These steps follow Microsoft's support page Fix microphone problems, which has separate tabs for Windows 11 and Windows 10; I read the Windows 11 tab on October 11, 2026. The page does not name a build, and this site has no lab and no PC on every release, so none of this was run on Windows 11 26H2, the current one. Menus move between versions: if a name below does not match your screen, Microsoft's page is the reference, not this text.
The checks cover four situations: apps blocked from the microphone, the wrong device selected, a low input level, and a driver that Windows lost. A microphone that is physically broken is not among them.
Step 1: check that apps are allowed to use it
Go to Start > Settings > Privacy & security > Microphone. Make sure Microphone access is on, and that Let apps access your microphone is on. Then choose which apps can use it. Desktop apps do not appear in that list; they are covered by a separate switch, Let desktop apps access your microphone, which should also be on. Microsoft's page notes that you cannot turn microphone access off for individual desktop apps.
If the microphone is in a webcam, also check Start > Settings > Privacy & security > Camera and make sure Camera is on.
Step 2: check the physical side
Microsoft lists three things before any setting: the Mute button on a headset is not active, the microphone or headset is connected correctly, and the microphone is positioned properly. For a Bluetooth headset, it must be paired and connected. If it keeps dropping, the guide on Bluetooth that keeps disconnecting covers that.
Step 3: pick the right input device and test it
Go to Start > Settings > System > Sound. Under Input, find Choose a device for speaking or recording and select your microphone. Select the arrow next to the device to open its properties. Under Microphone test, select Start test and speak, then Stop test, then Play under Recorded sample to hear what was captured.
If the recording is silent or very quiet, use the Input volume slider on the same page and test again.
Step 4: run the sound troubleshooter
On the Sound page, scroll down to Advanced and, under Troubleshoot common sound problems, choose Input devices. Select All sound devices under Advanced for more options. The troubleshooter runs its own checks and applies what it finds, so you do not need to know the cause first.
Step 5: reinstall the audio driver
Right-click Start and open Device Manager. Expand Sound, video and game controllers. Right-click the audio device, choose Uninstall device, tick Attempt to remove the driver for this device, and select Uninstall. Repeat for other audio devices in the list, then restart the PC. Windows should reinstall them on its own. If it does not, right-click Sound, video and game controllers in Device Manager and select Scan for hardware changes.
After the restart, you can right-click the audio driver and select Update driver. This is the heaviest step, which is why it comes last: it removes the driver, and a laptop whose maker supplies its own audio driver may need that driver from the maker's support page if Windows installs a generic one.
If the option is not there
There is no device under Input. Windows does not see a microphone at all, so steps 1 and 3 have nothing to act on. Go to step 5. If the device is not under Sound, video and game controllers either, test the microphone or headset on another computer or phone; if it fails there too, the problem is the microphone.
The troubleshooter is not under Sound. Microsoft's page says to scroll to Advanced; on some builds the section may be named differently. I could not check which builds. Search Settings for troubleshoot instead.
Privacy switches are greyed out. On a PC managed by a school or employer, an administrator may control them. Microsoft's page does not address that case, and the fix is with whoever manages the PC.
What these checks do not fix
Microsoft's page does not cover a microphone that works in Windows but not inside one specific app, where the app has its own input setting. It also does not cover hardware faults, and it says nothing about noise or echo, only about a signal that is missing or too low. If the microphone passes the test in step 3 but a call app cannot hear you, look in that app's audio settings first.
If sound problems come with a PC that wakes badly, what to check when Windows 11 will not wake from sleep goes through that in order. And if a recent update is the suspect, what to try when Windows Update is stuck or failing covers the repair side.
Last updated October 11, 2026