The Xbox mic not working is a frustrating issue, but it’s easy to fix. Either on the Xbox One or the Xbox Series, it’s a matter of setting the proper configuration.
You connected a headset, kinect built-in mic, or external mic to the console and tried to chat with your friends. However, they can’t hear you, even though you can listen to them.
Assuming your hardware is okay, you can get your devices back to normal. Moreover, the steps are the same for the Xbox One, or the Xbox Series, as both models have the same interface.
Why Is My Xbox Mic Not Working
Xbox mic problems present distorted, muted, or limited audio. Often, your teammates can’t hear you, or only select teammates can listen to you.
Also, mic burgs may prevent games from registering phrases if the game relies on voice commands. Similarly, you wouldn’t use Cortana commands with the console.
Frequently, the causes rely on wrong configurations. However, if you’re dealing with hardware damage, there’s not much else you can do.
- Random System Bug: Your console or peripheral may encounter random bugs. A system refresh may do the trick.
- Broken Hardware: Physical damage on the mic may cause the failure. Malfunctions can range from slight glitches to serious failures.
- You’re Muted: Often, you muted your mic, or your teammates muted your chat. In other words, you’d have to raise the volume.
- Wrong Account: If you have various controllers, your Xbox profile may be assigned to a different one, so your peripheral won’t receive your audio input.
- Restricted Configurations: Your Xbox may have privacy settings restricting chat audio. It’s the most common issue when party chat is not working.
- Parental Settings: Similarly, child accounts or parental settings may block voice chat.
- Slow Internet: Your broadband connection quality influences your mic’s functionality. There’re ways to make the connection more stable, though.
- Server Issues: The Xbox Live servers could be down for maintenance at any moment. You’d have to check the server status to see if it’s working.
Test the Microphone
Before we go on, you should test your mic and see if it’s working:
- Press the Xbox button on your controller
- Go to Parties & chats (the upper chat icon)
- Select Start a Party to see the mic options
- Test the microphone by talking. You should see a ring showing the console can hear your voice.
If it works, it means you have wrong configurations. Otherwise, you have a hardware problem, meaning the peripheral has damage.
You can also try testing your mic or headset on other devices. We’re working under the assumption that your mic is OKAY, so please plug it on your computer and see if it works.
That said, there’re various kinds of mics you can use with the Xbox:
- You can plug a USB mic into a USB port on the console.
- You can plug a 3.5mm headset on the Xbox Series controller, or newer Xbox One controllers.
- You can plug a USB Type-C headset on the Series peripheral.
- You can use an Xbox One Stereo Headset Adapter on your Xbox One controller and plug a 3.5mm headset on the extension.
- You can use a wireless headset on the Xbox One or Xbox Series. Microsoft sells a wireless headset for their consoles.
- You can use the built-in Kinect mic. However, the Kinect is no longer available
How to Fix Xbox Mic Not Working
You can try our solutions one by one until you find the one that works for you. These revolve around tweaking configurations on the Xbox’s UI.
You can check our companion guide on Xbox Party Chat Not Working. We’re sharing more specific solutions this time around.
Set Up the Account to Your Controller
The most logical solution is linking your account to your controller. It will sync your peripheral with the audio, therefore fixing your Xbox mic not working.
- Press the controller’s Xbox button
- Go to Profile & system
- Go to Settings
- Go to Devices & connections
- On the right panel, go to Accessories
- Go to the three dots icon
- There’s an “Assigned to” tab. Press on it to sync the mic to your Xbox profile
- Equally, select your account on “This controller signs in”
Set Up Your Privacy Settings
The next step is fixing the privacy setting. You wouldn’t be able to do it if you’re using a child account, though.
Anyhow, here’re the steps:
- Press the controller’s Xbox button
- Go to Profile & system
- Go to Settings
- Click Account
- Click on Privacy & online safety
- Click on View details & customize
- Go to Communication & Multiplayer
- Go to Communicate with voice and text, and select Friends or Everybody
- On “Others can communicate with voice, text, or invites,” select Everybody or Friends
- On “You can communicate outside of Xbox Live with voice & text,” select Everybody or Friends
- Allow your user to join multiplayer games
- Allow your user to join games outside of Xbox Live
- Allow Everybody or Friends to communicate with voice, text, or invite
- Allow Everybody or Friends to communicate outside of Xbox Live with voice & text
Allow Chat Communication Through Parental Controls
If you’re using a child account, you won’t be able to fix the privacy settings.
