The microphone is an essential component, especially when you have to attend voice or video calls frequently. It’s normal to feel frustrated when it fails to work.
Whether it’s the built-in microphone or the one you’ve connected externally, there may be instances where Windows fails to recognize your microphone or prevents you from using it.
There may be a lot of factors influencing when the microphone stops working. To help you out, we have listed the practical solutions to fix microphone problems in Windows 11. So, let’s check them out.
Fix Microphone Not Working on Windows 11
1. Perform basic checks
If you’re using an external microphone on your PC, you can start by checking the physical connection to it to check if it’s connected properly.
On top of that, you’ll also need to make sure it’s plugged into the correct audio jack if your computer has separate audio input and output ports. Similarly, if it’s a USB microphone, try connecting it to a different USB port.
Additionally, if your microphone has a physical mute switch, be sure to turn it off.
2. Activate the microphone
Next, you will need to check if you have accidentally turned off the microphone on your computer. To do this, you will need to access Device Manager.
Step 1: Press Windows Key + X to open the quick link menu and select Device Manager from the list.
Step 2: Double-click on “Audio Inputs and Outputs” to expand. Right-click on the microphone and select Activate device
If the microphone is already enabled, try disabling it and enabling it again. Next, check to see if the microphone is working fine.
3. Allow apps to use the microphone
If the problem persists even after you turn on the microphone, there’s a chance that apps on your computer won’t get the required permission to access the microphone. Here’s how you can change that.
Step 1: Press Windows Key + I to launch the Settings app. On the Privacy and Security tab, scroll down to App Permissions and select Microphone.
Step 2: Enable the switch next to Microphone access and Allow apps to access your microphone.
Next, scroll down to verify that the app can access your microphone.
4. Check the audio input device and volume
If you connect multiple audio devices to your computer, you will have to make sure that your preferred microphone is set as the default audio input device. Here’s how to do it.
Step 1: Right-click on the speaker icon on the taskbar and select Sound Settings from the resulting menu.
Step 2: Choose your preferred microphone under Input. In addition, you will also need to check its size.
Step 3: Next, click on Audio Input Device.
Step 4: Use the start test button to see if the microphone is working fine.
5. Re-voice the microphone
Regardless of selecting the correct input device in the Settings app, you’ll need to double-check which microphone your app is using. Also, if the other person can’t hear your voice, check to see if the microphone is muted.
Additionally, if you’re running Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22494, or later, Microsoft has also introduced a generic mute button that lets you mute or unmute your microphone directly from the taskbar.
So, check if you have accidentally muted the microphone from there.
6. Run the Windows Troubleshooter
Windows troubleshooters can help you check and fix most system-related problems on your computer. So, if the microphone is still not working even though all the correct settings are enabled, you can run the audio recording troubleshooter on Windows by following these steps.
Step 1: Click on the search icon in the taskbar. Type the troubleshooting settings in the box and select the first result that appears.
Step 2: Go to other troubleshooters.
Step 3: Run the Audio Recording troubleshooter and follow the on-screen instructions to finish the process.
7. Update microphone drivers
Outdated or missing audio drivers on your computer can also lead to such anomalies. Although Windows tends to update these drivers automatically, sometimes the process may not work as expected.
In this case, you can try to update the microphone drivers manually to see if that works.
Step 1: Click on the search icon in the taskbar, type device manager, and select the first result that appears.
Step 2: Expand Audio Inputs and Outputs, right-click on the microphone, and select Update driver software.
From there, follow the onscreen instructions to update the driver. Once updated, check if the microphone is working fine.
Microphone check
There are a few things that are annoying like a microphone not working properly. Especially if your work requires you to attend virtual meetings frequently, these microphone issues can be very embarrassing.
However, a solution should help you get your microphone working again and prevent it from bothering you in the future.
