Microphone test

Speak into the microphone and watch the input level respond in real time.

Nothing is recorded

This test reads only how loud the incoming sound is and draws it as bars. No audio is stored and none is uploaded. Turn the microphone off when you're done, or leave the page — the connection is released either way.

Before you start

Check that the microphone you want to test is the selected input. Plugging in a headset switches it.
Make sure the microphone isn't muted in your system settings.
Playing sound through speakers while testing feeds back into the meter. A quiet room works best.

Input level check

Speak and the bars rise. Give it a few words.

Video and audio stay in your browser and are never uploaded.

Live level

Allow the permission and the bars start moving here.

Results stay on this screen and are not saved.

Not sure what the result means?Microphone not working — when only they cannot hear you

What to look for

Response. The bars should rise when you speak and fall when you stop.
Noise floor. Bars that stay up in silence mean noise is leaking in.
Dropouts. If they collapse mid-sentence and come back, the input is cutting out.
Both mics. On a device with two, speak to each side and compare the response.

If the bars never move

Click the icon left of the address bar and confirm the microphone permission is Allow.
In your sound settings, check the input device and that its level isn't at zero.
Close any video-call app. It may be holding the microphone.
Check for a mic-mute function key on the device.

Before you decide on a return

Moving bars don't mean the sound is clean. To judge quality, record a few seconds in any voice recorder and listen back. Hiss, muffling, and missing frequencies only show up that way. ReturnCheck can't score how good it sounds. All it does is help you keep arecord of what you heard.

Checking a whole machine?

Run every browser check in one flow instead of opening them one at a time.

Start the full check

Keep going with another checkSpeaker test