mic, check it isn’t disabled in Settings › System › Sound › All sound devices on Windows, then follow the no-sound steps.
• Microphone disconnected: see cutting out.

Microsoft’s fix microphone problems page and Apple’s guide to sound input settings on Mac go deeper on the system side. Bookmark the online mic test for a quick check before your next call.

Last updated November 10, 2026