Windows 10: Microphone picks up computer sound

I have recently had a problem where my microphone will take output sounds of my computer such as music or videos and games even when my microphone is not turned on. This seemed to be happening ever since I got my headphones plugged in as I recently built a new computer and bought these headphones at the same time. It has become fairly annoying since I like to play with my friends but when they can hear my game sound it ruins the experience so I often mute myself or have push to talk enabled to avoid them constantly hearing double of the game. I had found a fix and so for a few days was able to enjoy what I had thought was just the fruits of my 'new hardware configuration' phase but it came back and I was at a loss at how to fix it again since what I had done previously did not work a second time. For now I have resorted to the tedious 'reinstall the driver' fix which requires a restart every time I do so. I have done all the basic fixes such: reinstalling drivers, messing with settings and sensitivity etc and disabled stereo mix and made sure that "listen to this device" was not enabled. I have also tried changing settings of the program I use to talk to friends, Discord, and have had no luck. I can see that at certain points of videos my microphone, even when off, will pick up sounds from the video and I am not sure if it is related to volume level or certain pitch/frequencies but I have tried to mess around with both. I am not using any special sound card or program to alter my mic and I have tried also plugging my headset (input and output) into the back ports however the problem persisted and the only noticeable change was the sound quality got quieter/worse. Since it is one device for both I cannot plug one into the front and the other in the back etc.


Any recommendations I will happily try since I have just about tried everything so far. I am also using the version 1809 of windows and have used nothing else on this computer since it was new and thus a fresh install.


Thanks in advance,

Jude

:)

 

Microphone issues

Hi Michael,

Here are the possible reasons why you're getting an error "The microphone did not pick anything up" when using it:

• Incorrect settings (microphone is not set as default device)
  
• Corrupted or outdated driver
  
• Faulty device
  

For us to isolate the issue, we'd like to know the following:

• Were there any changes made to your computer prior to this issue(e.g. Windows updates)?
  
• Have you tried connecting other microphone to your computer?
  
• Have you tried connecting the microphone to the other computer?
  

In the meantime, we suggest running the Recording Audio Troubleshooter to find and repair problems with recording sound. We also suggest checking if your microphone is set as your default recording device. For troubleshooting steps, please see
Geethu B's on this
link.

We're looking forward to your reply.

 

Microphone still unable to pick up sound from Dragon Speech

Not a techie at all sorry but follow your general drift which is interesting. I've now got a mike input (USB Pro Sound) but how do you make the connection to the headphone output as there's two separate wires ?

 

Microphone is picking up the laptop's sounds.

Hello,

Thank you for posting your concern here in Microsoft Community and welcome to the Windows 10.

I understand your concern about using Microphone as expected on Windows 10, we will assist you with this issue.

I would suggest you to follow the below methods and check if it helps.

Method 1:

• 
  Right click on the sound icon in the taskbar and select the
  Recording Devices menu.
  
• 
  In the Recording
  tab of Sounds window, you will notice the microphone which is active, i.e. the one with a green tick mark. Right click on the active microphone and select its
  Properties.
  
• 
  Select the Levels Tab. This tab exhibits you two sections:
  Microphone andMicrophone Boost.
  
• 
  Use the sliders to modify your volume settings. You can take the Microphone Boost slider up to +40 dB. To save the changes click on Ok.
  

If you do the modification while the conversation goes on then you will get the immediate feedback of the output sound from the end user and so you can adjust the volume using the sliders as per requirement.

Method 2:

• 
  Right click on Start to open the Power User Menu.
  
• 
  Click on Control panel and then on
  Sound.
  
• 
  Click on the Communication tab in the sound window. You will see four options under
  When Windows detects Communication activities.
  
• 
  Click on the radio button next to
  Do nothing. Click on Apply and then
  OK. You might need to restart the computer to implement the changes.
  

Hope it helps. If you need further assistance, please do let us know and we would be happy to help you further.