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A defective microphone or bad internal wiring might cause a laptop microphone to stop operating owing to an issue with the microphone settings or configuration, device drivers, or even a broken microphone. Check out our troubleshooting suggestions and tried-and-true solutions before buying a new microphone.
When a laptop microphone stops working, what causes it to do so?
A range of software and hardware issues, including issues with settings, configurations, and even driver conflicts, can cause laptop microphones to cease working. Examine the most prevalent issues in each of these categories to fix your laptop microphone, and address any problems you uncover. The following are the most typical reasons why your laptop microphone isn’t working:
- Microphone settings and configuration: This problem is frequently caused by simple errors such as a muted microphone or an inappropriately configured microphone.
- Microscopic drivers that are bad or out of date: If your microphone driver is bad or out of date, the microphone will not work properly.
- Microscopic hardware failure: Your microphone could have failed due to a fault or age, or there could be a problem with the internal wiring.
How to Repair a Non-Working Laptop Microphone?
There are a variety of laptop microphone issues that can be resolved without the need for any specific tools or training. Other difficulties are more complicated and will necessitate professional assistance.
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Follow these instructions to fix your laptop microphone:
1. Check to see if your microphone is muted. If your laptop has a physical microphone mute button that was mistakenly pressed, pressing that button or flicking that switch will resolve the issue.In your sound settings, your microphone may also be silenced. To double-check, go to:
- Navigate to the Control Panel and select it.
- Click on the Hardware and Sound tab.
- Make a sound with your mouse.
- Press the Record button.
- Right-click your microphone and select Properties from the drop-down menu.
- Then select Levels.
- To unmute, click the microphone icon if it has a crossed-out red circle next to it.
2. Ascertain that the proper microphone is set as the default. If you have previously used other microphones or worn a headset, Windows may have set the incorrect microphone as the default. To verify and change your default microphone, follow these steps:
- Navigate to the Control Panel and select it.
- Go to the Hardware and Sound tab.
- Make a sound with your mouse.
- Press the Record button.
- Please activate your microphone.
- Select Default from the drop-down menu.
3. Make sure your app has microphone access. You can restrict access to the microphone to only particular apps for privacy concerns. It will appear that the microphone isn’t working if your chat or conference software doesn’t have authorization. Investigate and resolve this problem:
- Write a microphone in the Windows search bar.
- Select Microphone privacy options from the drop-down menu.
- Make sure that Allow apps to use your microphone is turned on in Windows 10. Make sure Allow apps to use my microphone is turned on in Windows 8 and 8.1.
- Scroll down and double-check that your app has authorization.
- Unplug and re-plug your external microphone if you’re using one. When you plug in your laptop, it will automatically switch between the built-in microphone and external hardware. If you’re trying to use an external microphone, try unplugging and plugging it back in, or plugging an external microphone in and unplugging it if you’re trying to use the internal hardware. As a result, the software may eventually switch to the proper microphone.
- Make sure your microphone isn’t turned off. You’ll want to use the device manager to double-check that your microphone is turned on. If it isn’t, you can try turning it on. There could be a hardware or driver problem if it remains disabled. In either scenario, you may be able to enable your microphone by running the troubleshooter or updating the device driver. Run the sound troubleshooter to see if there are any issues. This automated troubleshooter tests and repairs a variety of sound playback and recording difficulties, so it might be able to help you with your microphone issue. Allow it to complete its cycle before checking to verify if your microphone is working.
- Open Control Panel > Troubleshooting > Hardware and Sound > Recording, then click Next and follow the on-screen steps to run this troubleshooter.
- Ensure your audio driver is updated. Your microphone will not work properly if your microphone driver is corrupted or out of date. After installing or replacing a driver, make sure to restart your computer because it won’t have full effect until you do.
- Look for any physical issues. If your microphone is still not working, there could be a physical issue with it. You may wish to open your laptop to examine the microphone at this point, depending on your level of competence and the design of your unique laptop.