Microphone Test

Confirm your mic is working — and capture a clip if you need proof

A free online microphone test for Windows 10, Windows 11, PC, Mac, iPhone, Android, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom users. Confirm your mic is picking up sound, see the live waveform and frequency spectrum, record short clips, and download them to your device — all in your browser using the MediaDevices.getUserMedia API. No download, no account, and no audio ever leaves your machine.

If you're searching how to test microphone, how do you test a microphone, test PC microphone, or you need to verify the mic before a Microsoft Teams or Zoom call, the How to test your microphone section below has step-by-step instructions for every platform and the most common video-call apps.

Get Easily Started With Your Test

1. Click "Start Mic Test" to ask the browser for microphone permission.
2. Allow microphone access in the browser prompt that appears.
3. Speak or make a sound — the level meter, waveform, and frequency bars all respond when the mic picks up audio. If they do, your microphone works.

Optional: press Record to capture a clip, Stop Recording to end it, then Download to save the audio file.

Why Test Your Microphone Online

A microphone that worked yesterday can fail silently today — a driver update reorders input devices, a physical mute switch gets bumped, the OS privacy layer revokes permission, or an aftermarket pop filter loosens the XLR connection. Before a job interview, podcast recording, stream, or video call is a bad time to find out.

This tester uses the standard MediaDevices.getUserMedia API to capture the same audio stream any browser-based video-call app receives. If the mic works here, it will work in Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Discord, Slack huddles, and any other WebRTC-based platform. If it does not work here, the issue is upstream of the video-calling software and fixing it once fixes it everywhere.

Common reasons to run a mic test:

• Pre-call checks — verify the mic, level, and device selection before an important meeting
• New microphone setup — confirm a new USB or XLR-interface mic is exposing itself correctly
• Post-driver-update verification — audio drivers often reset default-device assignments
• Troubleshooting low volume — the RMS/peak dB meter quantifies how quiet you are
• Diagnosing noise issues — the frequency view makes background hum (50/60 Hz), fan noise, and electrical interference visible
• Comparing multiple mics — switch between mic inputs and compare level and frequency response side by side
• Confirming mute toggle state — physical and software mute switches can be hard to spot; the meter flatlines instantly when muted

How to Test Your Microphone in 3 Simple Steps

Step 1: Click "Start Mic Test"

The button triggers navigator.mediaDevices.getUserMedia({ audio: true }), which asks the browser to request the microphone. Because this page is served over HTTPS, the browser will show a permission dialog the first time. Choose "Allow" to grant access.

If no prompt appears, permission was likely denied previously. Click the padlock icon in the address bar, find "Microphone," change it to "Allow" (or "Ask"), and reload the page. On macOS and iOS, also check System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone (macOS) or Settings > Safari/Chrome > Microphone (iOS). On Windows, Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone controls app-level microphone access.

Step 2: Watch the visualiser

The visualiser has three stacked views that all animate in real time at 60 frames per second from a shared AnalyserNode:

• Level meter — a horizontal bar showing RMS (continuous level) and a peak indicator line. The scale is logarithmic in decibels: −60 dB at the left, 0 dB at the right. Green is below −20 dB, amber is −20 to −6 dB (a good speaking range), red is above −6 dB (approaching clipping).
• Waveform — the time-domain signal. A steady, symmetric oscillation indicates a clean pickup. Intermittent gaps or a signal that stays near zero when you speak means the mic is not receiving audio.
• Frequency bars — the FFT spectrum, low frequencies on the left, high frequencies on the right. Speech typically clusters around 85 Hz–255 Hz for male voices and 165 Hz–255 Hz for female voices with harmonics extending up to 4 kHz. A tall bar at the leftmost edge is usually 50/60 Hz mains hum.

Speak normally, clap your hands, or tap the mic. All three views should respond.

Step 3: Record, review, and download

Press "Record" to begin capturing audio using the browser's MediaRecorder API. Say a test phrase — common ones include "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" for general testing, or "Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore" for sibilance and plosive checks. Press "Stop Recording" when finished.

The recording appears in the list below with an inline audio player. Listen back immediately to confirm both the mic and your playback chain are working. If the recording sounds correct, click "Download" to save the file to your device. Most browsers save as WebM/Opus (.webm); Safari saves as MP4/AAC (.m4a). Both formats are universally playable.

