The microphone is not working in Windows 10. How To Fix It?

Since the rise of electronic technologies, the way people percept the world has changed beyond recognition. The Internet became one of the breakthroughs in communications and regular lifestyle. Microphones themselves have been playing a significant role in building a bridge between speakers all over the world. They get constantly upgraded with new features to make your voice sound better and clearer. Now, everybody who owns a laptop or smartphone, has microphones built-in already as a staple thing. Those who gravitate towards higher quality, buy external devices and plug them in configuring settings for personal needs. Unfortunately, some users of Windows 10 experience issues with sound recording devices for unknown reasons. This can be related to various reasons like driver issues, damaged port (USB), and others. If you are one of them, we will help you seal the problem down below.

1. Check connection/Clear dust in a USB-port

If you try to plug an external microphone, but Windows does not show its presence, there is a chance that your port is dusted and does not allow the contacts to fit in correctly. For this, you do not necessarily need to run for a screwdriver and dismantle your PC. Everything you need to do is take a dry toothpick (or similar) and carefully scrape the dust away from the port. Once done, you can try and plug your wire back in and see whether Windows sees the device this time. Doing scheduled cleanups of a computer is very important because coolers suck dust and spread it over hardware devices which may affect system performance in many ways. We do not recommend you to do this unless you own a set of needed skills.

2. Run Windows Troubleshooter

Although Windows Troubleshooter cannot solve all problems existing, sometimes it actually helps users to turn many processes back to a working state. If you are using an external microphone, plug it in and follow the steps below:

1. Click on Start and click on the gearbox icon to start Settings.
2. In settings click on Updates & Security and in the left panel choose Troubleshoot.
3. Click Additional troubleshooters link in the bottom, find Recording Audio and click on it.
4. Click on the Run the troubleshooter button.
5. Once finished, restart your computer and see if anything changes.

3. Enable microphone in Windows settings

Whilst many think that solving microphone issues requires monotonous and sophisticated methods, sometimes the solution is to simply turn on your recording device in system settings. And here is how:

1. Press Windows key + I combination to open the settings and choose Privacy.
2. Then, on the left side find and choose Microphone.
3. On the right side, make sure the toggle is turned on under Let apps use my microphone.

Now you can try to test your microphone in different circumstances.

4. Set the microphone as a default device and unmute it

It is important to configure your microphone in the right way, especially the external one. In some cases, the microphone is not set as the main device for sound recording or simply remains muted. This problem is highly popular when you want to swap up to external devices, but Windows fails to adjust it automatically, as meant to be. Thus, we will scout recording preferences a little to tinker around those settings.

Here is how you can set your mic as a prime device:

1. Open Settings like we did above by pressing Windows key + I combination.
2. Then navigate to System and choose Sound on the left pane.
3. Find and open Sound control panel in the right corner.
4. In the opened tab, choose the desired microphone and click on the Set Default button below.
5. If you see no microphones on the list, you should right-click on the empty area and turn on Show Disabled Devices and Show Disconnected Devices as well.

How to unmute your device:

1. Open Sound control panel as we did previously, and navigate to Preferences (next to the Set Default button).
2. Then move to Levels and tune the volume toggle up to 100 and make sure the speaker icon is turned on, too.
3. Click Apply at the bottom, close the window, and check your microphone in action.

5. Update Microphone drivers

Drivers are a type of software that controls and makes sure hardware works swiftly and flawlessly. Not excluded that microphone driver is outdated or malfunctioned. Head down these steps below to update drivers:

1. Right-click on the Start Menu button and select Device Manager.
2. In the opened tab find and expand the Audio inputs and outputs option.
3. Locate the microphone driver, right-click on it, choose Update Driver and follow the on-screen instructions.
4. Windows will start searching for available updates and automatically install them on your computer.

If you are using a professional recording appliance, you can head to the official page of the product and download drivers directly from the developers’ page.

You can also download IOBIT Driver Booster that will find and install new drivers automatically. It will save a lot of time and may become more efficient in doing so. Here is the link to download it.

Driver Booster start screen

Driver Booster scan results

Driver Booster tools section

6. Reboot Audio services

There is a special section in Windows designed to run multiple processes. It allows users to modify certain entries to recover bugged processes that prevent normal usage. Maybe your Audio services are turned off and not running at all. Follow the instructions below to do this:

1. Press Windows key + R button combination and paste services.msc in the opened tab.
2. Scroll down the opened list of services until you find Windows Audio service.
3. Right-click on it and choose Restart. You can alternatively choose Stop and then Start afterward.

If Audio services keep being turned off after a reboot, you should do the following:

1. Right-click on Windows Audio once again and choose Properties.
2. In the General menu of Properties, make sure to select Automatic mode next to the Startup type option.
3. Finally, click Apply, restart the PC, and check if something has changed.

Summary

We hope our guide helped you fix microphone issues and unleash the greatness of your voice to stream it all over the world.