How To Fix a Microphone Not Working in Windows 11
If you’re having trouble with your microphone on Windows 11, don’t worry – you’re not alone. This has been a common problem for many users.
In this guide, we will show you how to fix the microphone on Windows 11 so that you can chat and record audio as usual again. Let’s start!
Troubleshooting the microphone
To get your microphone working again, you need to try several troubleshooting steps that have been found effective by the Windows community. Let’s look at each method in detail.
Check your microphone cable and jack
Before troubleshooting software-related issues, it’s a good idea to check your microphone’s physical connection. However, this only applies if you use an external microphone.
First, make sure your microphone cable has no physical damage and is plugged in properly. Secondly, check your jack and make sure it isn’t clogged with dirt or other unwanted elements. If your device has more than one microphone output, you should try plugging the microphone into a different jack to see if the issue is with the microphone itself.
You might also want to connect the mic to a second device and see if it works. If this is the case, there is a good chance that the first machine has hardware or software problems.
If everything is fine on the connection front, it’s time to move on to more complex troubleshooting methods as detailed below.
Check if the microphone has access to your computer
By default, Windows 11 grants some apps access to the microphone while blocking others. If you try to use your microphone for an application to which access has been blocked, the microphone will not work.
To verify that the application has the required permissions:
- Open your Windows Settings by pressing Win + I.
- Select “Privacy & Security” in the left pane, then click “Microphone” in the right pane. This should open a list of all the apps that need access to the microphone on your system. Next to each item in the list is a toggle button that shows the permission status.
- If none of the apps have access to the microphone, turn on the toggle next to “Allow apps to access your microphone.”
- If some applications appear to have access to the microphone, but the target application has been blocked, toggle the button next to it to grant access immediately.
Check that the correct microphone has been selected in the settings
If you’re ever in a situation where it seems like your microphone isn’t working, chances are you’ve simply set the wrong microphone as the default source. This is a common problem with notebooks and laptops.
To fix this, you can go into your sound settings and verify that the correct recording device is selected as the default:
- Right-click the speaker icon in the lower-right corner of your taskbar and select “Sound settings” from the context menu.
- Under Input, select the microphone that you use as the default sound input device.
Another possibility is that your microphone is muted or the volume is set too low. You can check these settings in the same place. If the set volume is too low, move the slider to the right to increase it.
Check the status of your microphone drivers
Upgrading to Windows 11 can be notoriously bad for audio drivers. Sometimes the drivers installed are generic and some are not compatible with your software and hardware. If this is the cause of your problem, you should use Device Manager to ensure you are using the latest compatible driver for your recording device.
In order to do this:
- Open Device Manager.
- Locate your recording device, right-click and select “Update Driver”.
If no updated driver is available, try uninstalling and reinstalling the device. You may also need to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
Run the audio recording troubleshooter
Microsoft has developed a series of troubleshooters to help users solve their problems. These fixes are included in the latest versions of Windows and cover a variety of issues from network issues to the keyboard not working to Windows not installing the latest updates automatically.
To run the Recording Audio Troubleshooter and allow Windows to diagnose and fix the problem itself:
- Press the Windows key on your computer and type “Troubleshoot”.
- Click the “Open” button next to “Troubleshoot Settings”.
- Select “Other fixes”
- Select “Record Audio” from the sidebar on the left side of the window and then click the “Run the troubleshooter” button.
After the scan is complete, Windows will let you know what problems it found and whether it was able to fix them automatically. If the problems are resolved, you should restart your computer and check if the microphone works.
Restart Windows Audio Service
If you are experiencing audio problems on your computer, one possible solution is to restart the Windows Audio service. To do this, open the services management console and locate the Windows audio service:
- Open the Start menu and type “Services” in the search box.
- Open the Services app.
- In the Services window, scroll down to Windows Audio. Right-click Windows Audio and choose Restart. If the service is not running, you can also start it by selecting Start.
After the service restarts, check if your audio issues have been resolved. If it doesn’t, you may need to try another troubleshooting method.
Repair corrupted system files
If you’re having trouble with your microphone, it could be due to a system-wide corrupt file issue. This is less common but can happen. You can use the System File Checker tool (sfc /scannow) to determine if there is critical system corruption.
This tool will scan your system files and replace any corrupted files. After running the tool, restart your computer and check if the microphone is working properly. If not, there could be another issue at play.
Get your mic working again
If you’re having trouble with your microphone on Windows 11, there are a few troubleshooting steps you can try.
We recommend you start with the basics, e.g. B. restart the computer and check your audio settings. If these solutions don’t work, there are a few more advanced steps you can try that include updating your drivers or repairing corrupted files in your system.
Have you tried any of these troubleshooting tips on your Windows 11 computer? Let us know in the comments below.