Skype sound and microphone settings on a laptop. Skype: turn on the microphone. If the microphone in Skype does not work

(Skype) is far from new, and has already won its many adherents, the number of which has been steadily growing for more than ten years.

Thanks to Skype, you have access to free communication in real time with the ability not only to hear, but also to see your interlocutor. All you need to use this means of communication is access to the Internet, the presence of an installed program, as well as a headset and webcam.

Initial settings

During installation, the program prompts you to enter initial settings, create an account or log into an existing account, set an avatar, and check the quality of sound and video. You can immediately use the advanced settings function. By clicking the "Continue" button, you go to the main application menu.

Before setting up Skype, you can add the interlocutors you need to your contact list. Under the avatar there is a search field with a familiar magnifying glass icon. By searching and sharing contact information, a list of contacts is generated on the left side of the application.

Contacts default to Echo/Sound Test Service. Using this service you can check the presence of sound and video in the program.

If you are the owner of a modern model of laptop, netbook or tablet on which Skype has been installed, such devices already have a built-in microphone, speaker and camera, then there should be no problems with communication performance, and figuring out how to set up Skype will not be difficult. But if you need to additionally connect a headset and camera to the computer, then at first an inexperienced user may experience some difficulties.

Microphone and sound settings

The serviceability of the equipment and the correct connection of the microphone to the computer will ensure operation without additional adjustment. Having made the connection settings on your PC and installed the necessary drivers, the question of how to set up a microphone in Skype will not appear, since the application will install by default all the parameters necessary for operation.

What to do if there is no sound in Skype:

First, make sure that the microphone and speakers are connected to the appropriate connectors on the computer.
Now we check the connection to the system using the “Control Panel”, which is called up using the “Start” menu. Go to the “Hardware and Sound” tab, select “Sound”. In the settings window that appears, a microphone icon should appear in the “Recording” tab. If your computer uses multiple sound cards, you must select the one to which the device is connected. If the microphone is built into the webcam, select its name. Right-click “Connect”.
The Playback tab displays an icon for connected speakers. If the device is inactive, also right-click on the icon and select “Connect”. In the speaker and microphone properties tab, the “Levels” of both devices should reach one hundred percent, but if not, just drag the slider all the way to the right. However, the microphone gain should not exceed +10.0 dB, otherwise it will not please you with its distorted sound.
If the necessary system parameters are configured correctly, but the sound still does not appear directly in the application, let’s look at how to set up a microphone in Skype. To do this, go to the “Tools” tab in the program, “Settings” section and select “Sound Settings”.
It is advisable to check the appropriate boxes to automatically configure the speakers and microphone, and then save the settings. During a conversation, the green microphone volume bar should fluctuate slightly, but if sharp fluctuations in sound are observed, it is better to disable this option.
Launch Echo/Sound Test Service to test sound. Provided that all settings were entered correctly, after the test recording you will hear your voice from the speaker.
Once you have succeeded in setting up the sound in Skype and want to set the ringtones at your discretion for a call or other Skype events, you can go to the “Sounds” tab, where you can select the desired ringtone from the list.

Camera setup

The video calling feature is an important aspect when you need to make eye contact during communication. Owners of laptops with built-in devices do not have to worry about how to configure the camera; they do not need to set any additional parameters for displaying video. But if you have an external webcam connected to your computer, then it must be configured for it to work correctly.

The first thing you should check is whether the device is connected to the intended connector on the computer. Drivers can be installed automatically or manually from the included disk.
If there is something wrong with the drivers, they are missing or there is a need to update, then in the “Device Manager” there will be a yellow exclamation mark next to the icon of the connected device. Then you need to open “Camera Properties” and install or update the drivers.
The camera does not work continuously, but turns on only when programs that use it, such as Skype, are launched, so we launch the application.
Open the “Settings” section in the “Tools” tab and select “Video Settings” there. If an image appears, then you don’t need to configure anything else, you can proceed to communication. And if the video is not displayed, but all the steps described above have been performed, you should find out whether the camera is being used by another application.
The settings menu also suggests the presence of additional options, such as adjusting brightness, contrast, image rotation - these can be found on the “Advanced Settings” tab.

Once you have successfully set up Skype, you can start making video calls to other users.

If the need arises, you can always make adjustments to the audio or video settings in the corresponding section on the “Tools” tab.

During Skype installation, many users skip the hardware setup step and try to finish it quickly. This is the main reason why your interlocutor listens to silence during a call: the necessary parameters are not configured. Therefore, let’s look at how to set up a microphone on Skype if they can’t hear you.

Microphone check

First, check if the recording device is connected to your computer. In laptops, the microphone is built into the case, but on desktop PCs it is connected to an external connector (either a separate device or together with a web camera).

Now check if your microphone is muted in Skype itself. Call Sound Test Service and look for the appropriate button. If the icon has a line through it, click on it.

Next, check the functionality of the device. To do this, connect the microphone to another device and try to use it for its intended purpose. If everything is fine, then the problem lies in the Skype or Windows settings.

