Mic test

Tap Test my mic, allow it, and talk: if the meter moves and the word says Good level, it's working. To be sure, tap Record 5 s and play it back. If it says No sound after a few seconds, the mic is probably muted, or it's listening to a different one.

From the address bar. In Chrome and Edge, click the icon left of the address; in Firefox, the crossed-out mic; in Safari on a Mac, the page menu in the address bar, then Website Settings (on older versions, the Safari menu); on an iPhone, the page menu, then Website Settings; on Android, the icon left of the address, then Permissions. If the site is allowed and it's still blocked, your system is blocking the browser itself. The table on this page has each browser and system, and the test shows the steps for yours.

Usually it's too far away, or its input volume is turned down. Come closer, then raise the input level: on a Mac in System Settings, Sound, Input; on Windows in Settings, System, Sound, under Input; on an audio interface, with its gain knob. This test doesn't boost a quiet mic the way call apps do, so it shows the level your mic really gives.

Most often it's a call app's cleanup, a Bluetooth headset, or on a call a weak connection. Noise suppression and echo cancellation can smear a voice, and a Bluetooth headset's own mic switches to a low-quality call mode. This test records with that cleanup off: if your take sounds clear here but bad on calls, check the app's audio settings or use a wired mic.

Yes: Record 5 s keeps a five-second take, and Play my take plays it as often as you like. It doesn't play you live while you talk, because through speakers the mic would hear itself and howl, and in headphones you'd hear yourself a little late.

Nothing is uploaded, and nothing is recorded unless you tap Record 5 s. The mic opens only when you tap Test my mic. It stays in this page's memory, is replaced by your next take, and is gone when you close the page.

Because call apps are built for speech. Noise suppression can take a long, steady note for background noise and turn it down, and auto gain keeps pushing the level up and down, so a held note swells and fades. For singing, look for a music or original sound setting in your call app; this test hears you as Stackapella does, with echo cancellation, noise suppression and auto gain off.

Its name shows under the meter once it's on. With more than one mic, the name becomes a menu: pick another and the test moves to it, and it's remembered on this device. Your call or game app picks its own mic, so change it in that app's audio settings too.

If it says The mic is busy, another program is holding it, often a call or streaming app like Zoom, Teams, Discord or OBS. Close it or end its call, then tap Test my mic again. It happens most on Windows.

In the green part of the meter, with your loudest notes kept out of the amber bars at the top. There the word says Good level; in the amber it says Too loud, where a recording can distort. The levels in numbers are on this page, under What the level words mean.