How to turn on the microphone on the laptop: how to connect an external microphone

Too many laptop users use them to communicate on the Internet. In this case, you can not do without a microphone. After all, it is he who allows you to fully communicate and record messages. But sometimes a situation arises when the device is unavailable. What to do?

How to turn on the microphone on a laptop

To turn on the microphone built into the laptop, you need to perform just a couple of simple manipulations. Follows recommendations:

1. Look at the right side of the PC panel, where the clock with the date of the network icon and the language panel are usually located.
2. Right-click on the sound icon and select Recording Devices.
3. In the new window, find the “Recording” section and select “Microphone”. Click Properties.
4. The General tab will open, where you need to go to the "Application of the device" and activate it.
5. Upon completion of all actions click "OK".

This method will help to quickly turn on the device, provided that all the settings in the Windows computer are correct, and the user just accidentally turned it off.

Reference! It is important to understand that any device on a laptop works with a driver. Before turning on the microphone, make sure that the driver has been installed.

If you log into Skype and the microphone does not work, you can try turning it on right from the program. Go to the program settings and click on the "Sound and video". There you can not only start the device, but also choose the degree of its sensitivity.

How to connect an external microphone

In many laptops, the microphone quality is poor. To provide good sound, users buy external devices. Usually it’s enough to connect to a computer, and the system automatically configures them. But if something went wrong, pay attention to the following nuances:

1. Click the speaker in the lower right pane and go to the Recording section. After connecting an external device, there may be not one, but several microphones. In this case, the system gives the prerogative to the internal rather than the external device.
2. To correct the situation, you must disconnect the first device. Click “Microphone” - “Properties”. Deactivate the equipment in the item "Use of the device"

Attention! For the changes to take effect, click the “OK” button at the end of all manipulations.

If the microphone is located in the headphones, to connect it you just need to connect them to the laptop. Make sure that the volume control is turned on to maximum on both the computer and the headphones themselves.

What to do if the microphone does not work

If you are sure that everything was done correctly, and the equipment is not working, there may have been some kind of system malfunction in Windows. You can find them like this:

1. Go to the "Control Panel" - "Equipment and Sound."
2. Select "Troubleshooting."
3. The system will start to search for an error on its own, you just have to choose one or another option from the proposed ones.
4. After the computer independently analyzes and finds a problem, it will offer solutions. A window will appear on the screen where you need to click the “Apply correction” button.

Upon completion of the automatic correction, you need to check the result.

Important! There are special programs for turning on the microphone and expanding settings, for example, “Realtek Dispatcher”. They provide maximum sound enhancement options. You can choose the volume of the device depending on its distance from the user, use the noise reduction function and more.

If the automatic fix did not help, check the availability and serviceability of the driver. It is done like this:

1. “Control Panel” - “Device Manager”.
2. In the list of equipment that opens, pay attention to "Cameras" and "Sound and video devices."
3. Make sure that there are no warning icons in front of all the names (yellow triangle with an exclamation mark). If it is, it means, most likely, a problem with the driver.
4. Right-click on the damaged device and select “Update Driver”.

Typically, drivers are updated automatically. But sometimes you have to do it manually on the sites of the manufacturer of the laptop or sound card. After a manual update, be sure to reboot the system.

If you are sure that you did everything right, and the microphone did not turn on, it may be malfunctioning. Then you need to give the PC for diagnosis to a specialist in a service center.