Microphone not working on Mac

macOS gates microphone access more strictly than Windows, which means most Mac microphone problems come down to one of two things: a permission that was never granted, or the wrong input selected. Hardware faults are comparatively rare. This guide covers both, plus the Mac-specific quirks — Bluetooth profile switching, stale aggregate devices, and Continuity handoff — that catch people out.

Step 1: macOS microphone permission

Since macOS Mojave, every application must be granted microphone access individually, and the request appears exactly once. Dismiss it, and the app is silently denied from then on.

1. Open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Microphone (Ventura and later). On Monterey and earlier: System Preferences › Security & Privacy › Privacy › Microphone.
2. Find your browser or application and switch it on.
3. Quit the application completely — ⌘Q, not just closing the window — and reopen it. macOS does not apply the change to a running process.

If the app is not in the list at all, it has never requested access. Trigger a request by starting our microphone test inside that browser; the entry will appear.

Resetting a stuck permission

When an app is listed and enabled but still silent, reset its permission state from Terminal:

tccutil reset Microphone com.google.Chrome

Replace the bundle identifier as needed — com.apple.Safari, org.mozilla.firefox, com.microsoft.edgemac, us.zoom.xos. Running tccutil reset Microphone with no identifier clears every app's microphone permission, after which each will ask again on next use.

Step 2: Input device and level

1. Open System Settings › Sound › Input.
2. Select the device you intend to use.
3. Speak. The Input level meter should react.
4. Raise Input volume if the meter barely moves. On built-in microphones, 75% is a reasonable starting point.
5. Untick Use ambient noise reduction if the option is present — it can suppress a quiet voice entirely.

If the level meter here does not move for any device, the problem is below the application layer and the sections below apply. If it does move but your app hears nothing, go back to step 1.

Step 3: Bluetooth headsets on Mac

This is the most common Mac-specific complaint, and it is behaviour rather than a fault. When macOS uses a Bluetooth headset's microphone, the connection switches from a high-quality stereo profile (A2DP) to a narrowband calling profile (HFP). The audible consequences are immediate:

• Music playback quality drops sharply the moment any app opens the microphone.
• The effective bandwidth falls to roughly 8 kHz, which is why everything sounds like a telephone.
• AirPods behave the same way — a fact that surprises people who assume the price prevents it.

The fix is structural, not a setting: use the Mac's built-in microphone with Bluetooth headphones for output, or switch to a wired headset. Selecting the internal microphone as input while leaving AirPods as output keeps them in high-quality mode. The full explanation is in why Bluetooth microphones sound bad.

Step 4: Stale and virtual devices

Software that installs a virtual audio device — Loopback, BlackHole, Soundflower, Krisp, older Zoom builds, and many streaming tools — can leave the system routing audio through a device that no longer functions.

1. Open Audio MIDI Setup from Applications › Utilities.
2. Look for aggregate or multi-output devices you no longer use, and delete them.
3. Confirm the input you expect is present and shows a non-zero sample rate.
4. If an old virtual driver remains after the app was deleted, run the vendor's uninstaller — dragging the app to the Trash leaves the driver behind.

A quick reset of the audio daemon clears many stuck states without a reboot:

sudo killall coreaudiod

Audio drops out for a second and every audio process reconnects to a freshly built device list.

Step 5: Continuity and handoff surprises

On a Mac signed into the same Apple account as an iPhone or iPad, a few features can move your audio somewhere you did not expect:

• Continuity Camera uses the iPhone's microphone as well as its camera. If your voice suddenly sounds distant, check whether the input switched to the phone.
• AirPods automatic switching hands the headset to whichever device last asked for it. A call answered on the phone takes the AirPods away from the Mac mid-session.
• Sidecar can alter the active audio route while an iPad is connected.

Each is easy to spot: open Sound settings while the problem is happening and look at which input is actually selected.

Step 6: Hardware and last resorts

• Test with a different microphone, even wired earbuds. If they work, your original device or its cable is at fault.
• Check System Information (hold Option, click the Apple menu › System Information) under Hardware › USB or Audio. A device absent here is not being seen by macOS at all — see microphone not detected.
• Boot into Safe Mode (Apple Silicon: hold the power button at startup; Intel: hold Shift). If the microphone works in Safe Mode, a third-party audio driver or login item is the cause.
• Create a new user account and test there. Working in a fresh account points at a per-user setting rather than hardware.
• Reset NVRAM on Intel Macs (Option+Command+P+R at startup). Not applicable to Apple Silicon.

Safari and browser specifics

Safari layers its own permission on top of the macOS one, so both must be granted:

1. Safari › Settings › Websites › Microphone.
2. Set the site to Allow.
3. Set "When visiting other websites" to Ask rather than Deny.
4. Reload the page.

Safari in Private Browsing treats each session independently and will ask again every time. And on iPhone and iPad, in-app browsers inside social media apps often block microphone access entirely — open the page in Safari itself. More detail in the microphone permissions guide.

Verify the fix

After each change, confirm with a real signal rather than assuming. Run the microphone test and watch the level meter, then use the recorder to check you actually sound the way you expect — a working microphone that sounds muffled is a different problem, usually a Bluetooth profile switch or ambient noise reduction still enabled.

On Windows instead? See microphone not working on Windows.

Frequently asked questions