How do i turn on a microphone on my computer - Dell OptiPlex GX260 PC Desktop

In the Settings app, click Privacy & Security (in Windows 11) or Privacy (in Windows 10). Under App Permissions, click Microphone, and make sure Microphone access is turned on. In Windows 10, select Change, and then turn on Allow apps to access your microphone. Choose which apps have access to the microphone

First, did you plug in the microphone when the computer was off or not? If you connected the microphone while the computer was on, it may not have seen the new device to load the drivers. If the computer found the microphone when it was turned on, then the problem could be driver or hardware related.

You need to make sure that the computer is seeing this as the recording device. Click Start and select Control Panel from the right hand column. Click on the Hardware and Sound link. Select the Manage Audio Devices link under Sound. Click on the Recording tab. Is the microphone listed as plugged in? If it isn't, then the microphone isn't making good contact with the jack, has a bad wire or the jack isn't working. If you have another computer, check if the microphone works on it. That will rule out the microphone being faulty. Next go back to the starting Hardware and Sound Control Panel. Look for the link to the Device Manager under Devices. Expand the section for audio inputs and outputs. Check for a red triangle with an x or yellow triangle with an exclamation point. This indicates a problem with the audio drivers. Check with Toshiba for the audio drivers for your computer and the current service pack for Vista. You may need to uninstall the current driver and then reinstall that driver. A final option may be to check if the external audio input was disabled in the BIOS. When you turn on the computer, you should see a screen that tells you how to access the BIOS. (Usually this is F1, Esc, Del or F2). I find pressing the appropriate key repeatedly after turning on the computer doesn't always work. If you get to the Windows splash screen, turn off the computer at the login screen and try again.

If the microphone is plugged in, set it as the default device. You should be able to record with your software.

If the microphone still doesn't work with this computer and does work with another machine, you will probably be better off using a USB microphone or a USB audio adapter (USB to 3.5 mm microphone and speaker jacks). The wiring of the jack is probably faulty and it's not worth the effort to repair.

I hope this helps.

Cindy Wells

Look for a 3.5 mm microphone port on the computer. Usually the port on the back of the desktop will have a pink surround. (There will be other ports there; the usual minimum are the green port for speakers and blue one for line-in.) Put the 3.5 mm jack on the end of the cord on the microphone into the port. If you have an add-in sound card, use the microphone port on the sound card.

Some machines will also have a front panel microphone port. This will have a small mike icon next to the port.

Next you need to ensure that the audio device is set to Microphone. For Windows systems (Vista/7/8), enter the Control Panel and go to the Hardware and Sound panel. Click on Manage Audio Devices under Sound. Then click on the Recording tab. Check if the microphone listed as plugged in. Make this the default recording device. (XP has a slightly different name for the panel.) For XP through Windows 7, click on the start button and then find the Control Panel listed on the right. For Windows 8, from the desktop, press the Ctrl and X keys at the same time. Then find the Control Panel in the list. (Alternatively, activate the Charms menu, Ctrl+C or hover on the upper right of the screen. Move down and click on the gear (Settings). Then select the Control Panel.)

If the computer doesn't indicate that the microphone is plugged in, make sure that the 3.5 mm plug is in the correct port. Next try the microphone on another computer. The audio card port could be damaged or the microphone cable could be faulty. If the microphone works on another computer, you can try a USB audio adapter (StarTech ICUSBAUDIO or similar) or a new sound card. (Note: some older sound cards do not work properly on newer versions of Windows. If you have a sound card installed and the motherboard has an on-board audio device, remove the sound card. Enable the on-board audio in the computer's BIOS. Install the appropriate audio drivers. Try that audio device. Accessing the BIOS will depend on computer. Often you can press Esc, F1, F2, F10 or Delete repeatedly after you turn on the computer. If Windows starts to boot, turn off the system and try again.) If another computer doesn't recognize the microphone, I'd recommend a new microphone. Fixing the cable isn't worth the effort.

I hope this helps.

Cindy Wells

We really need more specific information to answer your question, like what kind of computer and operating system. But in the most general terms, make sure you are plugging your microphone into the microphone port and not the headphone port. Check that the volume setting is turned up and not muted. You might also have to turn the microphone on through the sound settings (usually found by right-click on the volume).

check in windows sound settings to make sure that the microphone is turned up and not muted

1 . Turn your computer on. Be sure that the speakers on your computer are turned on as well.

2 . Attach the adapter to the microphone cable, if it has not been done already.

3 . Find your computer's microphone input. On most PCs, there will be an area in back of the tower with red, blue and green plug-in ports. The red port is the one for microphones.

4 . Plug the microphone cable into the red port. If you see ports that are labeled "line-in" and "mic-in," be sure to plug the microphone into the port that says "mic-in."

5 . Double-click the small speaker icon on your computer to open up the mixer. Make sure the microphone column is not muted and adjust your volume until you are satisfied.

Hope the above information will be helpful to you.
Thanks for using Fixya.

ADD DRIVERS FOR THE CARD GO TO CONTROL PANEL RUN TEST!!!

try to test your microphone settings in the control pannel and perform sound test in skype.

how to turn off laptop microphone (acer)

i know this might sound a little obvious and maybe irrelevant to the problem, but did you press the switch on the mic? it will turn the mic on and off. make sure sound and mic are unmuted in windows volume control. if both are these didnt solve the problem, test the mic on another computer. if the mic works, maybe its not the mic that has the problem. if the mic doesnt work, then your mic may be defective or damaged in some way or other.