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How to Unmute Your Microphone After Being Muted in Discord

Discord is a popular voice and text chat app used by over 150 million monthly active users. It’s commonly used for gaming communications, but also serves as a platform for all kinds of communities and friend groups.

If you use Discord’s voice chat features, you may have accidentally muted your microphone at some point. Or perhaps someone else muted you. Either way, not being able to speak in voice channels can be frustrating.

Fortunately, unmuting your microphone in Discord is usually very simple. This guide will cover common reasons your microphone may be muted and walk you through the steps to unmute it.

Why Your Microphone Might Be Muted

Here are some of the most common reasons your microphone could be muted in Discord:

  • You muted yourself – The most obvious reason is you accidentally toggled your mute hotkey or clicked the mute icon, which mutes your mic.
  • Server mute – A server admin or moderator muted you, preventing you from transmitting audio.
  • Incorrect input device – Your intended microphone isn’t set as the input device in Discord.
  • Permissions issue – Discord doesn’t have permission to access your microphone in your operating system.

Let’s go through each scenario and how to address it.

You Muted Yourself

Muting yourself in Discord is straightforward – just click the microphone icon or use the assigned hotkey.

To unmute:

  • Click the red muted microphone icon in the bottom left
  • Or press your mute hotkey again (usually F8, but can vary)

This will instantly unmute you if no other mutes are active.

You’re Muted by a Server

Server admins and mods can server mute individuals. This prevents you transmitting audio to that server, even if your mic works elsewhere.

To get unmuted:

  • Right click your name in the user list
  • Click “Server Mute” to uncheck it
  • Ask a server admin or mod to unmute you

After server mute is disabled, your mic should work again in that server.

Wrong Microphone Device Set in Discord

If Discord has the wrong mic set as the input device, your intended microphone’s audio won’t be transmitted.

To change input device:

  1. Click the gear icon bottom left
  2. Go to Voice & Video
  3. Under Input Device, select your microphone

Now Discord will use the mic you want.

Microphone Permissions Issue

For privacy reasons, apps need your permission to access your microphone. If you haven’t allowed Discord access, your mic will seem broken.

To fix permissions:

  • Windows: Go to Start > Settings > Privacy > Microphone and allow Discord
  • MacOS: System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Microphone and check Discord

Granting permission should make your microphone start working.

Advanced Issues

For less common issues like audio drivers, here are some additional things to try:

  • Update your audio drivers
  • Reset voice settings in Discord
  • Run Discord as Administrator
  • Reinstall or repair Discord

If none of the above help unmute your microphone in Discord, there may be a hardware, operating system, or network issue outside of Discord’s control.

Preventing Accidental Mutes

To avoid muted mic frustrations in the future, you can tweak some Discord settings:

  • Disable “Push to Talk” which auto-mutes you
  • Turn off auto input sensitivity and adjustments
  • Increase input volume so you don’t get muted for low volume

With the right settings, you can avoid accidental mutes completely.

Still Having Issues?

If your microphone still isn’t working in Discord after trying these troubleshooting steps, here are some final things to try:

Hopefully the solutions in this guide get your microphone working properly again in Discord. Unmuting yourself should be simple, so you can get back to chatting with your friends.

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