How to Fix Microphone Settings in Windows 10 & 11: Why Isn’t My Mic Working?

In this guide, we will talk about one of the biggest issues in Windows 10 & 11: how to fix the microphone settings.

In general, Windows 10 & 11 don’t easily work with many recording devices, even if they’re part of the computer. What we’ve found through our experience is that if a mic connected to a computer isn’t working it’s usually a settings problem and not a problem with the microphone itself.

If you don’t have any problems just yet – you just have a new microphone and you are unsure how to install it – check out our microphone installation guide.

How To Fix Microphone Settings In Windows 10 & 11

Fix Microphone Settings In Windows 11 October 2021

One of the major issues when trying to fix microphone settings in Windows 11 is the slightly redesigned UI. Because of this, you’ll have to get familiar with the new Settings app and its interface. Otherwise, the process does exactly the same thing that it does on Windows 10.

First, get to the settings app and select “Privacy & Security” from the left-hand menu listing.

first step to fix microphone settings in windows 11

Afterward, focus on the right side of the Settings app and scroll down “App permissions” and “Microphone” after that.

step 2 of how to fix microphone settings in windows 11

Finally, you’re exactly on the page where you need to be. From here on out, the solution is almost seamless to understand even for beginners. Simply toggle the “Let apps access your microphone” switch if it is not turned on already. From there, turn on access for every app that you plan on using your microphone for communication and other activities.

Check If the Microphone Is Disabled

There are some instances when Windows 11 might not detect your drivers properly, seeing that it is a (very) new OS on the market. Because of this, you’ll need to check the device manager and/or, eventually, update the drivers yourself.

However, you should first check to see if this fact has “disabled” your device in the Device Manager. To access the Device Manager in Windows 10 or 11, simply type “device manager” in the search bar. Next, click on the app itself, as shown here:

device manager search in windows 11 bar

Once you click on the appropriate icon, go to the “Audio inputs and outputs” dropdown, click on the arrow shape near the title, and then select your microphone device from the dropdown list. Right-click the appropriate device and select “Enable device.” That should now allow you to use your microphone properly.

enable microphone in device manager

Fastest Solution to Fix Microphone Settings In Windows 10 After April 2018 Update

If you’re still using Windows 10, and if the problem started after April 2018 (a major Windows 10 update), then the fastest solution might be this:

Many computers had a kind of privacy settings reset after Microsoft’s April major update. This reset made your apps and programs not able to access your webcam and microphone. Therefore, we should give them their access and permissions back. Follow me:

  1. Open Settings from your start menu.
  2. open settingsClick on Privacy in order to access all your privacy settings.privacy setting
  3. Select Microphone from the left pane and then click the Change button.

     

    Fix Microphone Settings

  4. Now, turn on microphone for this device.allow access to mic
  5. Turn on Allow apps to access your microphone.allow access to mic
  6. Finally in the app list, make sure to turn on microphone access for every app you want to give permission to access your microphone.
    give permission
  7. Repeat the same exact steps but for your webcam this time.webcam

 

Your mic still isn’t working?

Make sure it’s not a hardware issue

Let’s check that your mic isn’t damaged or faulty first and get that out of the way. The best way to check that is to connect your microphone to another computer running any operating system other than Windows 10.

If the microphone doesn’t work on the other computer too, that means it could be faulty. If it does work on the other computer that means you probably have a software problem on your Windows 10 computer.

On both PCs, if you’re using a desktop computer (not a laptop), make sure you’re connecting your microphone or headset to the back panel of the PC. The front audio ports aren’t always well connected to the motherboard.

Now that we know that it is a software problem, let’s get it fixed.

When you know your recording device is called “VIA HD audio” please click here

For a recording device that is called “IDT High Definition Audio Codec” please click here

If the problem concerns your gaming headset, or other microphone + headphones combo, check this out

For any video/audio recording software installation on your computer – check this

And finally if you’re having problems with a Bluetooth headset / pair of headphones /  microphone, then check that your Bluetooth is correctly configured first, with this article.

If none of these links above are relevant to you, keep reading.

