Microphone not working on Android: how to fix

The microphone on Android is essential to be able to send voice messages, to be able to answer calls and video calls and to be able to launch the voice commands of the Google Assistant or any other compatible assistant (for example Alexa).

There is nothing worse find microphone not working on android phone: suddenly we won’t be able to send any voice messages and our interlocutor on a call won’t hear our voice, making everything very frustrating.

In the following guide we will show you in detail how to fix microphone problems on android phonesfollowing well-tested procedures for most of the problems of a software and hardware nature.

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1) Clean the microphone

The first tip is also the easiest to apply: we clean the microphone holes present on our phone, so as to immediately obtain an improvement in quality and a recovery of correct functioning.

For cleaning the microphone holes we can help ourselves with a smartphone cleaning kit using stickers, pins and accessories designed for free the dirt from the cases and holes present on our smartphone.

If we don’t want to spend money we can clean the holes using a simple toothpicktaking care not to damage the microphone membrane when removing dust and debris.

2) Turn off Bluetooth

If we have connected headphones or earphones to the phone, the microphone of the Bluetooth device may remain active by mistakepreventing the use of the microphone built into the smartphone.

In this case, the easiest method to restore a microphone that is not working on Android is to temporarily disable Bluetooth, so you can use the built-in microphone without problems; before reactivating Bluetooth, identify the device that is still active and turn it off, so as not to have problems in the future.

To deactivate the Bluetooth we open the app Settingswe press on the menu Bluetooth and turn off the switch next to the entry Bluetooth; now just do a test with a voice note or with a call to see if the microphone has started working again.

To learn more, we can read our guide on what to do if bluetooth won’t connect.

3) Check the permissions for the microphone

If the microphone works in some apps but is muted in others the problem could concern the permissions given by Android to some apps; let’s not forget that the latest versions of Android “turn off” the permissions for unused apps, often also turning off the permission to use the microphone.

To check the permissions of the microphone we open the app Settingswe select the menu Privacy protection, Privacy or similar entries, let’s press on permission Microphoneand control which apps can use the microphone.

By default, the microphone should only be accessible when the app is in use, to limit privacy issues; if we notice that one of our favorite apps is inserted in the section Unauthorized we press on it and choose Ask every time o Only allow while the app is in useso that the app can use the microphone again.

On permission management we can read our guide on how authorize application permissions on android.

4) Restart, update and reset your phone

If none of the previous advice worked just try restarting the phonefollowed by a search for new updates for the operating systemhoping that these procedures are sufficient to restore the correct functioning of the microphone.

First of all let’s try to restart the phone by unlocking the screen and holding down the off button until the button appears Restart: press on it and wait for the phone to restart to check that the microphone is working properly. If the mic works again it may be a good idea restart your phone periodically to solve these little problems.

If restarting didn’t work we can try with a search for updates, hoping that one of them is aimed at solving the problems encountered with the microphone. To update Android correctly, we suggest you read our guide on why android won’t update and how to do it.

Microphone on Android still not working? The last resort is a factory resetprocedure to be launched only after having stored personal data online.

To start the Android recovery we open the app Settingswe press on the item Backup and restore or on the voice Factory reset (we can also look for it in the search bar), press on Delete all data and wait for the end of the process to check if the microphone has resumed working correctly.

To learn more, we can read our guide on how format android and reset the phone erasing everything.

5) Dry a phone dropped in water

Android phone fell into water and microphone stopped working after this event? In this case, the advice we can give you is to leave the phone off and in a bowl of rice for at least 24 hours, so as to absorb all the humidity present inside the holes and internal circuits.

If our phone’s microphone is placed near the speaker we can help the hole drying process using an app like Speaker Cleanerwhich we talked about in the guide onapp that dries phone speakers and expel water with sounds.

Still on the same topic, we invite you to read our in-depth analysis on how to save a wet or dropped cell phone.

Conclusions

After all these tips and tricks the Android microphone should work properly again without any hesitationso you can launch your favorite voice commands again or leave voice notes on WhatsApp or other messaging apps.

Also, don’t forget that during a call you may accidentally press the key that deactivates the microphoneto be pressed again to reactivate it.

To test the functionality of the microphone we can also use free apps such as Mic Test e Hardware testthe best ones to understand if the problem with the microphone is hardware or software in nature.

To learn more, we can read our guides to app for testing and verifying hardware on Android smartphones and about how check if everything works on the android smartphone with some apps.