About to join a call and not sure your mic actually works? This microphone test checks it in seconds, right in your browser. Press start, allow access, and speak: a live level meter and waveform move as your mic picks up sound, so you know instantly whether it’s working. You can also record a short clip and play it back to hear exactly how you sound to others.

How to test your microphone

Click Start Microphone Test and your browser will ask permission to use the mic. Allow it, then speak or tap the mic. Two things tell you it’s working:

• The input level bar rises and falls with the volume of your voice.
• The waveform draws a live line that reacts to every sound.

If both move when you talk, your microphone is picking up audio correctly. If they stay flat, jump to the troubleshooting section below.

Got more than one microphone (a laptop mic, a headset, a USB mic)? Pick the one you want from the device dropdown that appears once access is granted, and the test switches to it right away.

Hear yourself: recording and live monitoring

Seeing the meter move confirms the mic works, but it doesn’t tell you how you actually sound. There are two ways to check that here.

Record and play back. Press Record, say a few words, press Stop, then play it back. You’ll hear the recording exactly as someone on the other end of a call would, including background noise, echo, or a mic that’s too quiet. You can download the clip too.

Listen live. Flip on the Listen live toggle to hear your mic in real time as you speak. Use headphones for this. On speakers, the mic picks up its own output and creates a feedback howl.

This tool deliberately turns off the browser’s automatic noise suppression, echo cancellation, and gain control, so you hear the true, raw signal from your microphone rather than a processed version. That makes it a more honest test of the hardware itself.

Why isn’t my microphone working?

If the level meter and waveform stay flat when you speak, work through these:

• Permission blocked. If your browser denied access, look for a mic icon in the address bar and set it to Allow, then start the test again.
• Wrong device selected. Open the device dropdown and try a different microphone. Laptops often default to a mic that isn’t the one you’re using.
• Muted at the hardware level. Many headsets and USB mics have a physical mute switch. Cables can also be loose or plugged into the wrong jack.
• In use by another app. A video call or recording app may be holding the mic. Close it and try again.
• System-level input settings. Your operating system’s sound settings have their own input device and volume. If the browser can’t get any signal, check there.

Your audio never leaves your device

Everything here runs locally in your browser using the Web Audio API. No audio is uploaded, streamed, or stored on a server. Recordings live only in the browser tab until you download them or close the page, which makes this safe to use before a private call or interview.

Once your mic checks out, you might want to trim or convert what you record. The Audio Cutter trims a recording down to just the part you need, and the Audio Converter turns it into MP3 or WAV.