Test your microphone.

What a mic test actually checks

A microphone test online free like this one on mictest.wiki answers three separate questions at once: is a microphone physically connected and recognized by your operating system, is the browser or app you're using actually reading from it, and is the signal it's picking up clean and loud enough to be useful. A lot of people assume "my mic isn't working" is one problem, but it's usually one of these three failing independently — which is why the fix is different depending on where the chain breaks. Watching the live volume meter and waveform move while you talk confirms all three at once: no movement means the signal never reached the browser, a flat or clipped line means the input device or gain is wrong, and a clean moving waveform means the hardware itself is fine and any remaining problem is app-specific (Zoom, Discord, Teams). If you just want a fast yes/no answer instead of the full meter, our one-click mic check is built for exactly that.

Common reasons a mic "doesn't work"

Before assuming a microphone is broken, it's worth ruling out the handful of causes that account for most support tickets:

• Wrong input device selectedat the OS level — your laptop's built-in mic is chosen instead of your USB headset or webcam mic.
• Another app holding it exclusively — Zoom, Discord, Teams, or OBS running in the background can lock the audio input device so nothing else can read it.
• Outdated or missing drivers, especially after a Windows update — a device can show up in the list and still fail to output a real signal.
• A physical mute switch or hardware mute button on headsets and conference speakers, which is easy to trigger by accident.
• Connection type mismatches — USB mics, 3.5mm analog mics, and Bluetooth mics all behave differently: Bluetooth in particular often forces your headset into a lower-quality call-audio profile the moment the mic is activated.
• XLR/audio-interface setups not getting phantom power (48V) turned on for condenser mics, or the interface not being selected as the default input.

How to fix it on Windows and Mac

To check microphone Windows 11: open Settings → System → Sound → Input, confirm the right device is selected, and check the input volume slider isn't sitting at zero. Windows 11 also has a per-app microphone permission toggle under Privacy & security → Microphone — if it's off, no browser or app will ever see a signal, no matter what else you fix. On a Mac, go to System Settings → Sound → Input, pick the correct audio input device, and make sure the input volume level actually moves when you speak; if it doesn't, check System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone and confirm your browser has permission. In both cases, unplugging and replugging a USB mic often forces the OS to re-detect it correctly after a driver hiccup. If the browser itself won't even prompt for access, run our microphone permission diagnostic to see exactly which check is failing.

Fixing mic issues in Zoom, Discord, Teams, Google Meet, and OBS

Each app keeps its own input device setting, separate from your OS — this is the single most common source of "it worked yesterday" problems. A quick Discord mic not picking up fix: Settings → Voice & Video → Input Device, and check the input sensitivity slider isn't set too high (Discord's automatic sensitivity sometimes mutes quieter voices). In Zoom, check the audio icon in the toolbar for a small microphone-selection arrow and confirm you're not muted at both the OS and app level — Zoom has its own mute button independent of Windows/Mac. Microsoft Teams has a similar Devices settings pane, plus a "noise suppression" setting that can occasionally over-filter a quiet voice into near-silence. Google Meet only asks for mic permission once per browser — if you denied it early on, you'll need to reset the site permission from the browser's address-bar padlock icon. OBS requires the audio source to be added explicitly under Sources, and it won't automatically pick up a newly connected device without a manual refresh. If none of this explains it, our guide on why a microphone stops working walks through the rest of the checklist.

What volume, dB, and frequency response actually mean

The dB (decibel) reading you see on a live meter is a measure of how loud the incoming signal is relative to silence — for normal speaking distance from a mic, you generally want your peaks landing comfortably in the mid-range rather than constantly maxed out (which causes clipping and distortion) or barely registering (which forces apps to boost gain and add hiss). Mic sensitivity is a related but separate spec: it describes how much electrical signal a microphone produces for a given sound pressure, and a highly sensitive mic picks up more of everything — your voice and the room around you — so it needs to sit closer to your mouth. Frequency response describes which pitches, from low bass to high treble, a microphone reproduces accurately; a flatter frequency response captures voice more naturally, while some headset and gaming mics deliberately boost certain ranges to sound more "present" over a call, at the cost of some accuracy. If your input barely registers even at close range, see our guide on fixing a microphone that's too quiet, or run the speaker testif you're troubleshooting the other half of a call.

Reducing background noise and echo

Most noise cancellation microphone features you see in call apps are software-side and work by analyzing the input in real time — but they work far better when the raw signal is already decent. A few things that make a bigger difference than any software filter: moving the mic closer to your mouth so you can lower the input volume (a lower gain setting means less of the room gets amplified along with your voice), muting when you're not talking in group calls, and avoiding hard, flat surfaces like bare desks or windows near the mic, which cause echo by reflecting your own voice back into the capsule. A cheap foam windscreen or even speaking slightly off-axis from the capsule reduces plosives (the sharp "p" and "b" pops) without needing any software at all. Persistent hiss or static usually has a different root cause — our guide on fixing microphone static and background noise covers it, and if the issue is on the output side, the headphone test can rule that out.

USB condenser mics vs. dynamic mics vs. headset mics

For general information, not a sales pitch: USB condenser mics (common in streaming and podcasting setups) are more sensitive and capture a fuller, more detailed sound, which makes them better in a quiet, treated room and noticeably worse in an untreated one, since they pick up every bit of room noise along with your voice. Dynamic mics are less sensitive by design, which makes them more forgiving in noisy or untreated rooms — they need you to be closer and a bit louder, but they reject more of what's happening around you. Headset mics trade audio quality for consistency: because the mic capsule is fixed a set distance from your mouth, the input level stays predictable call after call, which is exactly why they remain the default choice for everyday video calls even though a standalone mic almost always sounds better in isolation. An audio input device connected over USB vs XLR also matters: XLR mics need a separate audio interface or mixer with phantom power, while USB mics plug in and are recognized directly by the OS.

How this test works, and your privacy

This tool runs entirely in your browser using the standard getUserMedia and Web Audio API, both built into every modern browser specifically for this kind of local, in-page audio analysis. The volume meter, frequency reading, and waveform are all computed on your device in real time; nothing is uploaded to a server, and the optional 5-second recording you can play back never leaves the tab you're in. Closing the page discards everything instantly. That's also why the test needs an explicit microphone permission prompt from the browser itself — it's the same permission every calling app needs, just used here for a one-time, local check instead of a live call.