Setting up Skype

In most cases, the microphone does not work precisely because of incorrect settings in Skype. To change them you need to do the following:

Setting up on Windows

Now let's look at the sound settings in Windows. Perhaps the problem lies with them. For this:

If sound appears, but you are hard to hear, follow these recommendations:

This is where all the recommendations come to an end. Now we know how to set up a microphone on Skype if the other person can’t hear you. If none of the methods helped you, update the sound card driver and repeat all the instructions described above in chronological order. Good luck!

To set up a microphone in Skype, you need Skype and a microphone installed. It is written about the installation and registration of this program.

You can connect any microphone to Skype that connects to your computer. It's already built-in in laptops.

Make sure you have a microphone connected to your computer (or on your laptop) and let's get started.

If the microphone does not work on Skype, configure it again by following the steps in this instruction. But first, make sure that the latest version of this program is installed (you can read about its installation).

Launch Skype. To do this, click on the Skype icon on your desktop. Or, another way, click “START” and select “Skype” there.

Click Tools. Then “Settings”, as in the picture.

Select "Sound Settings". It is in this section that the microphone settings are made.

Say something into the microphone. If the “Volume” bar turns green, you have successfully connected a microphone to Skype. In this case, you can safely move on to, which tells you how to check your speakers on Skype.
If the bar remains gray, this indicates that the microphone in Skype is not working - see the next step.

If the microphone in Skype does not work, click as shown in the figure. Unlike a picture, you may have multiple lines to select from. Select rows sequentially (to do this, just click on the row). After selecting each line, repeat. If the microphone does not work again, select another line and so on until setting up the microphone in Skype leads to the desired result.

If you still cannot set up the microphone, it means that there is something wrong with the microphone (check, maybe you couldn’t connect the microphone to Skype), or it requires a driver (but this is a very, very rare case). Or your operating system for some reason does not want to work with it. In the latter case, go to the Control Panel (accessible through the Start menu) - select “Sounds and Audio Devices”, then go to the “Audio” tab, see “Record sound”? Check the microphone volume, it should look like our picture. If it doesn’t look right, correct it, then click “OK” in the volume settings and then “OK” in the sound settings, and... repeat the microphone check in Skype.

If the volume setting does not help, experiment with the field (as in the picture below) - select other values. To do this, again go to the Control Panel (accessible through the Start menu) - select "Sounds and Audio Devices", then go to the "Audio" tab.

Now let's check the speakers on Skype. Click as shown in the picture. If you hear something in your speakers or headphones and the Volume bar turns green, then everything is fine. You can safely move on to the last one.
If you don’t hear anything, and the bar remains gray - this indicates that the sound in Skype is not working - read the “Advice”, and if it does not help, see the next step.

ADVICE. If the sound does not work on Skype, then first of all check whether the speakers are connected to your computer. If yes, then check whether the sound on your computer is turned on. If it is turned on, look at our picture and at your Skype - the blue ball on the “Volume” bar should be on the right - if it’s not like that for you, click on it and, without releasing the mouse, move it to the right. If these tips don't help, see the next step.

When setting up Skype, many users do not pay enough attention to setting up audio equipment. Therefore, often their interlocutors cannot make out the voice of the person with whom they are talking, and in many cases they do not hear it at all. Therefore, you will need to configure the microphone in any case. You can learn how to set up your microphone in Skype correctly in this step-by-step guide. Moreover, a new version was recently released and in it the setup is a little different.

Regardless of which microphone you are going to use to work with Skype, its setup will be exactly the same as for any other model. It includes three simple steps:

Connecting a microphone to a computer.
Setting it up and checking it in Windows.
Setting it up and checking it in Skype.

A description of each of these steps will be shown later.

Connecting to a computer

How to properly connect a microphone to a PC? Hardware switching can be done via USB or 3.5 mm jack. To connect via a connector, you will need a socket that comes out of the sound card. Typically, these sockets are located on the back and front of the computer. In any case, there are three such nests on each side and they are painted in different colors:

green for sound, to which speakers or headphones are connected;
blue for output from any audio device (such as a synthesizer);
pink for microphone.

The last socket is pink and you will need to connect the microphone connector. In the case of connecting via a USB connector, everything is even simpler. You can select any free USB socket and connect a microphone to it.

Setting up via operating system

Immediately after connecting the microphone to the computer, a message indicating the appearance of a new device will appear on the monitor. If everything is fine, the PC itself will install the necessary drivers. However, it may also happen that the message does not appear. It is possible that sound drivers are missing. They can be installed from the motherboard disk. Take this disk and carry out the necessary installation, after which the computer will need to restart.

