Microphone Test

Check that your microphone is picking you up. The level and the waveform move as you talk, so you can see it working even if you can't hear it.

Your microphone audio stays in this browser tab. It's never uploaded, never stored, and there's no code on this page that could send it anywhere.

Record and play back

Record up to fifteen seconds and play it back to hear how you sound to other people. The recording stays in this tab. It's never uploaded, never stored, and it's gone the moment you leave the page.

If the level isn't moving

When a microphone does nothing here, it's almost always one of four things. It's worth checking them in this order. First, the browser may not have permission, or the permission prompt was dismissed without an answer, which looks exactly the same afterwards. Second, the browser may be listening to a different input from the one you're talking into. That happens a lot once a headset, webcam or audio interface is plugged in, because each one shows up as its own microphone. Third, the input may be muted in your computer's own settings, where the browser can't see it or warn you. Fourth, another app may be holding on to the microphone. On Windows especially, a video-call app still running in the background can keep the microphone to itself long after you've closed its window. Our guide why isn't my microphone working goes through each one, with exactly where the settings are in Windows, macOS, Linux, Discord, Zoom and Google Meet.

Where to find the permission in your browser

In Chrome and Edge, it's behind the icon at the left end of the address bar: a lock, a slider, or a microphone once the site has asked. Open it, set Microphone to Allow, and reload. If the site isn't listed at all, the prompt was never answered, so pressing Start listening again will bring it back.

In Firefox, a blocked microphone shows as a crossed-out microphone icon in the address bar. Click it, remove the block, and reload. Firefox treats a closed prompt as temporary, so often you only need to press the button again.

In Safari, microphone access is set per site, in Settings for This Website. You'll find it in the Safari menu, or by right-clicking the address bar. Set Microphone to Allow. On iPhone and iPad, also check Settings › Safari › Microphone, because turning it off there overrides the setting for each site.

Every browser also needs a secure connection. A page loaded over plain http, or opened as a file from your computer, can't use the microphone at all, and the browser refuses before it even shows a prompt.

Works here, but not in your app?

If the meter on this page moves, your microphone, its driver and your computer are all fine. What's left is the app's own settings: each of the big three picks its own microphone and has its own permission.

In Discord, open User Settings › Voice & Video and check Input Device. Discord keeps its own choice here, separate from your computer's default. If the list shows a specific device instead of Default, a microphone you plug in later won't be used until you pick it yourself. The Let's Check button on that screen does the same job as this page.

In Zoom, open Settings › Audio and use Test Mic. If Zoom shows no input, check that "Automatically adjust microphone volume" isn't working against you, and make sure the device in the list is the same one that works here.

In Google Meet, the microphone is a browser permission, just like on this page, but it's granted separately for meet.google.com. Check the address-bar icon there too, then confirm the input under the three-dot menu › Settings › Audio.

On Windows, one more setting sits above all of these. Open Settings and look for Privacy (Windows 10) or Privacy & security (Windows 11), then Microphone. You'll see a main switch with a list of apps below it. If your browser is switched off there, it will say there's no microphone at all, with no prompt and no error this page can see.

What this test can and can't tell you

The level shown here is relative. It's measured in dBFS, or decibels below full scale, which tells you how close the signal is to the loudest level your device can handle. It isn't a measure of how loud the sound is in the room, and you can't compare it with the decibel figures you see for traffic or concerts. That would need a calibrated microphone and a known reference, and laptops, headsets and phones have neither. Any page that claims to show real loudness from a laptop microphone is guessing.

What the meter does show, it shows reliably: whether sound is getting through, how close it is to distorting, and whether the level moves when you talk. That's enough to answer what most people come here to find out: does my microphone work?

Your recording stays in this browser tab and nowhere else. It's never uploaded, never stored and never saved to your disk. There's no code on this page that could send it anywhere, and a test in this site's source code checks that every time the site changes. Leave or reload the page and it's gone.

Testing a headset? The headset test checks its left and right sides and the microphone together, on one page.

Not sure where the problem is? Run the full sound check. It's six quick questions, and at the end it tells you which tool to use next.