Recordings stay in your browser tab until you remove them or close the tab. Nothing is uploaded to any server.

Microphone Compatibility

Built-in Laptop Microphones

Every modern laptop exposes its built-in microphone array through the OS audio layer — MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac Studio, Mac mini (with attached display audio), Dell XPS, HP Spectre, Lenovo ThinkPad, ASUS ZenBook, Microsoft Surface. The browser's getUserMedia call picks up the internal array automatically.

Modern laptops ship three- or four-microphone arrays that the OS combines into a single mono or stereo input with beamforming and noise reduction. The effective recording quality is very good for voice, but the built-in DSP can make the mic sound slightly processed compared to a dedicated USB mic. For podcasting or streaming, an external mic almost always sounds better.

USB Microphones

Standalone USB mics — Blue Yeti, Blue Snowball, HyperX QuadCast, Rode NT-USB, Shure MV7, Samson Q2U (USB side), Elgato Wave — all appear as standard USB audio-class devices. No vendor driver is needed for basic operation, though companion software (Logitech G Hub, Blue Sherpa, HyperX NGENUITY) may add gain adjustment, polar-pattern switching, and monitoring controls.

USB mics typically sample at 48 kHz or 44.1 kHz with 16- or 24-bit depth. The browser exposes the actual negotiated rate via AudioContext.sampleRate and displays it in the Mic Info panel.

XLR Microphones via Audio Interfaces

XLR microphones — Shure SM7B, Rode PodMic, Audio-Technica AT2020 (XLR), Neumann TLM 103 — require an audio interface (Focusrite Scarlett, MOTU M2, Universal Audio Volt) to convert the analog signal to USB digital. The interface appears to the OS as a USB audio device, and the selected input channel is what the browser captures.

If you are using an XLR mic and no level appears, verify:

• Phantom power — most condenser XLR mics need +48 V phantom power enabled on the interface's channel (dynamic mics like the SM7B do not)
• Input selection — multi-channel interfaces often default to Input 1; ensure your mic is plugged into Input 1 or that the OS is configured to pick the correct channel
• Gain knob — XLR mics typically need 30–50 dB of gain from the preamp; the SM7B specifically is famous for needing very high gain (60+ dB) or an inline preamp like the Cloudlifter

Bluetooth Headsets and Headset Microphones

Bluetooth headsets (AirPods, Jabra Evolve, Plantronics, Beats) all expose a microphone via the Bluetooth Hands-Free Profile (HFP) when used in call mode. Note that HFP downgrades audio quality significantly — both speakers and mic drop to 16 kHz mono (or 8 kHz on older devices) to fit inside the profile's limited bandwidth. This is why AirPods sound noticeably worse during calls than during music playback.

If your Bluetooth headset sounds unusually muffled in the recording, HFP mode is the likely cause. For better quality, switch to a wired headset or USB mic for recording.

What the Microphone Tester Checks

Signal Presence and Level

The primary check is whether the mic produces a signal at all. The RMS meter reflects average level; the peak meter reflects the loudest momentary sample. For normal speech:

• RMS −30 to −20 dB — too quiet; raise the mic gain in the OS or the interface
• RMS −20 to −12 dB — a good speaking level for most applications
• Peak −12 to −6 dB — headroom is healthy
• Peak approaching 0 dB — too loud; reduce gain, move back from the mic, or enable a limiter in the interface

Frequency Response

The FFT view shows which frequencies the mic is capturing. Useful things to check:

• A flat response across speech band (~100 Hz to 8 kHz) — confirms the mic is capturing voice normally
• A tall bar at 50/60 Hz — indicates mains hum, usually from a ground loop. Unplug nearby mains devices or use a ground-lift adapter
• A spike at ~120 Hz (in 60 Hz countries) or ~100 Hz (in 50 Hz countries) — the second harmonic of mains hum, indicative of the same problem
• High-frequency hiss — excessive gain or a very quiet mic being amplified past the noise floor; reduce gain and move closer to the mic

Device Selection and Switching

The device dropdown lists every audio input the OS exposes. Switching devices restarts the audio pipeline with the selected mic, so you can verify each one independently. This is useful for:

• Confirming a newly plugged mic shows up
• Comparing built-in vs USB vs XLR quality
• Verifying the OS default-input setting matches expectations

Record and Playback Round-Trip

The record/playback flow exercises the full chain: mic → OS audio driver → browser capture → MediaRecorder encode → blob → <audio> decode → playback device. If the mic captures correctly but playback sounds wrong, the problem is on the output side — speaker selection, system volume, or the application's audio routing.

