Contents
- Restarting the Discord App
- Run the App with Administrative Rights
- Changing the Automatic Input Sensitivity
- Try the Input Device setting to change the active microphone
- Disable Windows exclusive mode
- Switch to Push to Talk Input Mode
- Contact Customer Support
- Update your Computer’s Audio Driver
- Examine your microphone
- Reset Discord’s voice settings
- Test your Upload Speed
A lot of people have been looking for answers to the common Discord microphone problem. This issue crops up when the user can hear those on the other side, but the user cannot be heard.
So far, this problem has only been reported with the desktop version of Discord.
Prior to troubleshooting your mic with Discord, ensure that your headset functions properly.
You may want to test your Discord app with a different headset. If you experience the same problem with more than one headset, go through the fixes we suggest below.
Restarting the Discord App
This is probably the simplest and quickest fix of all. The first time I had issues with my friends being unable to hear me over Discord, I simply restarted the app and it did the trick.
However, this fix is only a temporary solution, and if you don’t want to do it over and over again, go through some of the solutions listed below.
The fastest way to close the program, at least for me, is to use Alt + F4. After that, you can simply start it again through its icon.
If you don’t want to close the program, simply logging in and out may work for you. Just click the User settings icon and then click on Log Out to log out.
Run the App with Administrative Rights
If you don’t run the application with administrative privileges, Discord may not be able to transmit data to your friends as the app uses UDP. In fact, this is yet another simple solution and one that is also recommended by the customer support at Discord.
Running Discord as an administrator is as easy as right-clicking on its icon and choosing “Run as administrator” as shown on the screenshot:
Changing the Automatic Input Sensitivity
If Automatic Input Sensitivity is not enabled in the app settings, this could be another issue preventing the proper functioning of your microphone.
Many people turn off this option accidentally when they want to tweak their voice settings. This can prevent your Discord app from receiving sound inputs from your microphone.
To troubleshoot this, go through the steps shown below:
- Click on the User Settings icon located on the lower left corner of the app and then on Voice and Video. You will see the following Input Sensitivity setting:
- Make sure the setting is active, talk into your mic and determine whether the bar below lights up in green when you speak.
- Disable the setting and move the bar somewhere to the middle.
- Talk into your headset, and if you see the bar reacting, you should be able to communicate without any problem.
Try the Input Device setting to change the active microphone
Determine whether Discord is using the right microphone. Sometimes, the default input device Discord has set may not be the one you want. Desktop devices with built-in microphones often have this issue.
If you don’t change the Input Device setting yourself, Discord will often use the internal device and disregard the fact that you already have a different headset connected. In many cases, built-in microphones don’t have the necessary drivers to properly work with Discord’s VoIP service.
To check whether the app is using the mike you want it to, go through these steps:
- Click on the User Settings icon located at the lower left corner of the app and then on Voice and Video.
- Click on the dropdown menu under Input Device and set what you want to use instead of the Default.
- Next, ensure that the volume slider under Input Device is at its maximum.
Disable Windows exclusive mode
Windows allows some applications to have exclusive control over the audio driver of a device. This could cause a problem with Discord, causing the mic you use with the app to quiet down if you don’t enable some Exclusive Mode settings.
The steps to solve this problem are given below.
- Right-click on the sound icon located at the right side of the Windows taskbar and choose Sounds.
- Click on the Recordings tab to list the devices.
- Choose your Headset Microphone.
- Right click it and go to the Advanced tab.
- Remove the tick against “Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device”
- Reboot your PC and check whether this has fixed your mic-related issue with Discord.
Switch to Push to Talk Input Mode
In case none of the aforementioned methods work for you, change Voice Activity to Push to talk Input mode.
You might already know where this option is located – it’s under User Settings => Voice & Video => Input Mode as could be seen on the screenshot below:
Reinstall the app
Sometimes this can help too. Uninstall the program and run the installation again.
Contact Customer Support
If these methods fail and you think you need more help, just get in touch with the official support.
Discord’s development team are aware of the microphone issue and are currently looking for a permanent solution. Until then, you can also contact them for helpful input on the problem.
Update your Computer’s Audio Driver
There are at least two ways you can do this – manual and automatic.
The manual update involves visiting the website of your audio device’s manufacturer. There, you can search for the available versions of the driver for your device and operating system. It is always best to try the latest driver version first for your Windows version.
The automatic update involves the following steps:
- Click the Windows startup button at the left side of your taskbar and type “Device Manager”. Click the link to open the Device Manager window and expand “Sound, video and game controllers”.
- Right-click on your audio device and choose “Update driver”. Windows will try to find and install a more recent version of the driver. Note that my device is ASUS Xonar but yours will probably be different.
- Reboot and see if this fixes your problem.
Alternatively, you can try to uninstall the device first instead of opting for the update and then reinstalling it.
Reinstalling is as simple as clicking on the Action tab of the Device Manager and choosing the option “Scan for hardware changes”.
Windows will try to discover your audio device and then install the required driver.
Examine your microphone
If your mic has technical issues, that can lead to this particular error as well. For example, if you are using an external microphone, there might be a cable issue.
To examine whether your headphone mic functions properly, connect it to your PC and open the Windows Voice Recorder App. Just left-click the Windows start button and type Voice Recorder. Start the app, record a few seconds of something you say and play it back.
If you can hear yourself clearly without any noise in the background, the headphone mic is in order. However, if there is background noise, you may want to consider using another microphone.
Reset Discord’s voice settings
The voice chat settings in Discord are many. If you have made a lot of changes recently and can’t even recall what the last one was, it is often a good idea to reset to the default voice settings.
These can be found under Voice & Video. Just scroll to the bottom of the section and click on “Reset Voice Settings” as shown in the screenshot:
Test your Upload Speed
The Discord app requires a good Internet connection. To transmit voice, you need sufficient upload speed. There are various tools on the Internet to test your upload speed and should you wish to run a fast test, you can try this tool.
These are some of the most helpful methods for fixing your Discord app microphone problems. I too have experienced some of these issues while playing World of Worships on my computer, and my friends were unable to hear me at times.
I figured out that this particular problem was related to the Discord app and found a way to resolve it. However, I’ve also wanted to account for all the other problems leading to the same Discord microphone issue. I hope this guide helps you too.