Method I: Let’s fix some recording device settings

  1. Right-click on the speaker icon in the bottom-right part of the screen and choose Sounds.choose sounds
  2. Click on the Recording tab in order to see your recording devices list.recording
  3. A list of recording devices will appear. Try speaking into your microphone, and see if there any green bars rising next to one of them while you talk (as in screenshot).green bars rising
  4. If you don’t see any green bars skip to step 5. If you do see green bars when you talk into the microphone, but it still doesn’t work in some program, then that means that the mic is correctly configured in Windows, but the program is listening to the wrong recording device. Try changing that program’s settings.
  5. Check if you can recognize which one of the devices in the list is your microphone. If you found it, click on it to highlight it, and then click Set Default.set default
  1. Check again if you see green bars rising when you talk into the microphone. If you do your mic is now correctly setup. If not, continue to next step.
  2. Double-click on the device that represents your microphone. The Microphone Properties window will appear. Click the Levels tab.levels tab
  3. In the “Levels” tab make sure that “Microphone” and “Microphone Boost” are set to the maximum, you can do that by sliding them to the right until the first one shows 100 and the boost is set to +30.0 dB. Then click OK.microphone properties
  4. In the “Enhancements” tab (if found), make sure to uncheck the “Disable all sound effects” checkbox.enhancements on sound effect
  5. Now visit the “Advanced” tab too and make sure to uncheck the “Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device” checkbox and click “OK“. (Also uncheck the “Enable audio enhancements” check box if found).advance boxes to check off
  6. In the main recording devices panel, go to the “Communications” tab and select the “Do nothing” radio button and then click OK.sound communications
  7. Restart your computer and recheck your recording devices panel. If you see green bars rising when you talk into the microphone – your mic is now properly configured!
  8. If you still don’t see any bars and you’re not 100% sure which one of the devices is the relevant one, try following steps 4-11 for every device on the list.

Method II: Uninstall and reinstall your microphone drivers

  1. Open device manager, fastest way is through the search bar:device manager search bar
  2. Open ‘Audio Inputs and Outputs’audio inputs and outputs setting
  3. Left-click on your recording device.
  4. In the menu that opens up Click ‘Uninstall’.
  5. Physically disconnect your microphone from the computer.
  6. Restart the computer.
  7. Reconnect microphone and let Windows re-install the drivers.
  8. If your Windows 10 updating gets stuck, this may prevent you from getting the latest drivers automatically. Check this guide to fix it.
  9. If it didn’t work, I would suggest that you install the latest driver found on your computer manufacturer’s website manually, because sometimes the latest driver isn’t the one compatible with your computer. So you should search for your computer model number on the manufacturer’s website, download the latest driver that is compatible with your model number and Windows 10 and check if it works.
  10. If you found your computer model on the website but can’t see a version for Windows 10 there, this means there aren’t compatible drivers for it yet and you may have to wait until they release some new drivers.
  11. Next up are solutions only to specific devices, so if you read up to here and nothing worked, please head to our forum and we’ll try to help.

Method III: Specific solution for users with IDT High Definition Audio Codec device

  1. Open device manager, fastest way is through the search bar:device manager search
  2. Open ‘Audio Inputs and Outputs’audio inputs and outputs
  3. Double click on your recording device ‘High Definition Audio Codec’.
  4. Move to the ‘Driver’ tab.driver tab
  5. Click ‘Update Driver’.
  6. Then ‘Browse my computer for driver software’.browse computer for drivers
  7. Click ‘Let me pickup a list of device drivers on my computer’.let me pick driver from list
  8. Select ‘High Definition Audio Device’, and not ‘IDT High Def’, and click Next.
  9. You will get a warning. Click “Yes”.
  10. Check if it works.

Method IV: Specific solution for users with VIA HD Audio device

Many VIA users are experiencing problems with recording and/or playback since they moved to Windows 10. If you’re one of these people try to download and install Daniel_K’s modified drivers.

Method V: If the problem concerns your gaming headset or microphone + headphone combo:

First of all, make sure the connection type between your headset and your computer is the same. If your headset has 2 independent jacks, one for the audio and the other for the microphone, your computer must have independent ports as well. If it’s a 2 in 1 (one jack for both microphone and audio) then you computer must have one single port with a headset icon on it.

  1. iPhone earphones and other headsets’ microphones with one single jack won’t work in case your computer has two ports, splitted. So you’ll need to buy one of these splitters:Maeline 3.5mm Female to 2 Male Gold Plated Headphone Mic Audio Y Splitter Flat Cable
  2.  If your headset has two independent jacks and you want to connect both of them to the one headset port in your computer you will need one of these splitters:UGREEN 3.5mm Audio Stereo Y Splitter Cable 3.5mm Male to 2 Port 3.5mm Female for Earphone, Headset Splitter Adapter, Compatible for iPhone, Samsung, LG, Tablets, MP3 players, Metal Black
  3. If your connection is the same on the headset and in the computer, but the microphone still doesn’t work, you may try to convert to USB connection, use one of these converters:
    1. For 2 x 3.5mm jacks headsets
    2. For 1 x 3.5mm jack headsets
  4. Uninstall any VoIP programs and applications, like Skype, Teamspeak or any other voice calling programs, then restart your computer and if your microphone works again now you can reinstall them.

