Videoconferencing has become one of the most highly used communication tools worldwide.
In addition to enabling remote work, video calls also make it easier to feel connected to others. Around 87% of remote team members say that they feel more connected to their teammates when they have virtual meetups.
However, the connecting experience that a video call provides can be completely disrupted when your Mac microphone isn’t working. Having others struggle to hear you, can be disastrous in the corporate world.
If you own a MacBook computer, and you’re having problems with your microphone, we can help. To make sure your voice is heard, we created this short guide all about troubleshooting Mac microphones.
So take a look! By the time you’re done reading this article, you’ll know the best Mac mic repair tips.
1. Fixing New Microphones
As you begin the troubleshooting process, keep in mind that several things could be causing the malfunction. For starters, the microphone may be simply broken. If you purchased your Mac recently, the mic may have been broken from the moment you got it. Even though all Macs have to go through quality checks, sometimes things can slip through the cracks. Now would be a good time to go ahead and return your Mac to get a new one.
If you’ve had your Mac for a while, or the microphone was working when you bought it, then something else is going on. It’s possible that you recently installed a new app that’s interfering with the microphone’s capabilities.
If you downloaded an app that has to get permission to use your microphone, it could be causing all of your problems. Sometimes when an outside app gets microphone permission, it can prevent the microphone from functioning in the first place.
2. External Monitor and Audio Input
Next on our list of Mac mic repair tips, let’s talk about external monitors. It’s possible the problem you’re having might not have anything to do with your Mac’s mic at all.If you’re using an external monitor that has a mic included, check to see if that’s where your sound is set to come through. If the audio input is the external monitor’s microphone, then your Mac probably isn’t to blame at all.
Instead, the external monitor’s microphone is likely having some type of difficulty, not related to your computer. Go ahead and adjust your settings so that the audio input comes through your Mac directly, rather than through the monitor.
Lastly, when all else fails, check your settings for Mac’s microphone. It’s possible that you or another user tweaked the microphone settings, making it not work. To determine that the settings are in the right place, you’ll need to go to system preferences under the main menu. Under the mic input, ensure that your Mac is set as the audio input and not another device. Still, having issues? Go ahead and click for more troubleshooting tips.
3. Keep Your Mac Microphone Clean
Is your microphone simply being clogged by debris? The microphone is going to be in a different location, depending on the MacBook model you own. Take a few moments to locate the microphone on your Mac right now.
After locating your Mac microphone, it’s time to give it a good cleaning. Using a new microfiber cloth gently swab at the microphone to remove any debris that might be clogging it up. You can also carefully use compressed air to get rid of any dust particles that might be interfering with your microphone’s ability to hear other sounds.
If the microfiber cloth and compressed air don’t do the trick, you might need to use a toothbrush to clean the microphone. However, it’s important that it’s a soft toothbrush, and that you use it very gently. The last thing you want to do is roughly brush the internal microphone and cause damage.
4. Ambient Noise Reduction
If after cleaning your microphone, it’s still not working properly, it could be due to a feature called ambient noise reduction. MacBook computers have an option that allows users to reduce ambient sounds.
Typically, the ambient noise reduction feature is enabled by default in Mac computers. While reducing ambient noise is a convenient feature, some users report that it interferes with their microphone’s normal input abilities. In some cases the noise reduction feature causes the user’s voice to sound dim, or did not get picked up at all.
If you suspect the ambient noise reduction features interfering with your microphone, you’ll be happy to know there’s a quick solution. First, open up system preferences just like you did earlier when we checked the sound settings.
Next, select input from the top bar and then choose the internal microphone. Moving on, uncheck the option to use ambient noise reduction.
At this time you can also select other microphones that are connected to disable the ambient noise reduction from them as well.
Lastly, save your changes and exit. Hopefully, now when you check your microphone it’ll be working perfectly.
5. Create a New User Account
If your microphone isn’t working perfectly after trying all of the methods in this article, it’s time to create a new user account. It’s not common for user accounts and MacBook computers to have issues.
However, in rare cases, microphone issues can be directly linked to the user account. Instead of trying to figure out exactly why this occurs, creating a new user account is a fast way to solve the problem.
To start, you’ll need to go to system preferences and choose the options users and groups. After selecting users and groups, click on the + button at the bottom left side of the screen.
Now, a new window will pop up. Put in the details of your new user account and select create the user. All you need to do now is log off your computer, restart it, and log back in with the new account information. Immediately after logging back in, check to see if your microphone issue is resolved.
Get Your Mic Working Again
Congratulations! Now you know some of the top Mac microphone troubleshooting tips. We hope that one of the solutions in this article will be able to provide you with the information you need to get your microphone back up and running.
Remember, that Mac microphones need to be cleaned regularly with a soft microfiber cloth. Go ahead and locate your microphone on your MacBook today, and give it a nice gentle cleaning. For more tips like these, explore the rest of our site.