Permission and OS-Level Mute

If the mic fails to start, the error message reports which underlying failure occurred:

• NotAllowedError — permission was denied (by you or by system policy)
• NotFoundError — no microphone was detected
• NotReadableError — another application has an exclusive hold on the mic
• SecurityError — the page is on an insecure connection

Even after permission is granted, the OS may still have the mic muted at the hardware level (headset physical mute switch, Fn-key mute, Windows "Microphone mute" keyboard shortcut). If the level meter is flat despite a successful permission grant, check for a physical mute before blaming the software.

How to test your microphone

If you've landed here searching how to test microphone, how do you test a microphone, or test PC microphone — the fastest answer is right at the top of this page: click "Start Mic Test", allow microphone access in the browser prompt, and watch the level meter respond when you speak. If the meter moves and the recording plays back cleanly, the mic is working in the browser, which means it will work in Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Discord, and any other web-based or Electron-based call app.

The platform-specific subsections below cover the OS-native paths if you want to verify the microphone outside the browser as well.

How to test microphone on Windows 11

To test your microphone on Windows 11 in the browser, run the test on this page. To verify it natively in Windows 11 outside the browser:

1. Open Settings → System → Sound.
2. Under Input, pick the microphone you want to test from the dropdown.
3. Click into the device's properties (the right-arrow next to the device name) — Windows 11 shows a live "Test your microphone" volume bar that responds when you speak. The bar should rise to ~60–80% on normal speech.
4. If the bar doesn't move, scroll to Input volume and raise it to 100%, then check that the Microphone privacy setting at Settings → Privacy & security → Microphone allows desktop apps and the browser.
5. Use Allow apps to access your microphone to confirm the browser, Microsoft Teams, and any other app you care about are individually toggled on.

For a per-call check, this online microphone test is faster — it shows level, waveform, frequency, and recording in one view without switching between Settings panes.

How to test microphone on Windows 10

Windows 10 has a similar but slightly different path:

1. Open Settings → System → Sound.
2. Pick your input device under Input and click Device properties.
3. Click Start test under "Test your microphone". Speak normally for 5 seconds; Windows 10 plays back what it captured so you can hear yourself.
4. If nothing plays back, open Settings → Privacy → Microphone and confirm "Allow apps to access your microphone" is on, plus the browser/Teams/Zoom toggles below.
5. Right-click the speaker icon in the system tray → Open Sound settings → Sound Control Panel → Recording tab for the legacy view; double-click the mic and use the Listen tab to monitor in real time.

The browser-based test on this page is identical in outcome — if the level meter moves, the mic is delivering audio to Windows 10, and any Windows 10 app that asks the OS for microphone audio will receive the same signal.

How to test microphone on PC (any Windows or Linux machine)

The browser flow is the most universal "test PC microphone" method because it works the same on Windows, Linux, and ChromeOS without OS-version-specific menus:

1. Click "Start Mic Test" above.
2. Allow microphone access in the browser prompt.
3. Speak; check that the level meter, waveform, and frequency bars all respond.
4. Press Record, say a test phrase, stop, and play back. If you can hear yourself in the playback, the mic, OS audio driver, and browser audio chain are all working.

If the level meter moves but applications complain "no audio detected", the issue is per-app permission (Windows: Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone) or the wrong default input device — the dropdown in this tester shows every input the OS is exposing, so you can confirm the right one is selected.

How to test iPhone microphone

Mobile Safari and Chrome on iOS both support getUserMedia since iOS 11, so this online microphone test works directly on iPhone:

1. Open this page in Safari on the iPhone.
2. Tap "Start Mic Test" and allow microphone access when iOS prompts.
3. Speak; the level meter should respond just like on desktop.
4. If iOS doesn't prompt, go to Settings → Safari → Microphone (or Settings → Chrome → Microphone) and ensure "Allow" is selected. Per-site permissions live in Settings → Safari → Camera & Microphone.

