Resolving and Troubleshooting Microphone Problems
If your computer’s built-in microphone or your headset’s microphone is not working, the first thing you should check is the computer's "Microphone Mute" button. On most of our Student computers there is a key that mutes/unmutes the microphone. When the microphone is muted, a small LED will light up.
If you press the button it should unmute the microphone and turn the LED indicator off. (If the light does not turn off, you may need to press and hold the "fn" key at the bottom left of the keyboard and then press the button. To learn more about the function keys please visit this article.)
If the microphone is still not working, you may need to check your computer's privacy settings ( Microphone Troubleshooting (Privacy Settings) ). If you have already checked the privacy settings, you may have to enable the microphone manually. You can enable a microphone by doing the following:
Locate the Sound icon in the bottom-right corner of your screen.
Right-click on this icon, then select Sounds from the pop-up menu.
A new window titled Sound will appear. Click on the "Recording" tab. Right-click anywhere within the white space in this window, then select Show Disabled Devices from the pop-up menu.
A list of disabled devices will appear. To enable a device, right-click on the device, then select Enable from the pop-up menu.
If your microphone is too quiet while you are recording, you can adjust the microphone volume by right-clicking on a device, then selecting Properties.
A new window titled Microphone Properties will appear. Select the Levels tab in this window.
You can adjust the microphone volume and microphone boost levels accordingly. To increase the volume, slide the tab to the right. To decrease the volume, slide the tab to the left. Select OK when you are finished.
If you are still having trouble getting your microphone to work, you may want to try updating your computer's drivers. You can easily do this by following our guide ( Updating drivers on HP Computers ).