How to Test Your Microphone

Test it in your browser

1. Open Microphone Test and click Start test.
2. Allow microphone access when the browser asks.
3. Speak: the level bar should move. Click Record 5 seconds to hear yourself played back.

This uses the same microphone access as Zoom, Teams, Meet and other browser calls, so if it works here, it works for them.

If the bar does not move

• Wrong microphone: pick another one from the list. Laptops often have a built-in microphone as well as your headset.
• Muted headset: many headsets have a mute switch on the cable or ear cup.
• Blocked in the browser: click the icon at the left of the address bar and allow the microphone for the site.
• Blocked in the system: on Windows, Settings → Privacy & security → Microphone, and make sure desktop apps and your browser are allowed. On a Mac, System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone.
• In use elsewhere: close other apps that may be holding the microphone, such as a call in another tab.

Choose the default microphone

• Windows 11: Settings → System → Sound → Input, and choose the device.
• macOS: System Settings → Sound → Input.

Sounding better

Keep the microphone a hand's width from your mouth and slightly to the side, so breaths do not hit it. A headset microphone almost always sounds clearer than a laptop's, because it is closer to you and further from the fan and keyboard.