For a native iPhone microphone test outside the browser, the easiest path is Voice Memos: open the app, tap the red record button, speak for a few seconds, stop, and play it back. If you hear your voice clearly, the iPhone's mic array (or the connected wired/Bluetooth headset mic) is working at the OS level. iPhone 14 Pro and later expose four mics (front, rear top, rear bottom, USB-C). iOS picks the right one automatically based on whether you're recording, on a call, or using a peripheral.

How to test microphone in Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams has a built-in pre-call mic check:

1. Open Teams (desktop or web). Click your profile picture → Settings → Devices.
2. Under Audio devices, pick your input. Teams shows a "Test microphone" button — click it. Teams plays back a short recording so you can hear how you sound.
3. The desktop client also exposes a live "Make a test call" option (Settings → Devices → Make a test call) that runs through Test Bot, an automated assistant that records you and plays the recording back. Test Bot is the most thorough Teams microphone test.
4. If Test Bot doesn't hear you, run this online microphone test in the browser. If the level meter moves here but Teams doesn't pick up audio, the problem is Teams' device selection or Windows' per-app microphone permission for the Teams app, not the mic itself.

Zoom test microphone (in-app and browser flow)

Zoom has its own built-in microphone test:

1. Open Zoom (desktop or web). Click your profile picture → Settings → Audio.
2. Under Microphone, pick the input device. Click Test Mic. Zoom records a few seconds and plays it back. The level meter on the right should move while you speak.
3. Inside an active Zoom call, the same controls are available under the up-arrow next to the Mute button → Audio Settings.
4. Zoom also offers a join-screen "Test Speaker and Microphone" wizard if you tick "Always test speaker and microphone before joining" in Settings → Audio.

If Zoom's test mic feature doesn't capture audio, run this online microphone test as a sanity check. A working level meter here means Zoom's device routing or Windows/macOS per-app permission is the culprit — not the mic.

Troubleshooting Common Microphone Problems

"Line is flat" — mic is active but no level

Check in order:

1. Physical mute switch — most headsets and many USB mics have a physical mute switch on the cable or body. A coloured LED usually indicates muted state
2. OS mute — Windows: right-click the speaker icon > Sounds > Recording tab > double-click your mic > Levels > ensure it is not muted and volume is up. macOS: System Settings > Sound > Input > check the Input volume slider and Input Source selection
3. Application-level mute — some browser versions display a microphone icon in the address bar with a mute state; check this is not enabled
4. Correct input selected — multi-channel interfaces can route to an unused input; confirm the device dropdown in this tester lists and selects your actual mic
5. Cable — on XLR rigs, try a known-good XLR cable. Silent cables are the single most common XLR issue
6. Phantom power — condenser XLR mics need +48 V from the interface; without it, they produce no output

Audio sounds distorted or clipped

The peak indicator goes red (above −6 dB) on nearly every sound. Fixes:

• Lower the preamp gain — on interfaces with a gain knob, reduce it until normal speaking peaks at around −12 dB
• Move further from the mic — doubling the distance roughly halves the level; 6–10 inches is typical for dynamic mics, 6–12 inches for condensers
• Use a pop filter or foam windscreen — plosives (B, P, T) produce transient peaks that clip even at moderate average levels
• Disable software "boost" — Windows often applies a +20 or +30 dB microphone boost in advanced device properties; this is usually too much and pushes speech into clipping

Low volume even at maximum gain

• Dynamic mics need more gain than condensers — the Shure SM7B specifically can need an inline preamp (Cloudlifter, FetHead) to reach useful levels on consumer interfaces
• Check for a gain pad switch on the mic — some large-diaphragm condensers have a −10 or −20 dB pad that can be accidentally engaged
• USB mic on a USB hub — some USB hubs under-power USB mics; connect directly to a motherboard port
• Disabled Microphone Boost in Windows — Control Panel > Sound > Recording > properties > Levels tab has a Boost slider (+0 to +30 dB) in addition to the main volume