Method VI: If you are using recording software

People who use recording software (Audio recording / screen recording)  have to check that your software is up-to-date, some people reported that an old version of flashback express screen recorder was muting their microphones.

Hopefully, using these methods helped you fix the microphone settings on your Windows 10. If not, keep reading!

Please note:

If you still have problems after reading this article and going through the steps, please ask your question in our forum, where we have an expert on the subject that will try his best to help you. As we learn more information through the forum we update this article with advice that is tailored to specific devices.

Suggested Read: Best Windows Explorer Alternatives

Final Thought

Every day, we encounter different problems on our computers and other devices that require immediate response so that our work won’t be put on hold. From typical system errors and installation of various devices to simple information about technical terms, our website offers most of your computer-related questions, especially for Windows 10. Check us out now and you may find helpful tutorials. Or you may directly ask about How To Remove Your WiFi Card.

341 Comments

  1. Hello,

    Recently I’ve purchased iRig Mic and wanted to use on my pc. After getting in contact with IK support team I’ve learned that the mic is not compatible with pc. They suggested for me to buy iRig Mic HD 2 or iRig PRE HD since I’m a uni student its impossible for me to invest in another mic.

    Do you know if there is a possible way to make this mic work on my pc?

    • Hello Selen,
      we have checked the official website and we found that the microphone isn’t really compatible with Windows OS, but anyway it’s worth a couple of trials:
      1- Try to download and install the driver that makes iRig Mic HD 2 and PRE HD, maybe it could work:
      https://www.asio4all.org/
      2- Try connecting it via a USB adapter as shown in the guide, it’s not expensive but if it works then your problem will be solved.
      We would like to get more in touch with you to keep on updating with the solutions we find and the results you get, so please head to our forums and open a thread with you problem and we will get in touch:
      https://win10faq.com/forums
      Thank you and good luck with your problem.

  2. If you’ve an Insiders Build of Win 10 from Build 17063 on, you’ll need to go to Settings from your Start Menu. Type microphone setup into the search box and run the Microphone Setup. Then go to Settings, Privacy, click on Microphone in the menu and click Change to let audio apps access the microphone. Many audio apps require this access for instance audio enhancers, audio record apps and so on. Otherwise these audio apps won’t work fully and properly.

    • Yes that’s correct Chaz, the only problem is that in that page in Settings, you will only find the list of Metro Apps (Windows 8 and 10 apps downloaded from the Store) but any other normal programs won’t be listed. That’s why you will have to follow the full guide to fix the issue in general.

    • Kudos, just stumbled on this before i read you comment. I was going to suggest they add this solution to the page. This was such a simple fix but the controls are so obscured it was hard to find. thank you

        • I think this would be a permission issue. You should go to the privacy settings and enable the microphone for all the apps. Also, make sure you set this microphone as your default recording device in order to use it over all apps.

  5. The problem I found was if I downloaded the Logictech software the camera not the microphone worked. I am using Windows 10. Just plug in the camera and let Windows set up the C270 and both are working, however you will nee to use the camera app and there are tutorials online that explain how to proceed to use the camera. This is what I found works even after calling Logictech support.

    • Thank you Dean B for sharing your experience with us, we will make sure to advise people who buy Logitech webcams and microphones!

  6. I have a Yeti blue USB microphone the mic cuts out about 15 to 20 minutes into recording via CAST podcasting server, the headphones continue to work, but the mic drops out completely

    • Hello Patrick,
      let’s try to uninstall all other programs that have access to your microphone like Skype (both original and Windows 10 metro app version), teamspeak, Viber, Discord ..etc then restart your computer and try it again. Also make sure you get the latest audio drivers from your computer manufacturer’s website (You can send us your computer model number and we will be looking for it ourselves) and then restart your computer for a couples of times before trying it again.
      If these tips didn’t help you so much, please don’t hesitate to bring your thread to our forums:
      https://win10faq.com/forums
      We are currently helping a lot of people and we would love to help you too. Good luck with it!