The Parent account would have to log in to the console and tweak the privacy settings I explained below.
If you’re a concerned parent, here’s a comprehensive video on the parental controls available on the console:
Adjust Your Mic’s Volume
Next, you should check your mic’s volume:
- Press the Xbox button on your controller
- Go to the speaker symbol at the top to enter Audio and Music settings
- Ensure the mic or headset is “On”
- Adjust the volume
There’re three sliders for the volume. Headset Volume dictates the overall sound. Chat Mixer is how high you’d hear your party chat compared to the game. Lastly, Mic Monitoring is the volume of your mic.
Similarly, there’s an additional Chat Mixer menu to verify the mic’s sound settings further:
- Press your controller’s Xbox button
- Go to Profile & system
- Go to Settings
- Go to General
- Go to Volume & audio output
- On Party chat output, select headset & speakers
- On Headset format, select Windows Sonic
- Go to Chat mixer
Here’re, you’ll find options to tweak the volume. We recommend “Reducing the volume of other sounds by 50%.” Please, make sure the default choice is not “Mute all other sounds to eliminate game noise.”
Also, most gaming headsets have a mute button, plus a LED light when you activate the button. Make sure you have not activated its mute option.
Adjust the Party Volume Settings
Next up, you should fix the party chat volume:
- Press your controller’s Xbox button
- Go to Parties & chats
- Select the party
- Expand the party’s rooster
- Choose each party member and verify their volume sliders
- Move the volume sliders if you need to
Additionally, you can check if others have muted you or if you have muted others:
- Go back to Parties & chats
- Expand the party
- Choose a party member
- Select Unmute if the option is available
Update Your Controller and Your Console
You have to sign in to Xbox Live to update the firmware.
- Press the Xbox button on your controller
- Go to Profile & system
- Go to Settings
- Go to Devices and accessories
- Select your controller
- Select Update (if available, it will display an “Update required” button)
- Select Continue
- Wait for the process to finish and press Close
Then, to update your Xbox One or Xbox Series, here’re the steps:
- Press the Xbox button on your controller
- Go to Profile & system
- Select Settings
- Select System > Updates
- Update console (if available)
Re-pair and Re-calibrate Your Kinect
If you’re using Kinect gear for party chat and it’s not working, it may be off. Here’s what you can do:
- Unplug and plug Kinect again
- Press the Xbox button to open the guide
- Go to Profile & System
- Go to Settings
- Go to Devices & Connections
- Select Kinect
- Enable Kinect’s mic
- Choose Kinect doesn’t hear me
- Follow the guide to recalibrate the gear
Improve Your Internet Connection
Other than changing your internet plan or ISP, there’re a couple of tweaks you can do to make the connection more stable on the Xbox.
These are:
Here’re the steps:
- Press the Xbox button on the controller
- Go to Profile & system
- Select Settings
- Go to General
- Select Network settings
- Select Advanced settings
- Write down your connection data (IP Address, Subnet Mask, Gateway Address). You’ll use the data later, so don’t lose it.
- On the left, go to IP settings
- Select Manual
- Enter the same IP Address you wrote down, but add 50 or 100 to the last digit. For instance, if the address is 196.161.0.5, the end result would be 196.161.0.105
- Press enter and type the same Subnet Mask
- Press enter and type the same Gateway number
- Go back to Advanced settings
- Enter DNS settings
- Add a public DNS
- Press Enter
- Test your connection
The two public DNS addresses we recommend are:
Power Cycle the Console
Power cycling the console helps erase random bugs between the console and the peripherals:
Press and hold the Xbox button at the front of the console for 10 seconds. It shuts down the console completely.
- Unplug all of its cables for 20 minutes. It will reset and cool off the power supply.
- Press and hold the power button for 10 seconds to drain renaming power.
- Plug back all of its cables
- Turn on the console, and test your mic
Check the Xbox Live Server Status
Lastly, you should check the status of Xbox servers. Simply access their official page to see if it’s working properly.