Background hum or buzz

• 50/60 Hz hum — mains ground loop. Try: plug all audio gear into the same power strip, use a USB isolator if the interface is USB-powered, avoid running audio cables parallel to power cables
• High-pitched whine — often monitor backlight or GPU coil whine picked up through the mic. Move the mic further from the monitor and computer
• Intermittent crackling — USB bandwidth contention; disconnect other high-bandwidth USB devices (webcams, external SSDs, capture cards) from the same controller

Echo or double-voice in recordings

• Speakers leaking into the mic — use headphones for monitoring instead of speakers
• Browser echo cancellation disabled — most browsers apply echo cancellation by default, but aggressive voice-processing extensions can turn it off. Check the Mic Info panel; if "Echo cancellation" shows false, you may hear feedback
• Multiple audio instances active — if Zoom, Teams, and the browser are all capturing the mic simultaneously, their processing can interact oddly

Mic works in Zoom but not in the browser

• Different device selected — Zoom and other apps remember a per-app input device; ensure this tester and Zoom are both pointed at the same mic
• Windows per-app microphone permission — Windows Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone lets you allow/deny specific apps; ensure your browser is allowed
• macOS per-app permission — System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone lists every app that has requested access; ensure the browser is toggled on

Privacy and Security

This tester runs entirely in your browser. No audio is sent to any server. No recordings are uploaded anywhere. The page never includes a network request that carries audio data. You can verify this by opening developer tools (F12 > Network tab) while recording — no audio payloads appear.

Every recording exists as a Blob inside this browser tab. Downloading it saves a copy to your local filesystem. Closing the tab or removing the recording releases the Blob and reclaims the memory. There is no server-side storage, no cloud sync, and no analytics collecting audio content.

The microphone indicator LED (on hardware that has one) is controlled by the operating system, not by the browser or this page. When the LED or the OS-level mic indicator is lit, the OS is confirming that a microphone stream is active. Clicking "Stop Mic Test" ends the stream immediately and the indicator extinguishes within a second.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you test a microphone?

Three options, easiest first. (1) Open this page, click "Start Mic Test", allow microphone access, and speak — if the level meter moves and the recording plays back cleanly, the mic is working. (2) Use your OS's built-in tester (Windows 10/11: Settings → System → Sound → Input; macOS: System Settings → Sound → Input; iOS: Voice Memos). (3) Use the in-app test in Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or Google Meet. The full step-by-step for each platform is in the How to test your microphone section above.

How do I test microphone on Windows 11?

Two equivalent paths. The browser-based path: click "Start Mic Test" on this page, allow access, watch the level meter. The Windows 11-native path: Settings → System → Sound → Input → pick the device → click into Device properties to see Windows 11's live "Test your microphone" volume bar. Full step-by-step in the How to test microphone on Windows 11 section above. If both report the mic is working but a specific app can't hear you, check Settings → Privacy & security → Microphone for per-app toggles.

How do I test microphone on Windows 10?

Settings → System → Sound → Input → Device properties → "Start test", then speak for 5 seconds; Windows 10 plays back what it captured. The browser-based test on this page is faster and cross-platform. Full step-by-step in the How to test microphone on Windows 10 section above.

How do I test microphone in Microsoft Teams?

Open Teams → profile picture → Settings → Devices → click "Test microphone" under Audio devices. Teams records a short clip and plays it back. The most thorough check is Settings → Devices → "Make a test call", which connects you to Microsoft's Test Bot for a recorded round trip. Full instructions in the How to test microphone in Microsoft Teams section above.

How do I do a Zoom test microphone check?

Zoom desktop or web: profile picture → Settings → Audio → click "Test Mic" under Microphone. Zoom records a few seconds and plays it back, with a live level meter visible while you speak. Inside an active call, the same controls live under the up-arrow next to the Mute button → Audio Settings. Full instructions in the Zoom test microphone section above.

How do I test iPhone microphone?

The fastest browser-based way: open this page in Safari on your iPhone, tap "Start Mic Test", allow microphone access. If the level meter responds, the iPhone microphone is working. The native way: open Voice Memos, record a few seconds, play back — if your voice plays back clearly, the mic array is healthy at the OS level. Full instructions in the How to test iPhone microphone section above.

