What to do when your Discord Mic is not working?

Discord is very popular with gamers lately. However, some of them aren’t able to hear their teammates. We decided to look for the root of the problem and see if there’s a possible solution.

The desktop version of Discord seems to have an issue with mics. Many users report problems only when using the desktop version, and not the web app. Apparently, there’s a certain glitch that they experience. They are able to hear other users but other users can’t hear them.

Discord is known to be an app that works almost flawlessly and with no issues. That’s why many gamers are choosing Discord over Skype lately. It just suits them better while playing multiplayer games. One of the reasons they go for Discord is the fact that Discord has quality support that resolves problems quickly.

However, it seems that this mic problem has been going on for many months now. As of today, there still isn’t a fix that will solve the problem with anyone. It looks like the Discord app won’t pick up your mic for many different reasons, and thus you’ll need to try out multiple fixes.

We searched the internet far and wide in order to gather possible solutions to the problem. We know how tiring and stressful that can be. That’s why we produced this list of fixes that are actually effective and that have helped multiple Discord users.

A piece of advice before you proceed

It may happen that the solution to the Discord problem is far simpler than it seems. In order not to lose precious time, we always checked whether our headset is working. We usually tried to connect to Discord with a spare one and see whether the problem persisted. Another thing that we also did is that we checked for common Windows 10 mic problems. Once we were sure that everything was alright with our system, we proceeded to the following solutions.

We also advise you to follow these strategies in the order in which they appear here until you find something that solves your problem. We firmly believe that, in the end, you will be able to do so.

Try to log out of Discord

Logging in and out of Discord was the simplest way to get our mic up and running again. However, this solution didn’t last forever. Our teammates were able to hear us for a certain period, but the problem continued with our next session. That’s why we needed to check the other solutions too.

Nevertheless, in order to log out of our Desktop version of Discord, we selected the User Settings button that was located at the bottom left of our screen. We needed to scroll all the way down to the Log Out button, then we clicked on it again to confirm the process. We needed to do it over and over until Discord registered our action.

Once the log-out was successful, we inserted our credentials again and logged back in. However, our teammates weren’t able to hear us. So we proceeded to the second method.

Try to run Discord as Administrator

One of the first things recommended by Discord support is to try and run Discord as Administrator. Why? Discord usually uses User Data Protocol, or UDP, to send data to our teammates. However, it may have happened that the Discord that we are using doesn’t have the appropriate credentials to share our sound signal across the web. That’s why we tried logging in as Administrator, but we were unsuccessful.

In order to run Discord in such a way, use the right-click on the desktop icon and select Run as Administrator.

Try to adjust the Automatic Input Sensitivity

We learned that we may have deselected the Automatically determine input sensitivity by accident. Apparently, it is one of the most common scenarios for why Discord mics aren’t working properly. We did tweak our voice settings before, however, this wasn’t the problem in our case.

So why does this cause problems with the mic? Once we deselected that option on purpose, we saw that the slider bar went straight all the way to the left. Thus, Discord stopped picking up any sound that our microphone produced. Also, this automatic feature has had some issues in the past as we recall. If we use this automatic input sensitivity setting and the indicator bar isn’t lit up when we speak, we usually switch to manual mode instead.

Let’s see how to set up the Automatically determine input sensitivity setting.

  1. Move your cursor to the bottom left of the Discord screen and click on the User Settings.
  2. Under App Settings, click on Voice & Video.
  3. Find the Input Sensitivity option. If the Automatically determine input sensitivity isn’t checked already, then do so. Try out your mic by talking. If the bar below is glowing green while you do it, then you need to look for a different solution.
  4. Disable the Automatically determine input sensitivity. Position the slider somewhere in the middle, if it blinks while you talk, then your problem should be solved.

Try to select your Headset Microphone under Input Device

Sometimes it happens that the reason for this occurring Discord problem is in the default microphone settings. Namely, Discord tends to leave the Input Device Setting as Default. It usually happens with computers or laptops that have built-in microphones.

That’s why we made sure that we selected the right mic. Otherwise, Discord might’ve selected the built-in one, even though our headset was connected. So why aren’t your teammates still able to hear you over your integrated mic? Usually, integrated microphones don’t come with the necessary drivers in order to work with VoIP services like Discord. That’s why it’s advisable to always switch settings to the microphone that you’re planning to use. Here’s how to do it.

  1. In the bottom left corner of the Discord screen, click on the User Settings.
  2. Select App Settings and then Voice & Video.
  3. Go to the Input Device and in the drop-down menu select your headset.
  4. Move the Input Volume slider to the max.

If you don’t know the name of your headset, and thus you’re not able to find it in Discord settings, you can find out easily. Just right-click the audio icon on the bottom right corner of your taskbar. Select the Recording Devices option. Then, you should try to make some noise or talk. The level icon that starts to blink is the one that belongs to your headset. Hence, read the name and see if you can find it in Discord settings. Also, always make sure that your headset is plugged in properly.

Try to disable Exclusive mode

Windows incorporates the Exclusive Mode option that lets a certain app take complete control over the devices like the microphone. If we allow an app to work in the Exclusive Mode, it may cause problems with Discord. Certain headsets showed us that if some apps run in this mode, they will quiet down the mic completely. Let’s see how to disable them.

  1. Find the volume icon on your taskbar, right-click it, and then select Recording Devices.
  2. Once you find your headset, select it and click on Properties.
  3. Once you’re in Properties, find the Advanced tab. Untick all boxes that are connected with the Exclusive Mode. Finally, click on Apply.
  4. Reboot your computer.

Try to reset your voice settings

The following solution apparently had the most success with Discord users. Many found it to be helpful, especially those who had recently switched their headset with a new one. Most of the people that use the Discord desktop app will solve this problem by resetting their voice settings. Here’s the way to do it.

  1. Scroll to the bottom-left corner of the Discord screen and select the User Settings.
  2. Go to the App Settings and choose Voice & Audio.
  3. Find the Reset Voice Settings option. You’ll need to scroll all the way down.
  4. Confirm when prompted and wait for Discord to reset your settings.
  5. Disconnect your headset and plug it in again.

Try to set your Input mode differently

The final strategy that helped us was to change our input mode to Push to Talk. We have previously set it on Voice Activity. Namely, there were some users who resolved the problem this way. It has one downside, though. We need to press a button every time we want to say something to our teammates. It was awkward in the beginning, but once we got used to it, everything ran smoothly.

If all of the aforementioned solutions didn’t work out for you, there is still one thing that you can try to do. You can always try to reinstall the Discord app. If that doesn’t help either, make sure to contact their official support. They are also working on a universal fix. We believe that it will be available soon. Until then, we hope that some of these fixes were helpful.