Are you here because you found that your internal microphone is not working properly in Windows 10? Do not panic! It is a common error and everyone has experienced it. The issue is quite easy to fix so everything will be fine after trying these following fixes:
Fix 1: Update the device drivers
If after having Windows Update you faced the mic not working issue, it might be due to the drivers that you are using currently are outdated, missing, or incompatible with the system. For everyone who is not sure whether all the drivers are working fine, please check it.
Checking it can be done in the Windows Device Manager, one device at a time. However, it takes too much of your time and patience. The worst thing is that if any of the drivers do happen to be out of date, you will have to manually update them, which is kind of hard and risky. If you do not have enough time, patience or computer skills to update the device drivers manually, you are recommended to do it automatically with Driver Easy.
A thing called Driver Easy is so good as it will automatically recognize the system and find the right drivers for it. There is no need for you to know exactly what system your computer is running, you do not have to take a risk downloading and installing the wrong driver, and you also do not have to worry about making a mistake when installing. This tool will take care of everything for you. It is available for free. In addition, there is also a Pro version with full support and a 30-day money back guarantee.
- The first thing that you will have to do is to download and install Driver Easy.
- Run it and click the Scan Now button. The tool will scan the computer and detect the problems with the drivers if there is any.
- After that, click the Update button beside the flagged devices to automatically download the right version of the driver and then you are able to manually install the driver. The good news that it is available for a free version as well. Aside from that, you can also click Update All if you want to automatically download and install the right version of all the drivers that are out of date or missing. As for this feature, you will need to purchase the Pro version.
Fix 2: Set the microphone as default device
Your mic might not have been set as the default device so the sound will not be heard. You should follow the following guide if you want to set the mic as default.
- First of all, you will have to click the speaker icon located in the notification area of the taskbar. Please click Open Volume mixer.
- Then, choose System Sounds.
- The next thing is to go to the Recording tab, right click an empty place inside the display list of the devices, and then tick Show Disabled Devices to make sure that the mic device shows up.
- After that, click to highlight the microphone and then click Set Default > Default Device. Take note that your mic device may not be included in the list of Microphone and the icon might not look like a microphone. In this case, you should be able to recognize it by yourself. Another option is to right click the mic item and check if it is disabled. If it really is, then choose Enable to get the mic working.
- Click the highlight your mic for the second time. This time, you will have to click Properties.
- When you are on the Levels tab, check if the mic is muted. If it is, click on the little speaker icon in order to make it unmuted. Click Ok on the completion.
- To save all the changes that you have made, click OK.
Fix 3: Re-enable microphone in Device Manager
Re-enabling the microphone in Device Manager is a quick and useful way when you see the internal microphone run into some glitches. All that you have to do is to just perform all the steps below to disable and re-enable the mic device from the Windows Device Manager.
- Press the Windows logo key and R simultaneously on the keyboard to open the Run dialog box. When it opens, enter devmgmt.msc and click OK.
- Then, double click the Audio inputs and outputs entry in the pop up window and locate the mic device in the drop down list.
- In the next step, right click the mic and choose Disable device.
- Please wait for a while, right click the mic again and choose Enable device.
Fix 4: Modify the privacy settings
It is possible that the privacy settings related to the microphone have been reset after a Windows Update or the other system activities. In this case, the microphone may be restricted to work properly as it should. If you want to check and modify these settings, here are all the things that you will have to do:
- When you are on the keyboard, you will have to press the Windows logo key and I at once to fire up the Settings window. Once it is ready, choose Privacy.
- Click Change on the Microphone tab in the results pane to check if the toggle for Microphone access for this device has been set to Off. If it is really Off, please turn it on. Under this part, you will also be able to see another toggle for Allows apps to access your microphone. This one also has to be set to on so please set it on if it is Off.
- Scroll down and go to Choose which apps can access your microphone. Do not forget to make sure that all the apps that you need can access the mic.
AUTHOR BIO
On my daily job, I am a software engineer, programmer & computer technician. My passion is assembling PC hardware, studying Operating System and all things related to computers technology. I also love to make short films for YouTube as a producer. More at about me…
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