      • Hi, the microphone works after only after I restart it, how do you get it to work after just putting the laptop to sleep?

        • Hello Delilah, this is either a driver issue or a power plan one. Start fixing it by downloading the audio driver from your computer manufacturer’s official website and see if it works. Also, review your plan settings at your control panel if the last method didn’t fix it and tell me if you suspect any setting and I’ll work on fixing it. Good luck!

  11. You forgot to mention how to get a mic to work if its a webcam with built-in mic. You mentioned every other device excluding webcam/microphone combo devices. Also, what would I need to do if my audio manager program is “Realtek HD Audio Manager”? And what would I need to do if my desktop audio settings shows that the mic is inputting the same audio as my “Stereo Mix” device? (which in this case is “Realtek High Definition Audio”)

    • Hello Scott, yes you are totally right. Don’t worry, we update our guides periodically and I’ll make sure to include all these points in it. If you already have one of these problems please let us know in the comments or in the forums and I’ll do my best to help you until we update the guide. Have a nice day!

  12. Thank you!! I was stuck and reading through this and messing around a bit got me there; I honestly didn’t think it would…but it did. Thank you…

  13. **FIXED..FIXED..FIXED..FIXED..FIXED**
    I tried to give credit to who I originally got this solution from, but I think I closed out of the webpage..

    It’s was NOT enough to merely disable/re-enable. — breathe and proceed —
    Step1: start > device manager > audio inputs and outputs
    Step2: right click microphone > disable
    Step3: restart machine
    Step4: Step1
    Step5: right click microphone > enable
    Step6: let someone else know so they don’t waste 2 hours looking for the solution

    • Hello Emmanuel, unfortunately this is not a general solution for the problem, as you see, it has many reasons and our goal is to trace it till we solve everyone’s issue, but I’m glad this fixed your problem and I’ll make sure to tell people to try it. Cheers!

  14. I have tried all of the above, and my mic still continues not to work. The only time my mic is registering sound is when I do a listen test on my mic properties. PLEASE HELP

    I have a Razer Kraken USB headset.

    • Hello Wyatt, I’ll do my best to help for sure. First of all I want to remind you again to download your audio driver from your computer manufacturer’s website and install it, then give your computer a couple of restarts. There is another solution posted on Razer Kraken community if your mic worked perfectly before, open you Device Manager windows, click on sound, video and game controllers to expand it and then right click on the realtek high defination audio and select properties, and finally click on drivers and select roll back driver. Restart your computer and see if it works.

  15. Thanks for these very clear steps ! Unfortunately, even after trying these steps, I still have zero audio input on my laptop. The microphone built in my laptop doesn’t get any green bars, and also installing an external microphone doesn’t give anything. I’ve been looking around quite a lot and been trying almost all possible sound setting, but unfortunately there are no green bars at all…! If you have any more ideas what I might try, I’d be very thankful!

    • Hello Bart, I’m so sorry you still got a problem with it, but forgive me if I’m repeating this but I have to make sure… Have you downloaded the official audio driver from your computer manufacturer’s official website? They must be having the compatible one. Install it manually, give your computer a couple of restarts and see if the green bars appear. If you don’t know how to reach it, reply with your computer / laptop model number and I’ll reply back with the link to it.

  16. i found mine worked after going to start>microphone. Windows was blocking the access to my mic, so i allowed access again.

    • Yes Jason this happened to all of us who updated their Windows lately, Microsoft did reset all the permissions, you’ll have to do this with your webcam as well.

  17. Microphone Privacy Settings were set to not allow applications access to the microphone. Turned this back on, and mic worked.

  18. Hi, i’ve got an annoying problem, i have a double jack Marvo HG8914 headset(the microphone is integrated ), it can detect songs and game sounds but it doesn’t detect my voice, i clearly tried everything, downloaded the appropriate driver for my motherboard: Asrock h81-m VG4 R2.0.
    tried the steps posted above, still it didn’t work, by the way everything was alright few days ago, the mic was functionning until suddenly it stopped detecting my voice.
    Sound card is obviously fine since i tried other devices on it and its mics are working very well
    Some screenshots of my mic config: https://imgur.com/a/WJCFRgi

  19. The right mic i’m using is the one chosen inside the game, even discord and other applications.
    The main problem is the unability of detecting my voice, while being able to detect other sounds from the pc.

    • That’s so weird, it mustn’t be able to detect your computer sounds since Stereo Mix is disabled. Try to update the audio driver from inside the Stereo Mix device and see if it solves the problem.

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