Microphone not working - FIXED

Technical Support
1

For what its worth, I spent a while figuring out this issue and my solution is different from every elses, so im putting it here in case it might help someone in the future.

things I did try - mentioned by the moderators and repeated everywhere as common solutions:

  1. setting my headphones as “default device” setting microphone as “default device”
  2. setting my headphones as “default communications device” setting microphone as “default communications device” and selecting “comms devices” within overwatch
  3. unchecking “allow application exclusive control” under the advanced tab of properties for both the playback and recording device

what DID work:

  1. in battle net > game settings > voice chat, if I select "DELL S2417G(High Definition Audio Device) - then “test microphone” WORKS - I see my audio when i speak
  2. in the recording device settings in windows - I can clearly see the levels moving when I speak into the mic, and I can hear myself when I select “Listen to this device” - so the microphone is working perfectly in windows for all purposes.

what did NOT WORK:

  1. when I select "Headphone/Digital Output(Realtek High Definition Audio) as the OUTPUT - the microphone STOPS WORKING. nothing!

so in the game, If I wanted my mic to work, the chat audio had to come out of my speakers, while the game audio went to my headset. unplayable!

again, when I change Output Device dropdown from the DELL S2417G to the Headphone port, the MICROPHONE stops working. I have no idea why. It might have to do with how I have speakers hooked up to my dell gaming monitor, which uses the nvidia audio out to send audio to the monitor.

anyway - after I tried everything on this forum ( short of reinstalling windows ) here was my solution, and I have not seen anyone else mention something along these lines.

in windows Device Manager, I UNINSTALLED all the audio devices (and checked “also delete driver”)

then I uninstalled Battle net

then, I rebooted, and windows re-detected all my audio devices as new devices. Then, I installed battle net

Then, in Voice Chat settings. everything just works even when its “System Default Device” for both input and output.

4 Likes
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also if changing default mic doesnt work, i tried going to start(windows 10), type privacy, click privacy settings, then click on mic option on left, then ALLOW APPS ACCESS or something like that… it fixed it for me , good luck

3

My friend had an issue where he couldn’t be heard in game. The solution ended up being to do with parental controls to do with his Battle Net/Overwatch account. We tried different mics, firewall settings, reinstalling drivers, Windows parental settings but it was Battle Net/Overwatch account which was the issue.

4

i tried everything and still doesn’t work please help

5

things I did try - mentioned by the moderators and repeated everywhere as common solutions:

setting my headphones as “default device” setting microphone as “default device”
setting my headphones as “default communications device” setting microphone as “default communications device” and selecting “comms devices” within overwatch
unchecking “allow application exclusive control” under the advanced tab of properties for both the playback and recording device

This absolutely worked for me. The key things were unchecking “allow app exclusive control” and using “Comms Devices” in game.

Thanks bub!

6

I know this is old but thank you for this. I tried everything and this finally worked.

1 Like
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I found a solution that hasn’t been mentioned yet. Some PC cases come with front headphone/microphone combo ports and this allows there to be a second “Microphone High Definition Audio Device” to show up in windows. This is what causes the default microphone to not work in the battle.net app. You must disable that second “Microphone High Definition Audio Device” and this will fix the issue. :slight_smile:

3 Likes
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Here I am, May 2020…
This post has saved me. I’ve literally been searching solutions for days and spent hours pulling my hair out and raging because Battlenet has been using my speakers as a microphone. You, sir, are a right chap!

[Edited by Blizzard] This thread has been inactive for some time. Please be mindful of resurrecting older threads. A new or more recent thread can be created to continue the discussion. Locking this thread.