What to do when there is no disk? The solution is quite simple. We go to the manufacturer’s website and download from there all the drivers for your motherboard. Now let's look at how to set up a microphone in the new version of Skype. We will do this using the computer operating system. These parameters are identical for all versions of Windows. We do the following:

Go to “Start”, and then to “Control Panel”. Find the “Sound” tab in this folder and double-click on it. A new window appears.
Next, go to the “Recording” folder, which contains the entire list of microphones that are currently connected to the computer. Select the one that is already there and double-click on it. A window with properties opens.
Now we go to the “Listen” tab. Check the box next to “Listen from this device” and immediately click on “Apply”. In our headphones we can hear sounds coming from the microphone. These manipulations allow you to configure the microphone on the headphones.
We find the “Advanced” tab, look where audio frequencies are indicated in the “Default format” list, and select the maximum one. Then click on “Apply”.
Let's go to the "Levels" tab. Here all settings are performed at your discretion. We recommend setting the “Microphone Gain” and “Microphone” sliders to positions that provide the best sound quality. Incorrect positions of these controls lead to the fact that you will not be heard on Skype or will be heard too loudly and with distortion.
To correctly install the electronic sliders, set test values and click on “Apply”. Then we start talking into the microphone and listen to the sounds in the headphones. If the sound quality is good, then we move on, if not, then we continue tuning.
After we finish with the sliders, go back to the “Listen” tab, uncheck it and click on “OK”.

Thus, we have completed the setup in the Windows OS. All that remains is to check how it all works, with what quality and show how to set up a microphone in Skype.

Testing the configured sound parameters in Windows

It is always recommended to carry out a final check after setting the required parameters. What needs to be done for this? We return back to the “Sound” window, go to the “Recording” tab and select our microphone. Directly opposite it is a green column. When sound from the microphone is sent to the PC, this is reflected in the column as green cubes appearing. If you see them, then everything is fine and you can move on.

How to set up a microphone in Skype

Subsequent setup in Skype will require some adjustments to previously made settings in this program. First you will need to install Skype. This is done as follows:

download installation files to your computer;
follow the recommendations of the installation program;
after installing Skype, register;
after starting the program, go to the menu and find “Tools”;
there we go to “Settings” and select “Sound Settings”;
mark those devices in the “Speakers” and “Microphone” tabs that already have a connection;
set the sound level according to your hearing;
if we hear the background in the headphones, then uncheck the box next to the “Automatic microphone setup” function;
Now click on “OK” and save everything.

The microphone settings in Skype, Windows 10, Windows 7 and Windows 8 are the same.

Checking the microphone in Skype

Now we will show you how you can test a microphone connected to Skype. To do this, you will need to open the “Settings” window again and find the “Sound Settings” tab there. Then we look at the electronic slider next to the “Microphone” setting. If you make a sound, it should move to the right. If this happens, simply close the window.

Now it's time for a test call. We select one of them in the contact list, which is called “Echo” and make a call. We listen to the answering machine information and immediately after the control signal we make a voice recording. When finished, it will play automatically. If you can hear your voice in the headphones, then we can say that the microphone setup was successful and you can start communicating on the phone. If nothing is heard, you need to check the microphone settings again.

Problems during setup

The main problems when setting up a microphone can be:

poor quality sound or its absence;
The microphone gain level is insufficient;
excessive gain level.

To solve them, you need to return to the description of the section - how to set up a microphone in Skype.

This article covered all the stages of setting up a microphone to work with it in the Skype program. If you try to strictly follow the recommendations of this instruction, then completing all the necessary steps, even for inexperienced users, will not take much time and effort.

Hi people! Today you will learn how to set up a microphone on Skype. To set up a microphone on Skype, you need to repeat what I wrote. Skype is already known all over the world. Thanks to it, you can communicate with your interlocutor who is on the other side of the world, and at the same time see him live.

Of course, video communication requires a camera and microphone. Today we will talk about microphones. For simple devices, it will be enough to insert it into the corresponding pink connector. But with modern devices things are a little more complicated.

If, after connecting the microphone, it still does not turn on in Skype, then you will need to check its settings in the system: I also wanted to say that for Skype you will need a webcam, so I advise you to read articles about that or here is a good one.

« Control Panel» — « Equipment and sound"- "Sound "

Or like this:

Right-click on the speaker icon on the taskbar and select “ Recording devices».

There should be no problems if your computer has one sound card. In this case, the “Recording” tab will indicate this device by default. But if there are several sound cards, then in the settings select the card into whose connector the microphone will be connected.

Nowadays, they mainly produce combined camera + microphone devices. The connection process is the same as described above. Now I’ll take a closer look at the sound settings.

On the “Levels” tab, adjust the microphone sensitivity level: set the “microphone” slider to the initial right position up to 100 units, and the “ microphone gain"by +10 dB.

Now let's look at how to set up a microphone in Skype if you have made all the previous settings, but the microphone in the program still does not work.

Open Skype settings and follow the route:

“Tools” - “Settings...”.

In the window that opens, select “ Sound settings".

Now pay attention to the “Microphone” section; the default device that is specified in the operating system microphone settings should be selected in it. If everything is correct, then look at the “Volume” section. A green bar should appear here when you speak into the microphone.

You can tick the option “ Allow automatic microphone setup" In this case, the sound volume will be adjusted by the computer: if necessary, increase or decrease. Check the service in operation. If the volume fluctuates erratically, then cancel this action.

So, if the question “How to set up a microphone in Skype” remains open for you, and the sound and video do not work, then most likely the problem is related to the installation drivers of the device or a hardware malfunction. Please ask your wishes and questions in the comments. All the best!

With UV. Evgeny Kryzhanovsky