How to Enable Microphone Permissions for Microsoft Teams

If others cannot hear you in Teams, or Teams reports that no microphone is available, the cause is often a blocked permission rather than a hardware fault. The block can be in your operating system, your browser or your phone. This guide shows where each permission is set and how to confirm that Teams is using the right microphone.

Before you start

Microphone access is granted on your own device. Your operating system controls it, and in the web version your browser does too. Teams then chooses which input device to use. Calls and meetings still run through Microsoft's online service, so changing a permission will not help if you are offline or signed out.

• Find out which Teams you use: the desktop app (classic or new Teams), Teams in a web browser, or the mobile app. Each one keeps its permissions in a different place.
• Connect the microphone or headset and make sure any hardware mute switch is off.
• Close other apps that may be holding the microphone, such as other calling or recording software.
• On a work or school device, your organization may control privacy settings or Teams policies. If a setting is greyed out or locked, contact your IT administrator rather than trying to work around it.
• Some system-level privacy settings require an administrator account to change.

Step-by-step instructions

Follow the section for your platform, then check the device selection inside Teams. To undo any change, switch the same setting back. Menu names below match recent versions and may be worded slightly differently on yours.

Windows 11 and Windows 10

• Open Settings and go to Privacy & security, then Microphone. On Windows 10 the path is Privacy, then Microphone.
• Turn on Microphone access.
• Turn on Let apps access your microphone.
• If Microsoft Teams appears in the app list, switch it on.
• Turn on Let desktop apps access your microphone. Depending on the version, Teams may be treated as a desktop app and controlled by this switch rather than by the app list.
• Quit Teams completely, including from the system tray, and open it again.

macOS

• Open System Settings (System Preferences on older versions) and go to Privacy & Security (Security & Privacy on older versions), then Microphone.
• Turn on the switch next to Microsoft Teams. If Teams is missing from the list, start a call or open the device settings in Teams so that macOS shows its permission prompt.
• If macOS asks you to, quit and reopen Teams.

Teams in a web browser

• Open Teams in your browser and start or join a call. When the browser asks to use your microphone, choose Allow.
• If you blocked it earlier, click the site information icon at the left of the address bar, open the site permissions and set Microphone to Allow.
• Reload the page.
• On Windows and macOS, the browser itself also needs microphone access in the system privacy settings described above. Without it, the site permission has no effect.
• If your browser does not support Teams calls, use a supported browser or the desktop app.

iPhone, iPad and Android

• iPhone or iPad: open Settings, scroll down to Teams and turn on Microphone.
• Android: open Settings, then Apps, select Teams, open Permissions and set Microphone to Allow. Wording varies by manufacturer.
• Go back to Teams and rejoin the call.

Select the microphone inside Teams

• In Teams, open Settings and more (the three dots near your profile picture), choose Settings, then Devices.
• Under the audio device or microphone setting, choose the input device you want to use. Check the speaker choice as well, so the correct output device plays other people's audio.
• During a meeting, you can open the device settings from the meeting controls to switch microphones without leaving the call.

If your video does not work either, the camera permission is in the same privacy settings as the microphone permission. You choose the selected camera on the same Devices page in Teams.

Check the output

The permission is working when Teams lists your microphone by name and its level indicator moves while you speak.

• On the Devices page in Teams, speak and watch the microphone level indicator, if your version shows one.
• Where available, use Make a test call to record a short message and hear it played back. Some account types and versions do not offer this option.
• In a live meeting, check that you are not muted and that your input level reacts when you talk.
• Ask another participant whether they can hear you clearly. This tests the whole path through the service.

A working permission does not guarantee good sound. Volume, echo and background noise depend on the microphone, where it sits, the room and the input level in your system sound settings. Teams may offer noise suppression on the Devices page, which you can adjust if your voice cuts out or noise comes through. If the audio sounds distorted, check the microphone's format or sample rate in your system sound settings and try the default value.

Common problems and next steps

Teams is not in the list of apps

On Windows, some Teams versions do not appear in the app list and depend on the desktop apps switch instead. On macOS, Teams usually appears only after it has asked for access once, so start a call or open its Devices page first. If Teams still does not appear, update or reinstall it.

Access is allowed, but Teams finds no microphone

• Reconnect the microphone, or try a different port or cable.
• In your system sound settings, make sure the input device is enabled and not disabled or hidden.
• Close other apps that may have taken exclusive control of the microphone.
• For a Bluetooth headset, make sure it is connected and selected as the input device, not only as speakers.
• Restart Teams, install updates for Teams and your audio drivers, then restart the computer.

Teams detects the microphone, but others cannot hear you

Check whether you are muted in Teams or on the headset. Make sure the right input device is selected, for example the headset rather than a webcam's built-in microphone, and that the system input level is not set too low. In some meetings the organizer has turned off microphones for attendees. In that case your microphone stays unavailable until the organizer allows it.

Settings are greyed out

On managed work or school devices, privacy settings and Teams device policies may be set by your organization. Contact your IT administrator to request access.

If the microphone works in other apps but not in Teams, the problem lies with Teams, so updating, signing out and back in, or reinstalling Teams is the next step. If the microphone fails in every app, look at the hardware, the connection or the audio driver instead.