How to use this microphone test
- Press Start microphone test and allow access when the browser asks.
- Speak normally at your usual distance from the mic.
- Watch the meter. It should move clearly in time with your voice.
- If you have several microphones, pick a different one from the dropdown to compare them.
- Press Record 5 seconds and play it back to hear what other people actually hear — background noise, echo and clipping are much easier to spot this way.
Reading the level meter
The number is in dBFS — decibels relative to the loudest signal your sound card can capture, which is 0 dB. All real recordings are therefore negative numbers, and quieter means further from zero.
- Below -50 dB — effectively silence. The browser is hearing nothing.
- -50 to -35 dB — very quiet. Raise the input gain or move closer.
- -30 to -6 dB — the range you want while speaking. Comfortable headroom, no distortion.
- Above -3 dB — too hot. The waveform flattens against the top and bottom of the display, which is audible as crackling. Lower the input gain.
My microphone is not working — what to check
1. The browser permission
If nothing happens after pressing start, look at the left edge of the address bar. A blocked
microphone icon means the permission was denied for this site. Click it, set the microphone
to Allow, and reload the page. In Chrome you can also go to
Settings → Privacy and security → Site settings → Microphone.
2. The right device is selected
Laptops usually expose several inputs: the built-in array, a headset, and sometimes a virtual device installed by conferencing software. The dropdown above lists everything the browser can see. If the built-in mic works but your headset does not, the fault is with the headset, its cable or its connection — not the computer.
3. Operating system privacy settings
On Windows 10 and 11, open
Settings → Privacy & security → Microphone and confirm that microphone
access is on, and that desktop apps are allowed to use it. On macOS, open
System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone and enable your browser.
These switches override everything else, and a fresh install or a major update can reset
them.
4. Another app has grabbed the device
Some applications hold exclusive control of a microphone. If a call, recording or streaming
app is open in the background, close it fully and try again. On Windows you can also disable
exclusive mode: Sound settings → your input device → Properties → Advanced, then
untick the exclusive-mode options.
5. The physical connection
For a 3.5 mm headset, make sure it is in the combined headset jack rather than a line-out or line-in port, and that the plug is fully seated. For USB microphones, try a different port — preferably one directly on the machine rather than through a hub or docking station.
6. Drivers
If the device does not appear in the dropdown at all, the operating system is not seeing it either. On Windows, open Device Manager, expand Audio inputs and outputs, and look for a warning icon. Reinstalling the audio driver from the laptop manufacturer resolves most of these cases; the generic driver Windows installs automatically is often the cause.
Testing with headphones on
Use headphones when you play a recording back. Playing it through speakers while the microphone is still live creates a feedback loop, and it also makes echo problems impossible to judge. If the person you are talking to hears themselves, that echo is almost always caused by speakers feeding back into an open microphone on your end.