Free tools / Microphone test

Microphone Test

Check that your microphone is picking up sound, watch the level live, record five seconds and play it back, all in your browser.

FreeRuns in your browserNothing uploaded

Press Start, then choose Allow when the browser asks to use your microphone. Nothing is recorded until you press Record.

Input levelOff

-60 dB-30 dB0 dB

Level now

Off

Peak hold

Off

Noise floor

Waiting

Sample rate

Off

Record and play back

Start the test first.

Your browser will ask for permission to use the microphone. Nothing is recorded until you press the record button, and the recording stays on your device. Everything runs locally in your browser and nothing is uploaded.

How to use the microphone test

1

Press Start and allow the microphone. The browser shows a permission prompt the first time. Choose Allow. If you have more than one microphone, a picker appears so you can switch between the built-in mic, a headset or a USB mic.

2

Speak at your normal level. The waveform and the level bar should move as you talk and settle when you stop. The peak marker holds the loudest moment for a second so you can read it.

3

Stay quiet for a few seconds. The tester estimates the noise floor while you are silent. That is the hiss, hum or fan noise the mic picks up when nothing is happening in the room.

4

Record five seconds and play it back. Press Record, talk, then press play. Hearing your own voice is the surest way to tell whether the sound is clear, muffled, crackly or missing altogether.

What the results mean

No signal. The meter stays flat while you talk. The microphone is muted, the wrong device is selected, or the mic itself is not working. Check the picker and the mute switch on a headset before anything else.

Very low level. The meter moves but only just. Move closer, raise the input level in your sound settings, or turn off any input reduction. If the built-in mic on a laptop stays quiet whatever you do, the mic module or its cable can be at fault.

Healthy. Speech peaks sit comfortably in the green and never hit the top of the bar. The mic is doing its job. If people still cannot hear you on calls, the problem is in the app or its settings, not the hardware.

Clipping. The peaks hit the top of the bar and the readout turns orange. The input is too hot and the sound will distort. Lower the input level in your sound settings or move back from the mic.

High noise floor. A noise floor above about minus 40 dBFS means a lot of hiss or hum behind your voice. Fans, USB power noise and a loose internal connection are the usual causes on a laptop.

When a laptop microphone is a repair job

On many laptops the microphone is a tiny module in the screen bezel, wired through the hinge on the same cable as the webcam. Opening and closing the lid thousands of times wears that cable, so a mic that cuts out, crackles or has gone completely quiet is often a cable or module fault rather than a settings problem. If a headset or USB mic works fine on the same machine, the built-in mic is the suspect. We diagnose laptop faults free at our Kings Cross workshop, including MacBook microphone and audio faults, and give you an exact quote before any work.

Built-in mic dead or crackling?

Laptop and MacBook microphone faults diagnosed free at Kings Cross, open 24/7. Exact quote before any work, No Fix No Fee, UK-wide mail-in.

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Microphone test: your questions answered

Why does the browser ask for permission?−

Browsers never let a web page listen to a microphone without asking. The tester needs the permission to show the level, and you can revoke it from the padlock icon in the address bar at any time.

Is my voice uploaded anywhere?+

No. The level meter reads the audio inside your browser and the five-second recording is kept in memory on your device. Nothing is sent to us or to anyone else, and it is gone when you leave the page.

The meter moves but recording does not work. Why?+

Some browsers, including older versions of Safari on iPhone and iPad, do not support recording from a web page. The meter still works there. Try Chrome, Edge, Firefox or a recent Safari on a laptop or desktop.

What is a good noise floor?+

Lower is better. Around minus 60 dBFS or below is quiet. Between minus 60 and minus 40 is normal for a laptop in an ordinary room. Above minus 40 there is a lot of hiss or hum and it will be audible on calls.

My USB or headset mic fails the test. Can you fix it?+

External microphones and headsets are usually replaced rather than repaired. If the same headset works on another computer, the fault is in the laptop, and that we can diagnose and fix.

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