How To Test The Mic On Windows 10?

You're in a Zoom or Google Meet call, and you get reminded time and time again that your colleagues can't hear you — or if you are not entirely mute, it sounds like your voice has suddenly turned robotic and lags behind like watching an awfully dubbed film. 

This scenario isn’t just limited to novel video call users, even bid businessmen and professional streamers suffer from it. 


It could be that you have high-caliber airpods or headphones plugged in, but due to some reason, your Windows PC is trying to catch your voice through its terrible, good-for-nothing built-in microphone. Or the situation is a little more precarious to handle by yourself.


Follow these steps to figure it out -

How To Test The Mic On Windows 10?

1. Open Sound Settings

Run your Settings app, click the System section and move to the Sound category from the menu on the left.

 Alternatively, you can right-click the speaker icon on the taskbar at the bottom-right of your screen and select Open Sound settings.


2. Choose Your Input Device

After the Sound page opens, scroll down to Input. 

Ensure that your microphone is selected as the default input device. If it’s not, use the dropdown menu under Choose your input device to select a different microphone option.


3. Talk Into Your Microphone

You will see a blue bar showing your volume levels. 

Try speaking into your microphone. If the blue bar jumps or moves around in amplitude as you increase and decrease your voice, that means it's working correctly. Alternatively, go to Mictester.org and take the mic test.


4. Adjust The Volume

Under the “Input” heading, after selecting your playback microphone from the dropdown menu, click on ‘Device properties.’ A new window will open and you will see a blue button to adjust your volume. 

For example, if others on a video call say that your voice is too quiet to be heard properly, increase the mic’s volume by moving the blue button to your right. 

This will increase the mic’s sensitivity to sound, you won’t have to shout to be heard, and your voice will be clearer and without any discrepancies.


5. Alternative: Microphone Properties

On the already opened ‘Device Properties’ window from the previous step, select the option of ‘Additional Device Properties’ under the related sound settings section.


6. Enable Playback 

In the Listen tab, tick ‘Listen to this device,’ then select your speakers or headphones from the Playback through this device section menu. Press ‘OK’ to save the changes. 

Updates & Troubleshoot

Windows 10 is known for its frequent updates, and remembering to carry them out can be quite annoying. 

If your microphone is not working, you can try checking if there are updates pending in your computer, and this may fix your issue. 

This can be done by opening Settings, clicking the Updates & Security section, and checking for updates using the button of the same name.

Furthermore, Microsoft Windows has numerous troubleshooters that are formulated to swiftly diagnose and systematically fix various PC problems.  

Although they cannot resolve hardware issues, they are a good starting point if you face an issue with the computer. Here are the steps to run the sound troubleshooter in Windows 10: