How to Fix Microphone Not Working on Discord in Windows 10/11

Last updated on March 15th, 2024 at 08:42 pm

As an instant messaging and VoIP social platform, Discord is the most crucial application for most gamers and streamers. But, there have been thousands of reports that recently, after the new patch update, the Discord mic stopped working on Windows 10/11 PCs. However, as per my research, the officials knew about this error, and they assured users that they would soon provide some fixes. But until then, we have some fixes for you. So, if you’re frustrated that your Microphone is not working on Discord on your Windows 10 or 11 PC, you don’t have to worry, as this guide will provide some solutions to resolve the problem. Let’s get started with the article.

Contents

Why is My Microphone Not Working on Discord?

Your Microphone might not be working on your Windows 11 PC due to the following reasons:

Incorrect Discord settings.
Outdated or corrupted audio drivers.
Hardware issues with the Microphone or its connection.
Windows sound settings misconfiguration.
Discord app compatibility issues with Windows 11.
Antivirus or firewall software blocking Discord’s access to the Microphone.
Faulty microphone hardware.
Discord server issues affecting voice communication.

How to Fix Microphone Not Working on Discord in Windows 11/10

If your Microphone is not working on Discord on your Windows 11 PC, you can try these troubleshooting steps:

Fix 1: Ensure the Correct Microphone Is Selected

There is a possibility that you are using two or more Microphones on your Windows 11 PC, which is why Discord fails to select any one. So, in my opinion, you need to unplug any one of them. Alternatively, you can select one input device from the Discord settings. Well, in case you don’t know how to change the input device in Discord settings, perform the steps mentioned below:

Start Discord.
In the bottom left corner, click on the gear icon to access User Settings.
Click Voice and Video.
Under Voice Settings, select the correct Microphone from the dropdown under Input Device.

Fix 2: Change Input Volume on Windows

There are several users who reported that by changing the input volume on a Windows 10/11 PC, the issue of the Microphone not working with Discord gets resolved automatically. Therefore, you must also try this out using the steps mentioned below:

Initially, open the Settings app.
After that, go to the System > Sound.
Now, select the Mic that you have selected and click Properties.
Thereafter, under Input Settings, I recommend that you set the Input Volume to 100.
Finally, when you are finished, tap on Start Test, which is located next to Test Your Microphone.

That’s it. Now, try to talk to someone using Discord at default volume for a couple of seconds. Then,, simply hit the Stop Test button. This will show you the exact percentage of Audio. However, this means that the sound is working correctly and it is not the main culprit behind why Microphone is not working on Discord. So, let’s move to the next fix.

Fix 3: Restart or Log Out of Discord

Sometimes, we have seen that just restarting or logging out/in from Discord helps to resolve different issues; therefore, I recommend you try this before trying more complicated fixes. To restart or log out of Discord, perform these steps:

Open Discord Settings.
Then, scroll down all the way to the end and hit the Log Out button.
Now, close the app and reboot your device.
Finally, open the Discord app and log back in.

Fix 4: Reset Discord’s Voice Settings

As per my experience, I would suggest you reset the voice settings to default in Discord immediately after you log out/in from your Discord account. Nevertheless, as always, whenever any voice or Mic-related issue appears within Discord, the error gets fixed by resetting Discord’s voice settings. So, to resolve the Discord Microphone not working issue, try resetting the voice settings. To reset your Discord voice settings, follow these steps:

Open the Discord Settings.
Under App Settings, select Voice and Video.
Then click Reset Voice Settings.

Fix 5: Try Using a Different Port/Microphone

Did you check if the port is working on your device or not? Well, chances are high that your device may not be able to recognize the Microphone because the port or Microphone itself is damaged. So, you have to double-check whether the port you are using to connect your Microphone is working or not if it is not showing up in the settings. Thus, I highly recommend you to first try changing the port, and if the issue is still there, then change your microphone and see if it is working or not.

Fix 6: Disable Exclusive Mode

You can also try disabling the Exclusive Mode for your Microphone as the possibility is high that Discord will be unable to access your Microphone just because this feature is enabled on your Windows 10/11 PC. So, if you don’t know how to disable this feature, perform these steps:

Press Win+S and search for Change System Sounds. Then, open it.
Afterward, tap on the Recording button.
Thereafter, right-click on the Microphone Array and hit the Properties option. You can launch the entry’s properties by double-clicking on it.
Afterwards, go to the Advanced tab in Microphone Properties Window.
Now, under the Exclusive Mode option, tap on the checkbox located in front of Allow applications exclusive control of this device and hit the OK. This will surely fix the Microphone not working issue on your Discord app on a Windows 10/11 PC.

Fix 7: Update or Install Audio Drivers

We all know the importance of updating the drivers on our PC, whether it’s a GPU driver or an Audio driver. Everything is crucial to make your PC perform well.

So, long story short, there are possibilities that your audio driver may be outdated or corrupted, which is why your microphone is not working on Discord. Well, it won’t be difficult to update or install an audio driver on our Windows 11/ 10 PC.

So, based on what Microphone you are using and the sound drivers it supports, you need to be very specific when installing or updating the audio driver. Therefore, let’s check out some common steps that always help users to update their audio driver for all microphones:

Initially, press Windows key, and search for Device Manager.
Now, tap on the Sound, Video, and Game Controllers options.
Thereafter, select the Microphone in which you are experiencing the issue.
Now, right-click it and select Update Driver.
Afterward, click on Search automatically for drivers in the popup window. It should automatically locate the needed driver and install it.

Fix 8: Run Discord as Administrator

Did you try running Discord as an administrator? If the answer is no, then you must run it using admin privileges if the Microphone is not working on Discord. To do so, perform these steps:

Search for Discord in the Windows Search bar.
After that, right-click on it and hit Run as Administrator. Alternatively, from the right side of the search result, you must click on the Run as Administrator option.
On the prompt for UAC (User Account Control), click Yes.

When Discord is run with administrative privileges in Windows 11, the mic issue should be resolved if other critical permissions were missing earlier.

Fix 9: Update Windows 11

Updating Windows will be another great fix that everyone ignores, but it has the potential to resolve these kinds of technical glitches, including if your Microphone is not working on Discord. So, here’s how you can easily update your Windows 10/11 PC:

Firstly, open the Settings app, press Windows + I and pick Windows Update from the left-hand navigation pane.
In the next step, hit the Check for updates button to see if there are any new OS versions available.
Click on Download & Install if an update is detected after the scan.

Fix 10: Reinstall Discord

Lastly, if even after trying the fixes that I’ve mentioned earlier in this article, you still find that the Microphone is not working in Discord in Windows 10/11, then you must reinstall Discord on your device as this is the last option that you have. So, to do this:

Search for Add or Remove Programs and open it.
From the list of programs, select Discord. To remove Discord from your device, click on the three-dot button and tap on Uninstall > Uninstall. You now need to remove residual files from your app’s data folder.
On your keyboard, press Windows + R. This will launch the Run program. Simply type in %appdata% and click OK. File Explorer will redirect you directly to the AppData folder.
Right-click the Discord folder containing your previous installation and choose Delete. After the uninstallation is complete, this will remove any residual files.
Visit discord.com to download the latest installer. After it has been completed, double-click the file to install it.

Also Read:

So, that’s all we have for you on how to fix the Microphone not working on Discord for Windows users. It’s my hope that this guide has helped you. Whenever you need more information, please let us know in the comment section below.

How to Fix Microphone Not Working on Discord in Windows 10/11

Why is My Microphone Not Working on Discord?

How to Fix Microphone Not Working on Discord in Windows 11/10