Microphone test

Press one button, say a word, watch the bar move.

Asked only on your click
Never recorded
No upload, no server

Which microphone

Nothing opens until you press the button. The audio is measured inside this page and never recorded, stored or sent anywhere.

Input level peak 0%

Reading the result

The bar never moves, but permission was granted

The browser opened the device and is receiving a stream of silence. That narrows the fault down a lot: the path works, the sound does not exist.

Next step: Check for a hardware mute switch on the headset or microphone, then check the input volume in the system sound panel — a level of zero looks exactly like a dead microphone. Then try the other entries in the device list.

Nothing happens when you press the button

The browser is refusing without asking, which means a previous “Block” is remembered for this site.

Next step: Click the padlock or camera icon at the left of the address bar, set the microphone to “Ask” or “Allow”, reload the page and press again.

It says the device is busy

Another program holds the microphone exclusively. This is the single most common reason a perfectly good microphone “stops working”.

Next step: Close video-call apps, voice recorders and any second tab of this site. On Windows also check the meeting apps that keep running in the notification area after you close their window.

It works here but not in your call app

Then the microphone, the driver and the operating system are all fine — the fault is inside that one application.

Next step: Open the app’s audio settings and check which input it selected. On macOS and Windows also check that the app itself is allowed microphone access in system privacy settings.

Microphone fine but the call still fails? Check your speakers, the camera, or the connection.

What the meter actually measures

RMS loudness of the live waveform

What is measured

peak 25% or higher

Verdict “working” at

peak between 5% and 25%

Verdict “quiet” at

about 3 seconds under 5%

Verdict “silent” after

none — there is no recorder in this page

Audio kept anywhere

yes — browsers refuse the device otherwise

Requires HTTPS

Other ways to test a microphone

Approach	Best for	Trade-off
The sound panel in your operating system	Checking the device itself, independently of any browser	Says nothing about whether your browser is allowed to use it — and that is what breaks during a video call
Record a voice memo	Hearing how you actually sound, including noise and echo	Creates a file you then have to delete, and a phone memo tests the phone, not the computer you are about to call from
The test call inside the call app	Zoom, Teams or Discord users, because it tests the exact path that will be used	Only available inside that app, and it will not tell you whether a second app is holding the device
This page	Anyone who has two minutes before a call and wants to know where the fault is	Tests the browser path only: a microphone that works here can still be muted inside a desktop call app

When this page will not help

Where this stops being the right tool — and what to use instead.

You want to hear how you sound

This page deliberately never plays your voice back and never stores it. Playback would need either a recording or a live loop into the speakers, and a live loop produces feedback howl.

Next step: Use your system voice recorder for that, then delete the file. Here you get level and fault diagnosis, not playback.
The page is open over plain HTTP

Every modern browser refuses microphone access outside a secure context. The API is not merely blocked — it is absent, so nothing can be asked.

Next step: Open the https:// address. This site is served over HTTPS, so in practice this only happens through an odd proxy.
You are inside an in-app browser

The mini browser inside some social and messaging apps ships without the media APIs, or refuses the prompt silently.

Next step: Use the app menu to open the page in Safari, Chrome or Firefox, then run the check there.
You need to test a studio interface with many inputs

The browser sees the interface as one device and mixes down what the driver gives it, so you cannot check channel seven on its own.

Next step: Use the vendor mixer software, which can meter each input separately.

Words you will meet on this page

Input level: How loud the signal arriving from the microphone is, before any application processes it. That is what the bar on this page shows.
Permission prompt: The browser question asking whether this site may use the microphone. The answer is remembered per site; a remembered “Block” is why a working microphone appears dead on one site only.
Exclusive access: Some applications take a device for themselves. While that lasts, everything else gets an error — reported here as “the device is busy”.
Secure context: A page loaded over HTTPS, or from localhost. Cameras and microphones are only available in one; on plain HTTP the API does not exist at all.
Gain: Amplification applied to the microphone signal by the system. Low gain is the usual reason a working microphone reads as quiet here.
Automatic gain control: A system feature that raises quiet speech and lowers loud speech. It makes the meter behave oddly on sustained sounds, which is normal rather than a fault.
Sample rate: How many measurements of the sound are taken per second, usually 44 100 or 48 000. Mismatched sample rates between apps are a classic source of distorted or absent audio.

Microphone questions people actually ask

Is my voice recorded or uploaded?

No. There is no recorder in this page and no network request while the check runs. The audio goes straight into the browser’s own analyser, which reports one number — loudness — and forgets the sound. When you press stop, the device is released and your browser’s recording indicator goes out.

Why does it ask permission at all?

Because a browser will not hand over a microphone without your explicit consent, and rightly so. We ask only when you press the button, never when the page loads, so you can read this first and decide afterwards.

It says the device is busy. What is holding it?

Almost always a video-call app left running in the background, a recorder, or another tab of this same site. Close them and try again. This is the most common reason a healthy microphone appears broken.

I clicked Block by accident and now nothing happens.

The browser remembers that answer for this site, so it will not ask again. Click the padlock or camera icon at the left of the address bar, set the microphone back to “Ask” or “Allow”, then reload the page.

The bar moves but everyone says I am quiet.

Look at the peak figure. Under about 25% you are quiet at the source, so no app can fix it properly. Raise the input level in your system sound settings, move closer, and check that you are speaking into the correct side of the microphone.

Which microphone is being tested?

The one selected in the list above the meter. Before you grant permission the browser hides device names, so they appear as numbers; once you allow access the real names appear and you can switch between them.

Does this work on an iPhone or iPad?

Yes, in Safari and in browsers on iOS, which all use the same engine. Two caveats: the page must be in the foreground, and iOS will not give the microphone to a background tab.

The meter is stuck at zero although permission was granted.

That means the browser opened the device and is receiving silence. The usual causes are a hardware mute switch on the microphone or headset, the wrong input selected, or an input volume set to zero in the operating system.

Why does the level jump around when I hold one note?

That is automatic gain control: the system quietly raises and lowers the input to keep speech even. It is normal, and it is why this page judges by peak level rather than by a steady reading.

Can I test a Bluetooth headset here?

Yes, but expect the sound quality to drop while the microphone is in use: Bluetooth switches to a low-bandwidth mode when both directions are active. That is the protocol, not a fault in the headset.

My microphone works here but not in my call app.

Then the device is fine and the fault is inside that app — usually a wrong input selected in its settings, or the operating system denying microphone access to that specific application. That is a useful result: it tells you where to look.

Do I need to install anything?

No. Nothing is downloaded, nothing is installed, and there is no account. Close the tab and no trace of the check remains beyond a one-line verdict in your own browser, which you can erase on the data page.