Fix: Apex Legends Mic not Working

Several users are reporting that their PC microphone is not working while they try to play Apex Legends. The weird thing is, the same microphone works normally on every other game and on Discord. Most affected users report that if they try to test the microphone, it works from the Settings menu, but not in the game.

Note: This article is not applicable if you’re having microphone issues with multiple games or system-wide problems. In this case, follow these articles (here & here).

What is causing the Microphone issue with Apex Legends?

We investigated this particular issue by looking at various user reports and the repair strategies that affected users around the world have been using to fix the problem. Based on what we gathered, there are several potential culprits that might end up triggering the issue:

If you’re currently struggling to resolve this particular issue, this article will provide you with a couple of repair strategies that users in a similar situation have used to get the issue resolved.

Method 1: Running the Recording Audio troubleshooter

Several affected users have reported that the issue was no longer occurring after running the Recording Audio Troubleshooter on Windows 10. But even if you don’t have Windows 10, you can also replicate the steps below on Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.

Here’s a quick guide on running the Recording Audio troubleshooter:

1. Press Windows key + R to open up a Run dialog box. Then, type “ms-settings:troubleshoot” and press Enter to open up the Troubleshooting tab of the Settings app.

   

   Note: If you’re on Windows 8.1 or lower, use this command instead: control.exe /name Microsoft.Troubleshooting

2. Inside the Troubleshooting tab, scroll down to the Find and Fix other problems tab, click on Recording Audio and click on Run the troubleshooter.

   

3. Select the device that you’re having trouble with, then hit Next to begin the troubleshooting process.

   

4. Follow the on-screen prompts to investigate and apply the recommended repair strategies.
5. Once the process is complete, restart your computer and see if the issue has been resolved at the next startup.

If you’re still unable to use your microphone while playing Apex Legends, move down to the next method below.

Method 2: Ensuring that mic is set as default in Windows settings

Some users have been able to resolve the issue after discovering that the microphone that they were trying to use when playing Apex Legends was not set as the default inside Windows settings. Most users encountering this issue have managed to get the issue resolved by visiting the Sound settings menu and ensuring that the Input device is set to the device that they are actively using.

Here’s a quick guide on how to do this:

1. Press Windows key + R to open up a Run dialog box. Then, type “ms-settings:sound” and press Enter to open up the Sound menu of the Settings app.
2. Inside the Sound menu, scroll down to the Input tab and change the drop-down menu associated with the Input device to the microphone that you’re actively using.
3. While you’re here, test if the mic is operating normally under windows by speaking something into it. If the slider under Test your microphone is operating normally, it means that your mic is correctly configured.
4. Launch the game and see if you are now able to use your mic when playing Apex Legends.

If you’re still having the same error message, move down to the next method below.

Method 3: Configuring Origin Voice to Push-to-Talk

Other affected users have reported that they managed to resolve the issue after forcing the Origin launcher to use push-to-talk. While this fix worked immediately for some users, others had to do the same thing from the Apex Legends game also.

Here’s a quick guide on how to do this:

1. Open the Origin launcher.
2. Use the ribbon bar at the top of the application window to select Origin > Application settings.
3. Inside the settings menu, expand the More tab and choose Voice from the list.
4. First off, start by ensuring that the microphone that you’re using is correctly selected from under Device settings.
5. Then, make your way down to Voice activation settings and use the drop-down menu associated with Activation Mode and change it to Push-to-talk.

Once these modifications have been made, launch the game and see if you’re now able to use the microphone when playing Apex Legends. If you still experience the issue, click on the gear icon (bottom-right corner) while in the main menu of the game and go to Settings > Audio and set the Voice Chat Record Mode to Push to Talk.

If you’re still unable to use your microphone when playing Apex Legends but it’s operating just fine in other applications, move down to the next potential fix below.

Method 4: Uninstalling VoiceMode

As it turns out, there are several voice-related applications that will conflict with the microphone feature in Apex Legends.  There are several voice changers & modulators that are known to conflict with Apex Legends, but VoiceMode is the most commonly reported one.

This is likely an incompatibility that will get patched as the game receives more hotfixes, but as of now, the only way to address this conflict is to uninstall the application that is creating the problem.

Here’s a quick guide on how to do this:

1. Press Windows key + R to open up a Run dialog box. Then, type “appwiz.cpl” and press Enter to open up Programs and Features.

   

2. Inside the Programs and Files window, scroll down through the list of applications until you discover the voice changing app / modulator that you think might be causing the conflict.
3. Once you find it, right-click on it and choose Uninstall to remove it from your system.
4. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation procedure, then restart your computer.
5. At the next system startup, launch Apex Legends again and see if the issue has been resolved.

If you’re still encountering the issue, move down to the next method below.

Method 5: Using a different USB port (if applicable)

If you’re using a USB-connected mic, you might be able to resolve the issue by simply connecting the mic to a different USB port and restarting the game. Several affected users have reportedly done this successfully and most of them said that they had no issues ever since.

So, in case you’re using a microphone that connects through USB, change the port it’s connected to and see if the issue gets resolved. Also, if you have both USB 2.0 ports and USB 3.0 ports, downgrade or upgrade (based on your scenario).

Once the USB port has been changed, restart the game and see if the issue has been resolved.

Method 6: Lowering the mic threshold (if applicable)

For some users, the reason that was making their microphone to fail to work in Apex Legends was the fact that its threshold was set way to high in the Settings menu. Some affected users reported that the mic was only working in situations where they shouted.

If this scenario is applicable to you, you will be able to resolve the issue by modifying the microphone threshold from the Settings menu. But keep in mind that this option is only available if you’re using Voice Activation instead of Push to Talk. Here’s a quick guide on adjusting the Microphone sensitivity from Origin so that it gets picked up in Apex Legends:

1. Open the Origins Launcher.
2. Use the ribbon bar at the very top to click on Origin, then select Application Settings.
3. Inside the Application settings, click on the More tab, then choose Voice.
4. Scroll down to Voice activation settings and bring the Microphone sensitivity slider closer to the right. But bee advised that if you raise the level too far, all your sounds will be picked up including all your keystrokes.
   Note: This is a question of fine-tuning, so feel free to come back and adjust this slider after testing it in the game until you reach a level that you’re comfortable with.
5. Once the Microphone Sensitivity slider has been adjusted, launch Apex Legends and see if your microphone is now working.

   

If you’re still having issues with your microphone when playing Apex Legends, move down to the next method below.

Method 7: Adjusting the Microphone Privacy settings

As it turns out, this particular issue can also be caused by a microphone Privacy setting on Windows 10. This might up preventing Apex Legends from accessing the microphone feature.  Fortunately, you can rectify the issue quite easily by visiting the Privacy menu and configuring the app to Allow apps to access your Microphone.

Here’s a quick guide on how to do this:

1. Press Windows key + I to open up the Settings app on Windows 10.
2. From the home menu, scroll down through the list of categories and click on Privacy.
3. Next, use the left-hand panel to scroll down to App permissions, then select Microphone from the list.
4. Now, move over to the right-hand pane and start by ensuring that the toggle associated with Allow apps to access your microphone is enabled.
5. Then, scroll down to the list of applications and make sure that the Origin app is allowed to access your mic.
6. If any modifications have been made, restart your computer and see if the issue has been resolved at the next startup.