In short
Choose your microphone and output in System Settings › Sound, use headphones rather than speakers, set your call app to the same devices, and test with a short recording. On Bluetooth headsets, listen on the headset and speak into the Mac's or a wired microphone for better sound.
A good Mac audio setup for video calls comes down to four choices: which microphone you speak into, where you hear the call, whether that is headphones or speakers, and whether your call app agrees with macOS about both. Set the input and output in System Settings › Sound, wear headphones, set the call app to the same devices, and test with a short recording before any call that matters.
This guide walks through each setting in order, explains where call apps override the Mac, and ends with a checklist for important calls. It is also the starting point for this section: the other articles each take one piece of hardware or one setting in depth.
Set up your Mac's audio for a call
- Choose the output. Open System Settings › Sound. Under Output & Input, choose Output and select your headphones. Play something and set Output volume.
- Choose the input. In the same place, choose Input and select the microphone you will speak into. Speak and watch Input level; adjust Input volume so normal speech fills about the middle of the meter.
- Set the call app to match. In Zoom, Teams or Meet, open the audio settings and pick the same microphone and speaker, or the option that follows the system, where there is one.
- Check the microphone mode. While a call app is using the microphone, click the video icon in the menu bar and look at Mic Mode. Standard is the default; Voice Isolation filters background sound.
- Test. Use the call app's own test, or record ten seconds of yourself and play it back. You should sound like you, not like a phone line.
The sections below explain each choice.
Output: headphones or speakers
Wear headphones for calls when you can. Any kind will do: wired earphones, over-ear headphones or AirPods.
On speakers, the other people's voices leave the Mac, travel across the room and reach your microphone. Call apps cancel most of that for what they send, but not always all of it, and a separate recorder may hear it too. Fixing echo in call recordings explains why, and what to do when you cannot wear headphones.
Speakers you connect over the network, such as AirPlay speakers, add a delay that suits music better than conversation. Using AirPlay speakers during a call covers that case.
Input: which microphone
The microphone closest to your mouth usually wins. Roughly in order, for calls:
| Microphone | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Wired headset or USB headset | Noisy rooms, shared offices | Placement: a few centimetres from the corner of your mouth |
| USB desk microphone | A fixed desk, a clear voice | Distance; too far away and it hears the room |
| MacBook built-in microphone | Quiet rooms at normal distance | Keyboard noise, fans, a closed lid |
| Display or webcam microphone | Convenience | Often far away and roomy |
| Bluetooth headset microphone | Moving around | Lower sound quality when its microphone is open |
Using a USB microphone for calls covers desk and headset microphones; using an audio interface for video calls covers XLR microphones.
Bluetooth headsets
Apple says that when an app uses a Bluetooth headset's microphone, audio quality and volume are reduced until the microphone is no longer in use. The headset has switched to a mode that carries sound both ways at once.
The usual fix is to split the jobs: listen on the headset, speak into the Mac's built-in or a wired microphone. Recording a call with AirPods or a Bluetooth headset has the steps, and Bluetooth headsets on a Mac explains the modes behind it.
Where call apps override the Mac
Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet each keep their own microphone and speaker setting. When it names a specific device, the call app keeps using that device even after you change System Settings. That is the most common reason a call hears you and a recording does not, or the other way round.
- Zoom: its audio settings, and the arrow beside Mute during a meeting.
- Teams: its device settings, and the device options during a meeting.
- Meet and other browser calls: the call's audio settings, and the browser's permission prompt the first time.
Choose one device and set it in both places. Choosing the right microphone on a Mac goes through each place in detail.
Microphone processing
macOS and call apps both process your voice before the other side hears it.
- Mic Mode in macOS offers Standard, Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum, for apps that support them. Mic modes on a Mac explains each and where to change them.
- Call apps have their own noise suppression and automatic volume. Leave them at their defaults unless something sounds wrong.
- Input volume matters more than any filter. Too low and you are hard to hear; too high and you distort. Mac microphone too quiet? covers the fixes.
Combining devices
Occasionally you need two devices to act as one: two microphones into one app, or sound playing through two outputs at once. macOS does this with aggregate and multi-output devices in Audio MIDI Setup. Most people never need them for calls; creating an aggregate or multi-output device explains when you would.
Before a call that matters
- Connect the devices first, then open the call app, and check it picked them.
- Check System Settings › Sound for both input and output.
- Check the call app's audio settings for both.
- Turn off automatic device switching you do not want. AirPods can move between your Apple devices on their own.
- Record ten seconds and listen back. A test is the only way to be sure.
- Close apps that might grab the microphone, such as a second call app left open.
If you record your calls
A recorder is one more app that needs to hear the right devices. With a two-track recorder, your microphone is one track and what the Mac plays is the other, so the choices above decide both what the call hears and what the recording contains.
Notey records the input selected in System Settings › Sound as You, and what your Mac plays as Them, on Macs with Apple silicon running macOS 26 or later. With headphones on and the call app set to the same microphone as the Mac, both sides are clean and separate. The two meters on the floating button show both are arriving: You moves when you speak, Them when they do. If one side stops arriving during a meeting, Notey marks the meeting incomplete and says why rather than filling the gap with silence.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best audio settings for Zoom on a Mac?
Set the microphone and speaker in Zoom's audio settings to the same devices as System Settings › Sound, wear headphones, and leave Zoom's own audio processing at its defaults unless something sounds wrong. Test your microphone and speaker in Zoom's audio settings before an important call.
Why do people hear an echo when I use my Mac's speakers?
Call apps cancel most echo, but on loud speakers in a hard room some of the other side's voice can still reach your microphone. Headphones stop it completely.
Should I use my MacBook's built-in microphone for calls?
In a quiet room at normal distance it is usually fine. A wired headset or a USB microphone close to your mouth is better in a noisy room. A Bluetooth headset's own microphone is often the weakest choice.
Does my call app use the Mac's sound settings?
Only if it is set to. Zoom, Teams and Meet each keep their own microphone and speaker choice. When they name a specific device, they keep using it whatever System Settings says.
How do I test my microphone on a Mac before a call?
Open System Settings › Sound, choose Input, and speak; the Input level meter should move. Then use the call app's own test, or record a few seconds and play it back.