Does this mic tester work on any device?

It works on any device with a working microphone and a modern browser. That includes Windows desktops and laptops, Macs, Linux machines, Chromebooks, iPhones, iPads, and Android phones and tablets. The browser requirements are Chrome 60+, Firefox 55+, Safari 14.1+, or Edge 79+ — all current versions of every major browser support MediaDevices.getUserMedia and AudioContext.

The page must be served over HTTPS for microphone access to work. Non-secure http:// pages cannot request the mic in modern browsers.

What file format are recordings saved in?

The browser's MediaRecorder picks the best supported codec. In practice:

• Chrome, Edge, Opera, Brave — WebM container with Opus audio (audio/webm;codecs=opus)
• Firefox — WebM with Opus
• Safari — MP4 container with AAC audio (audio/mp4)

All of these formats are playable in every major OS media player without conversion. If you need a different format (MP3, WAV), convert the downloaded file using ffmpeg or a desktop audio editor like Audacity.

Can I record in higher quality?

The recording quality is limited by the browser's MediaRecorder default bitrate (typically 96–128 kbps for Opus, 128 kbps for AAC). This is more than enough for voice. For music or production-quality recording, a dedicated desktop DAW (Audacity, Reaper, Logic Pro) records at higher bitrates and gives you full control over codec and sample rate.

Why is the level meter not updating when I speak?

Check in order:

1. The mic is not muted (hardware or OS)
2. The correct input device is selected in the dropdown
3. You are speaking close enough — at arm's length with low gain, even a loud voice may not move the meter much
4. Permission was actually granted — if the browser's address-bar mic indicator does not show active, permission may have been denied without a prompt

Is my recorded audio sent to any server?

No. Every recording is a Blob held in this tab's memory. Downloading the blob saves a file to your local Downloads folder. Closing the tab releases the blob. There is no server-side storage, no cloud sync, no analytics on audio content, and no third-party access.

Can I test multiple microphones one after another?

Yes. Once the first mic is active, the device dropdown is populated with every audio input the OS exposes. Switching devices stops the current stream and starts a new one with the selected mic.

Can this tester measure latency?

Not end-to-end. The browser timestamps audio callbacks but does not expose the hardware-level capture timestamp, so the true mic-to-browser latency includes unmeasurable OS scheduling delay. For round-trip latency measurement (mic → processing → speaker), dedicated audio tools like REAPER's latency calibration or Apple's AudioTap are required.

Does the tester apply any processing to the audio?

Only what the browser applies by default for { audio: true } — echo cancellation, noise suppression, and automatic gain control, all of which are on by default in most browsers. The Mic Info panel shows the current state of each. To disable them programmatically you would need to pass explicit constraints to getUserMedia; the default settings here match what Zoom, Meet, and Teams use.

Why is the sample rate 48 kHz instead of 44.1 kHz?

Modern browsers and OS audio stacks default to 48 kHz, which is the sample rate used by almost all professional audio equipment since the late 1990s. 44.1 kHz was the CD standard and remains common for music distribution, but there is no practical quality difference for voice capture. The browser does not let a web page request a specific sample rate from the mic — it exposes whatever the hardware delivers.

Related Testing Tools

If you are preparing a complete setup, test each component in turn:

• Keyboard Test — Test every key on your keyboard, detect stuck keys, verify NKRO rollover, and see KeyboardEvent.code / KeyboardEvent.key values in real time.
• Mouse Test — Test every button and scroll wheel on your mouse, diagnose double-click failure, and capture MouseEvent and WheelEvent values.
• Webcam Test — Test your camera, preview live video, capture still photos, and download them without uploading anywhere.
• PS4 Controller Test — Test DualShock 4 buttons, analog sticks, triggers, and vibration via the HTML5 Gamepad API.
• PS5 Controller Test — Test the DualSense controller including all face buttons, triggers, touchpad, and haptic feedback detection.
• Xbox Controller Test — Test Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox 360 controllers across all buttons, bumpers, triggers, and thumbsticks.

Before an important video call: run the webcam, mic, keyboard, and mouse testers in sequence. A couple of minutes catches permission issues, driver problems, and dead switches before they interrupt the call.