Check them in this order
There are four layers between your voice and a web page, and any one of them can block it. Going in order saves you from reinstalling drivers when the real problem was a click you made three weeks ago.
1. This site's permission
Click the icon at the far left of your browser's address bar — a padlock, a slider, or an ⓘ depending on the browser. Find Microphone and set it to Allow, then reload the page.
If you dismissed or denied the permission prompt at some point, the browser remembers and never asks again. That's the single most common cause, and it looks identical to a broken microphone.
2. The browser's global setting
In Chrome: Settings → Privacy and security → Site settings → Microphone. Check the site isn't on the blocked list, and that the default isn't set to block. Safari keeps this under Settings → Websites → Microphone; Firefox under Settings → Privacy & Security → Permissions.
While you're there, check which input device is selected. If a headset was plugged in when you last used the mic, the browser may still be listening to a device that isn't there.
3. The operating system's permission
This one catches people out, because everything inside the browser looks correct. Your OS has its own microphone permission sitting above the browser entirely.
- Windows:Settings → Privacy & security → Microphone. Make sure microphone access is on, and that your browser appears in the allowed list.
- macOS:System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone, and confirm your browser is ticked.
- iPhone/iPad: Settings → Safari (or Chrome) → Microphone.
- Android: Settings → Apps → your browser → Permissions → Microphone.
On macOS in particular, you may need to quit and reopen the browser completely after granting this — a reload isn't always enough.
4. The hardware
If the first three are clear, test the mic somewhere outside the browser — a voice recorder app, or a video call. If it fails there too, it's the device or its drivers, not the web page.
- Check nothing is muted, including a physical switch on a headset
- Unplug and reconnect an external mic; try a different port
- Restart — genuinely does clear stuck audio devices
The one that fools everyone
If you arrived by tapping a link inside Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or LINE, the page opened in that app's built-in browser, which blocks microphone access — usually with no prompt and no error at all. No amount of permission-fixing helps, because the block is in the app.
Open the page in Safari or Chrome instead. There's more detail on that particular trap on our page about in-app browsers, linked below.
On a managed device?
School and workplace computers can have microphone access disabled by an administrator. If no permission prompt ever appears, in any browser, and the settings above are greyed out, that's the likely cause and it can only be changed by whoever manages the device.
Now test it
Hit record above and say a few words, then play it back. If you can hear yourself clearly, it's working — and you've got a shareable link out of it if you want one.
Good to know
- Recordings can be up to 2 minutes.
- Links expire automatically after 30 days.
- Links are unlisted, not private — anyone you send it to can listen, and can pass it on.
- You can delete a recording yourself at any time from the player page.
- This records new audio in your browser. It doesn't accept uploads of existing files.