Teams Mic Test

This Teams mic test shows how you will sound in a Teams call before you join. It measures the room with nobody talking, then your voice, and tells you whether your voice stands out clearly from the noise. It plays a sound on your left and right speaker for you to place, records 5 seconds of your voice for you to hear, and lists the Teams and system settings to change for anything that fails. Unlike the Teams test call, which only exists in the desktop app for Windows and Mac, it runs in any browser: Teams on the web, Linux, Chromebooks, iPhone and Android included.

How to run the Teams mic test

1. Plug in or pair the headset you use in Teams, or sit at the laptop as you would in a call.
2. Press Start the check and allow the microphone.
3. Stay quiet for 3 seconds while the page measures the room.
4. Talk for 5 seconds at your meeting voice. The meter should bounce into the green.
5. Press Play sound twice and say where you heard each sound.
6. Record 5 seconds and listen. Switch on Call filters and record again to hear the difference noise suppression makes.

What the results mean

The decibel figures count down from 0 dB, the most the mic can take, so -20 dB is louder than -40 dB.

Checking your mic inside Teams

In the Teams desktop app, select Settings and more next to your profile picture, then Settings and Devices:

• Under Audio settings, pick your Speaker and Microphone.
• Turn on Automatically adjust mic sensitivity so Teams evens out your level.
• Turn on Noise suppression, or choose Voice isolation where your Teams offers it. Voice isolation needs a voice profile, which you record under Settings, Recognition.
• Choose Make a test call to record a message and hear it played back.

Before a meeting, newer versions of the desktop app for work or school show Test mic and speaker under Computer audio on the screen before you join: it records a short clip and plays it back. During a meeting, select the arrow next to Mic, then More audio settings, to switch mics without leaving. Step by step instructions for the test call, and where it goes missing, are on the teams test call page.

Teams cannot hear your mic

Most cases come down to one of these:

1. Muted. Check the Mic button in Teams and the mute switch on the headset cable. On many headsets, raising the boom mutes the mic.
2. Wrong mic. Pick the one you speak into under Settings, Devices, Microphone.
3. Windows privacy. Open Settings, Privacy & security, Microphone and turn on Microphone access, Let apps access your microphone, Microsoft Teams (work or school) and Let desktop apps access your microphone. If they were already on, switch them off and on again and restart Teams.
4. Mac privacy. Open System Settings, Privacy & Security, Microphone and switch on Microsoft Teams.
5. Teams on the web. Allow the mic for the Teams site. In Chrome, look under Privacy and security, Site settings. In Edge, look under Site permissions in Settings.

If this check reports that your mic sends silence, every app gets silence: fix the privacy switch or the hardware mute before you look at Teams. If it stays silent after that, the mic not working on pc guide takes it from there.

Your voice is quiet in Teams

With a voice level below -40 dB here, others turn their volume up and still miss words. Move the mic closer: halving the distance gains about 6 dB, and a headset boom belongs 2 to 3 cm from the corner of your mouth. Then raise the input level: on Windows under Settings, System, Sound, Input, and on a Mac under System Settings, Sound, Input, Input volume. Turn on Automatically adjust mic sensitivity in Teams last, because it lifts room noise along with your voice.

Others hear noise, crackling or a thin voice

• Noise: when your voice is less than 20 dB above the room, turn on Noise suppression, close the window and move away from fans. A headset mic close to your mouth is the biggest single fix.
• Crackling at loud moments: the loudest peak reached 0 dB. Lower the input level a little, and on Windows check Microphone Boost, if your mic has it, under Settings, System, Sound, More sound settings, Recording, your mic, Properties, Levels.
• Crackling at random: a loose plug or a tired USB port. Try another port and test the headset alone with the headset mic test.
• Thin, muffled voice on a Bluetooth headset: the headset switches to a low quality call mode while its mic is on. Keep it for listening and use the laptop or a USB mic, or see bluetooth not working if it keeps dropping out.

You hear nothing, or only one side

If neither sound played, the computer sends sound somewhere else, often to a monitor on HDMI. Choose your headset under Settings, System, Sound, Output on Windows or System Settings, Sound, Output on a Mac, then pick the same one as the Speaker in Teams. One silent side usually means a plug that is not fully in or a balance setting.

What this mic check cannot tell you

The page measures your mic before Teams' own processing, so a call usually sounds cleaner than the raw clip. It does not test your connection to Teams, and it judges the sound from a short sample. For a closer look at how clear your mic sounds, try the mic quality test. The zoom mic test page covers the same check with Zoom's settings.

This test is independent and not affiliated with Zoom, Microsoft or Google. Their product names are used only to describe what the test works with.

Teams mic test questions