Fix: Steam voice chat not working

Some Steam users have reached us after suddenly losing the ability to use the voice chat function. After investigating the issue thoroughly, we managed to identify a few common scenarios that will cause this kind of issue:

• The current Steam account is actively being used on a different computer.
• The built-in Windows Audio Enhancements feature is glitching the microphone.

If you’re currently struggling with this particular issue, the following fixes will most likely help you regain the voice chat functionality in Steam. All the methods presented below are confirmed to be working by users encountering the same problem such as you. Please follow each potential fix in order until you encounter a fix that resolves your situation.

Method 1: Making sure you’re using the right microphone

Before you dive into one of the other potential fixes that are a little more technical, let’s get the obvious things out of the way. Therefore, we will be making sure that we have selected the appropriate microphone as the default one so Steam uses it instead of any other device connected to the computer. For that:

1. Right-click on the “Sound” icon on the lower right side of the screen and select “Open Sound Settings”.

   

2. Now, click on the “Sound Control Panel” option under the “Related Settings” tab.
3. Select the “Recording” tab and click on the microphone that you want to use.

   

4. Click on the “Set Default” button.
5. Check to see if the issue persists.
6. If the issue does persist, we will now be setting the default devices in Steam as well.
7. So to do that, open up steam and click on the “Friends” tab.
8. Click on the “View Friends List” button and then click on the “Cog Wheel” in the Friends List window.

   

9. Click on “Voice” and then select the “Voice Input Device” dropdown.
10. Click on your Selected Microphone from the list and close this window.

    

11. Check to see if the issue persists.

Method 2: Sign out of Steam from other computers

Some users have reported being able to resolve the issue after realizing that the Steam account was actively being used on a different computer. In this case, the solution was to sign out of the other computer.

Upon doing this, most users have reported that they instantly regain their voice chat function on their Steam accounts. Think long and hard if there’s any chance that your account is being used on a different computer. And if it is, sign off on it to regain the voice chat feature.

Note: If you don’t have access to the PC that is using your account, changing the password will automatically disconnect the account from the other PC.

If this method hasn’t resolved your issue or wasn’t applicable to your situation, proceed to the method below.

Method 3: Turning Off audio enhancements

If the first method wasn’t effective (or not applicable), let’s see if the issue is caused by the built-in Windows Audio Enhancement features. A lot of users have reported fixing the issue after managing to disable audio enhancements.

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

1. Right-click on the “Sound” icon on the lower right side of the screen and select “Open Sound Settings”.

   

2. Now, select the “Sound Control Panel” option under the “Related Settings” tab.
3. After that, click on the “Playback” tab and then right-click on your output device.
4. Select “Properties” and then click on the “Enhancements” tab.
5. Check the “Disable all Enhancements” button and save your changes.

   

6. Check to see if the issue persists.

Method 4: Changing Privacy Settings

In certain cases, the privacy settings might have been changed during an update due to which this issue might be triggered. Therefore, in this step, we will be changing some privacy settings to allow our microphone to communicate with the application. For that:

1. Press “Windows” + “I” to open the settings.
2. Click on the “Privacy” option and then select “Microphone” from the left tab.
3. Click on the “Allow Apps to Access Microphone” toggle to allow the use of the microphone.

   

4. Also, make sure that all the important applications underneath it also have their toggles turned on which allow access to the microphone.

Method 5: Allowing Steam to Record Microphone

In certain cases, Steam might not actually be allowed by its own configurations to record your microphone. Therefore, in this step, we will be changing some of Steam’s configurations which will allow the application to record your Microphone. For that:

1. Launch the Steam application and sign in to your account.
2. Click on the “Steam” option on the top right and select “Settings” from the list.

   

3. Click on the “Broadcasting” tab from the right and then check the “Record my Microphone” option.

   

4. Click on “OK” and check to see if the issue persists.

Workaround: Some users found that instead of chatting solo, starting a Groupchat fixed the issue for them so it is a good idea to give that a go if you have a couple of friends online.