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Rescreen / Free tools / Microphone test

Microphone test

Check your mic works before you record: see the live level, hear a short sample back, and get a plain fix if it is silent, too quiet, distorting or blocked. The sound stays in this browser tab and is never uploaded.

Test your microphone

Your browser will ask to use the microphone. Choose Allow.

How to test your microphone

Two minutes before you record saves a take you cannot use.

  1. Allow the microphone

    Press Test my microphone and allow the browser to use it. Nothing is opened until you press the button.

  2. Pick the right mic

    Pick the microphone you will record with from the list. The browser’s default is not always the one you expect, especially with a headset, webcam or audio interface plugged in.

  3. Speak as you will record

    Speak a sentence or two at the distance and volume you will record at. The bar should jump as you talk and drop back between words.

  4. Read the result

    Read the result under the meter. It looks at the last few seconds, so if you change something it updates as you keep talking.

  5. Hear a sample back

    Press Record a 5-second sample, then play it back. Your ears catch what a meter cannot: echo, a hum, a muffled or tinny sound.

What the results mean

  • No sound at all: the browser opened the mic but receives silence. Look for a mute switch on the mic or headset, an input volume at zero in your system settings, or the wrong microphone selected.
  • Sound only on one channel: one side of a stereo input is silent. Usually an XLR mic plugged into input 1 of a two-input interface. Set the interface to mono, or record from a mono input.
  • Working, but quiet: your loudest speech is under about −38 dB. Move closer (a hand’s width to a forearm away) or raise the input gain.
  • Too loud: your voice reaches the top of the scale and distorts. Turn the gain down. Distortion cannot be removed afterwards; low level and background noise usually can.
  • Background is loud: the meter stays high between words. Get closer to the mic so your voice is much louder than the room, and move away from fans and open windows.
  • Working: speech is at a healthy level and well clear of the background.

Levels are in dB below full scale. 0 dB is the loudest a recording can hold, so the numbers are negative, and closer to zero is louder. Speech level is the loud end of what the mic heard in the last few seconds; background is the quiet end, between your words.

Example

A USB microphone on a desk, a forearm’s length away, in a quiet room typically reads speech somewhere around −18 dB and background around −60 dB, so the test says it is working. Plug the same mic into a laptop dock, turn its input volume down and lean back to arm’s length, and speech can fall below −38 dB: “working, but quiet”. Move closer or turn up the input volume and the result changes back within a few seconds.

If your microphone is not working

The browser asked and you pressed Block

Click the icon at the left of the address bar, set Microphone to Allow, then press Try again. In Safari, open Safari → Settings → Websites → Microphone.

Mac

Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone and turn on your browser. Then check System Settings → Sound → Input: pick the right device and make sure the input volume slider is not at the far left. Recording sound from your Mac as well? See recording audio on a Mac.

Windows

Open Settings → Privacy & security → Microphone, turn on Microphone access and Let desktop apps access your microphone. Then Settings → System → Sound → Input: choose the device and check its volume. If the test says the mic could not be started, another app may hold it exclusively. The Windows 11 screen recording with audio guide covers both the mic and system sound.

Headsets, webcams and audio interfaces

A headset’s microphone and its speakers are often listed separately, and a webcam brings its own microphone that some systems pick by default. Choose the device by name in the list above. To check the picture as well, use the webcam test. Bluetooth headsets switch to a lower-quality call mode while their mic is in use, so a wired or USB mic usually sounds better for narration.

This tests your microphone, not your computer’s sound

A working microphone does not mean a screen recording will also capture sound playing on your computer, such as a video, a call or app alerts. That is captured separately, and how depends on the system and the recorder. To record both, follow recording a Mac screen with computer audio or the Windows 11 guide.

Before a Rescreen recording

The default setting here, “Like Rescreen”, asks the browser for the microphone the way the Rescreen recorder does: automatic gain on, the browser’s own noise suppression and echo cancellation off. Rescreen cleans the voice after you record instead, because the browser’s processing smears speech and cannot be undone. Choose the same microphone in Rescreen that passed here. Planning what to say? Time it with the script timer.

Limitations

  • The result is a guide from levels, not a judgement of sound quality. Listen to the sample.
  • With automatic gain on, the browser raises a quiet mic for you, so the level reads healthier than the raw input. Switch to Raw to see the mic’s own level.
  • Each browser and system processes the microphone a little differently, and some phones ignore the processing setting.
  • The sample is 5 seconds and is not saved. It is gone when you test again or leave the page.
  • Device names appear only after you allow the microphone; that is how browsers protect your privacy.
  • Tested in Chrome on desktop and at phone screen sizes. It uses standard browser features found in current Chrome, Edge, Safari and Firefox; it does not work in some in-app browsers.

Is my audio uploaded?

No. The level meter and the sample run entirely in your browser. Nothing you say, and no device name, is sent anywhere. We count anonymous page views, whether the test ran, and which result it showed (for example “quiet”). See the privacy policy.

Frequently asked questions

Why is my microphone not picking up sound?

Most often the wrong input is selected, the mic is muted by a switch or button, or the system has not given the browser access. Run the test above: it tells you which of these it is and what to change.

What is a good microphone level?

A speech level between about −30 and −10 dB on this test, with the background at −50 dB or lower, and the meter never touching 0 dB, where it distorts.

Does this mic test work on a phone?

Yes, in the phone’s main browser. You will be asked for permission the first time. Some apps’ built-in browsers block the microphone; open the page in your browser instead.

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