In this article, I’ll tell you exactly what you can do if Microphone is not working on Mac as expected. You may face various sound issues. For
instance,
Siri may not be able to detect your voice
; other people may not be able to hear you during a FaceTime call or you may not be able to record audio. The cause of the above issues may be the microphone.
The microphone is an integral part of your Mac. Several apps you use and several sites you visit can use the microphone on your Mac to capture or
record sound. If microphone is not working on Mac correctly, these sites and apps will be unusable.
Configure the microphone settings
On your Mac, head over to Apple menu > System Preferences > Sound > Input and select a mic (built-in internal one usually) and check the input levels. Does the
input level moves when you speak? If yes, that means that your microphone is working.
Restart your Mac
Restarting your Mac can resolve microphone issues. It’s always a good idea to restart your Mac to see if your problem is fixed. To restart your Mac, head over to Apple menu > Restart.
Check app permissions
Mac microphone not working with Zoom, Skype, or Teams? Well, If you are experiencing a microphone issue when you are trying to use a specific app, You cancontrol microphone permission on Mac. Here is how you can control access to your Microphone on Mac:
- Give microphone permission Mac: Click Apple menu > System Preferences, click Security & Privacy, then click Privacy.
- Click on Microphone (left menu).
- And check the box next to an app (For example Zoom).
If giving permissions does not fix your issue, and if you are having microphone issues for specific apps, such as Zoom, Teams or Skype, there is a likelihood that the app itself
is faulty. If this is the case, please try the following:
- If the app has a microphone or sound settings, check these settings and make sure that they are configured properly.
- Delete the app from your Mac and then reinstall it.
- Contact the app developer.
Enable dictation
Turning on Dictation will cause your Mac to download specific audio drivers which may fix your problem. Here is how you can turn on voice dictation on Mac:
- On your Mac, launch System Preferences.
- Now, click Keyboard.
- Next, click the Dictation tab.
- Finally, click On Enable Dictation to confirm.
Reset PRAM
Resetting PRAM (or NVRAM) may fix microphone issues on your Mac. Your Mac stores a couple of settings in PRAM. One of the settings is sound. Therefore, resetting this may resolve your problem.
Here is how to reset PRAM on your Mac:
- Shut down your Mac.
- Power on your Mac and immediately press and hold down the Option, Command, P, and R keys together.
- Hold down these keys for approximately 20 seconds.
- Now, release the keys, your Mac will restart.
After doing so, a couple of settings such as your sound volume, display resolution settings will be deleted. Once you do so, you may need to
Head over to System Preferences and adjust your settings.
Restart your Mac in Safe Mode.
Safe Mode performs certain checks that may fix microphone issues on your Mac. Here is how to restart your Mac in Safe Mode:
- Shut down your Mac.
- Power on your Mac and immediately press and hold down the Shift key until the login screen appears.
- Login. You may want to type in your password a couple of times.
- Your Mac will start in Safe Mode. Is your microphone working now?
- In any case (working or not working), restart your Mac without pressing any keys.
- Your Mac will exit Safe Mode.
- Does your Microphone work now? If not, try the next solution.
So non of the above troubleshooting tips fixed your problem? You could be having a hardware problem. You can
make a Genius Bar reservation
and take your Mac to Apple to check.