Several people report complaints regarding their issues related to the microphone. Does your meeting participants struggle to hear you during Zoom calls? Does your microphone abruptly stop working during the meetings? These are some embarrassing online meeting issues we all try to avoid. If the above statement describes your current situation, the methods in this guide will help you resolve your ‘Zoom Microphone not working’.
These microphone failures that you may experience on Zoom happen due to varying reasons ranging from temporary software glitches to incorrect audio settings, or even hardware issues.
So before you declare that your microphone isn’t working or anything like that, you need to check that the microphone is working correctly. You can go on to the other video conferencing apps and check whether they detect your mic. However, for the external headphones and portable USB microphones, ensure the cables aren’t broken. And you need to also confirm that they are correctly plugged into the appropriate ports on your computer.
On the other port on your Windows PC or on another computer, you could also switch the microphone. This method would help you determine whether the zoom microphone not working because you have a faulty mic or a damaged port.
If the microphone is still not working on Zoom, refer to these troubleshooting fixes below.
How to fix ‘Zoom Microphone not working in Windows’ issue?
Here are some effective fixes for the ‘Zoom Microphone not working in Windows’ issue
1. Restart your PC
Many times microphone not working is a temporary issue and simply a reboot will bring the audio back on your Zoom meeting app. Firstly, you need to close the Zoom app and open it again to check whether the microphone is working. If your Zoom audio is still not working, then you should restart your computer.
2. Join the audio on the computer
It’s quite a possibility that you might miss the chance to join via computer audio that appears on screen before you join a meeting. This could be a major reason why others are unable to hear you. To fix this issue, click on the Join Audio option available at the bottom in the meeting window.
Choose the ‘Join with Computer Audio’ option that appears in the pop-up window.
3. Unmute the Audio
Several times, there is no problem at all. It doesn’t work because just that our microphone is muted in Zoom. When this happens, you will be able to see a red line on the microphone icon in the Zoom app available at the bottom. You need to click on the ‘unmute it’ option. Or you can press the spacebar key to unmute audio.
4. Change your microphone
One other way could be that you can try changing the microphone used in the Zoom app. To do so before you join a meeting, follow the below-mentioned steps:
Step 1: Firstly, choose the settings icon at the top-right corner in the Zoom app.
Step 2: From the left panel move to the Audio tab. Now select the drop-down box present next to the Microphone. Then change the microphone. Using the Test Mic button you can also test it. If the audio is working perfectly fine, you will see the progress bar available next to the Input level will change.
Step 3: Lastly, you need to relaunch the Zoom app.
If you are in a meeting, click on the small arrow available next to the Mute/Unmute option present in the bottom bar of the meeting screen. Choose a different microphone from the list.
5. Alter Zoom Advanced Audio Settings
If the problem still persists, you should look into the advanced audio settings offered by the Zoom app. Even though they are designed to reduce the background noise essentially and enhance audio quality, many times, they are also a reason for low audio or similar sound issues in Zoom. So, have a look at them.
After that, follow the below mentioned steps:
Step 1: Firstly, Launch the Zoom app on your computer and then click on the settings icon.
Step 2: Now move to the Audio tab and click on the Advanced present at the bottom of the Audio tab.
Step 3: Now, click on the drop-down boxes placed next to each option. You need to change it from Auto to Moderate or disable it for each option one by one. See if the microphone works.
Or you can check the box next to ‘Show in-meeting option to Enable Original Sound from microphone’ option.
Now move back, and you can see a new Turn original sound on/off option at the top. Click on the same to change it.
6. Grant zoom with access to your Microphone
Several times the Zoom app doesn’t have the permission to use your microphone in Windows. In this case, the microphone will not work. So, you are required to check and grant access to Windows privacy settings.
For doing this, follow the below steps:
Step 1: Open the Settings on your Windows 10 PC. Alternatively, you can go for the shortcut and press Windows key + I to open Settings.
Step 2: Now, move to Privacy.
Step 3: Scroll down and click on the Microphone from the left sidebar
Step 4: Now, swipe the toggle under ‘Allow desktop apps to access your Microphone’ and ‘Allow Microsoft Store apps to access your Microphone’ options. Then, Scroll down and ensure Zoom has access to your microphone.
7. Change Input on the External Hardware
Are you using an external microphone to connect to your computer? If yes, then you are supposed to change the input. Change the input socket if has multiple sockets to connect the input wire.
8. Troubleshoot the Sound Issues
Microsoft Windows offers a native way to resolve audio related issues on your computer. You should use the same to troubleshoot audio issues on the Zoom app. After that, just right-click on the sound icon available in the taskbar and choose Troubleshoot sound problems option. Now simply follow the on-screen instructions to complete the entire process.
9. Update the Sound Driver
It’s possible that the issue is with your sound driver itself. To solve this you can try uninstalling or updating it. Follow the steps given below to do the same:
Step 1: Firstly, Right-click on the Start Menu icon and then choose Device Manager.
Step 2: Now, you need to expand the sound, video, and game controllers. Then Right-click on your driver and choose Update Driver. Check whether the issue is fixed.
If it still prevails, click on the Uninstall driver and restart your PC. The driver will be then installed automatically along with fixing your issue.
Ways to Fix ‘Zoom Microphone not working on MAC’ issue
Well, much of the methods are pretty much similar to the windows one. There are differences in the process. We have mentioned those differences for you!
Check Zoom’s Microphone Selection and Adjust your microphone’s volume
If you connect multiple audio devices to your computer, the Zoom app uses the mic of the active audio device. In this case, also, you should still set the Zoom’s microphone selection. Adjust Microphone Volume on Mac.
Here’s how you can check and adjust the input volume of your Mac’s in-built microphone as well as external audio devices.
1. Launch the System Preferences and click on Sound.
2. Move to the Input tab and click on your input device that is the microphone
3. Now, to increase the microphone’s volume move the Input volume slider to the right.
Update the Zoom App
Finally, you need to make sure that you have the latest version of Zoom installed on your MAC. Zoom often rolls out updates that patch bugs and resolve issues such as microphone problems. To update the Zoom app, click the Profile icon available at the top-right corner and then select Check for Updates from the menu bar.
If there is an update available on the app, click the Update button to install it on your windows computer or MAC. Hopefully, this helps to troubleshoot the Zoom microphone not working issue.
These were some of the fixes for your problem of ‘Zoom Microphone Not Working’ issue, we hope these have proved to be beneficial for you.
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