Nobody can hear you on Teams, or your camera won't work

Almost every Teams audio problem is the wrong device selected rather than a broken one. Your computer may have four microphones available — the built-in one, a webcam’s, a headset’s, and a monitor’s — and Teams does not always pick the one you are speaking into.

Do this two minutes before an important meeting

Teams has a built-in test that makes an actual test call:

1. Click your profile picture, top right.
2. Choose Settings › Devices.
3. Click Make a test call.
4. Speak when prompted; it plays your voice back.

If you hear yourself, your setup works. This is worth doing before any meeting that matters, and especially after plugging in anything new.

Nobody can hear you

1. Check you are not muted. Both in Teams — the microphone button in the meeting toolbar — and on the headset itself. Inline mute switches on headset cables are responsible for a remarkable number of these.
2. Check the right microphone is selected. In the meeting, click the … menu, then Settings › Device settings, and choose your headset under Microphone. Watch the level indicator while you speak; if it does not move, the wrong device is selected.
3. Check Windows is not blocking it. Settings › Privacy & security › Microphone — make sure microphone access is on and Teams is permitted.
4. Check the Windows volume mixer. Right-click the speaker icon by the clock, choose Sound settings, then Input, and confirm the correct device is set and its volume is not at zero.
5. Unplug and replug the headset, then reselect it in Teams. USB devices sometimes need reintroducing.
6. Restart Teams completely. Right-click its icon near the clock and choose Quit, then reopen. Closing the window is not enough.

You cannot hear others

• Check the correct speaker is selected in device settings. If audio is going to a monitor you have muted, or a headset in a drawer, you will hear nothing.
• Check the volume — Windows volume, Teams volume, and the headset’s own dial.
• Play a video on YouTube to test whether it is Teams or the whole computer.
• Check the headset is not connected to your phone by Bluetooth instead of your computer. Bluetooth headsets are enthusiastic about reconnecting to the last device.

Camera not working

1. Check the physical shutter. Many Dell laptops have a small sliding cover. This is the answer more often than anything else on this list.
2. Check nothing else is using it. Only one application at a time. Close Zoom, Skype, the Camera app, and any browser tab with a video call open.
3. Check permissions: Settings › Privacy & security › Camera.
4. Check the right camera is selected if you have both a built-in and an external one.
5. Restart Teams, then the computer.
6. Try the Windows Camera app. If it fails there too, the problem is the camera or its driver, not Teams — tell us.

Echo, feedback, and background noise

Echo is nearly always someone using speakers rather than a headset. If the meeting echoes, ask people to mute when not speaking, and use a headset yourself.

Two devices in the same room both unmuted causes a howl. Only one should have audio active.

Background noise — Teams has noise suppression under Settings › Devices › Noise suppression. Set it to High if you are somewhere loud. It works well on keyboard clatter and air conditioning.

Robotic or breaking-up audio is a network problem, not an audio one. See Wi-Fi is weak, slow, or keeps dropping, and use a wired connection if you can.

Screen sharing problems

• Cannot share — on a Mac, this needs a permission granted in system settings. On Windows, restart Teams first.
• Others see a black screen — usually a graphics driver issue. Try sharing a single window instead of the whole desktop.
• Sharing is slow — reduce what is on screen, close other applications, and use a wired connection.
• Sound not shared with a video — tick Include computer sound when you start sharing. It is easy to miss.

Worth knowing

Use a proper headset. A decent USB headset improves how you sound more than any setting. If you are on calls all day, ask us to quote one — it is a small cost for a real difference.

Wired beats wireless for meetings. Both for the network and the headset.

Join early when it matters. Two minutes early gives you time to fix a device selection problem without fifteen people watching.

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Still silent? Call 440-991-9980 or email [email protected]. If it is happening right before a meeting, phone us — device problems are usually a two-minute fix once we can see the screen.