Troubleshooting on macOS

Mac microphone permission not working? What to check

An app cannot hear you on a Mac, or never asked for the microphone. The System Settings switch, resetting it, and unsigned builds.

By the Notey team at AInject · · · 7 min read

In short

If an app on your Mac cannot hear you, open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Microphone and check that the switch next to the app is on.

If you just turned it on, quit the app and open it again: macOS applies a microphone change only after a restart, and System Settings offers Quit & Reopen for that reason.

If the app is not in the list at all, or you press its permission button and nothing happens, the problem is one step earlier. macOS only lists apps that have asked, and it will not ask on behalf of an app whose code signature it does not trust. This guide covers both cases, how to reset a permission so macOS asks again, and how to tell a permission problem from a microphone problem.

Check the switch in System Settings

  1. Open System Settings from the Apple menu.
  2. Choose Privacy & Security in the sidebar.
  3. Choose Microphone. The pane says "Allow the applications below to access your microphone."
  4. Find the app and turn its switch on.
  5. When macOS says the app "will not have access to your microphone until it is quit", choose Quit & Reopen.

If the switch is on already and the app still hears nothing, the permission is probably not the problem. Skip to the difference between no permission and no sound.

If the switch is greyed out, the setting is managed by your organisation through a configuration profile. You cannot change it yourself; ask whoever manages your Mac.

The app is not in the list

macOS adds an app to the Microphone list the first time the app asks. Until then there is nothing to switch on. Open the app and start whatever uses the microphone — a call, a recording, a voice memo. macOS should show a dialog saying the app "would like to access the Microphone", with a sentence from the developer about why. Choose Allow.

If no dialog appears and the app is still not listed, work through these in order.

The app asked once and you refused

A refusal is remembered. The app will not be asked again, and many apps give no sign that anything is wrong. Look further down the list: a refused app appears with its switch off. Turn it on.

The app is a development or unsigned build

macOS keys microphone permission to the app's signing identity. For an app with a proper signature, the prompt appears and your answer is remembered across updates. For a build that was never properly signed, macOS refuses to prompt at all. The permission button does nothing: no error, no dialog, nothing in any log that points at signing.

You can check an app's signature in Terminal:

codesign -dv /Applications/AppName.app

In the output, Identifier should be the app's bundle identifier (something like com.company.app), and Info.plist and Sealed Resources should both be present. An identifier that looks like appname- followed by a long hash, Info.plist=not bound, or Sealed Resources=none means the build is not validly signed, and macOS will not ask for it.

A related case: an app signed "ad hoc" gets a prompt, but has no stable identity, so macOS treats every new build as a different app and the permission resets each time. Developers see this during local builds. Apps downloaded from a developer's site should be signed with a Developer ID and notarised by Apple, and do not have this problem.

If you downloaded the app and it fails the check above, get a fresh copy from the developer. If you are the developer, sign the build before debugging anything else.

A profile or policy blocks it

On a managed Mac, IT can deny microphone access to some or all apps. The app may be listed with a greyed-out switch, or not listed. Only the administrator can change this.

Reset the permission so macOS asks again

Resetting clears the answer macOS remembered, so the next request shows the dialog again. It helps when an app is stuck in a state its own screens do not explain.

  1. Quit the app.
  2. Find its bundle identifier. In Terminal: osascript -e 'id of app "AppName"'.
  3. Reset the microphone permission for that app only:
tccutil reset Microphone com.company.app
  1. Open the app and trigger the microphone again. Choose Allow when asked.

Leave out the bundle identifier and tccutil resets the microphone permission for every app on the Mac. Every app will ask again, which is rarely what you want.

No permission, or no sound

A permission problem and a microphone problem can look the same from inside an app: a recording with nothing on it. They are different fixes.

  • Permission. When an app is refused the microphone, macOS generally hands it silence rather than an error. The recording runs, the file has the right length, and every sample is zero.
  • The wrong input. The permission is fine, but the Mac is listening to a microphone that is not the one you are speaking into: a docked display's microphone, a headset in a drawer, a virtual device from another app. See choosing the right microphone on a Mac.
  • Muted or turned down. The input volume in System Settings › Sound is at zero, or a hardware mute switch is on.

A quick test: open System Settings › Sound, choose the Input tab under Output & Input, and speak. If the Input level meter moves, the Mac hears you, and the problem is the app's permission or the app itself. If it does not move, fix the input first.

The orange dot in the menu bar tells you an app is using the microphone. It does not tell you the app is getting sound.

Recording apps need a second permission

A meeting recorder that captures the other people on the call needs more than the microphone. On macOS 26 the sound your Mac plays is covered by a separate permission, listed under Privacy & Security › Screen & System Audio Recording. An app can have the microphone and still be unable to hear the call. Allowing an app to record your Mac's audio covers that one.

How Notey asks for the microphone

Notey asks for two permissions on its first screen, Let Notey listen, and explains each before macOS shows its own dialog: Hear your voice (the microphone) and Hear the other people (the sound your Mac plays). It never asks for Screen Recording.

  • Press Allow next to Hear your voice. macOS shows its microphone dialog.
  • If you refused before, the row says "Notey cannot hear you. Turn on the microphone for Notey in System Settings, then come back." and offers Open Settings, which opens the Microphone pane directly.
  • If your organisation manages the microphone, the row says so and offers nothing, because the switch in System Settings would be greyed out.

To reset Notey's microphone permission, quit Notey and run:

tccutil reset Microphone com.ainject.notey

Notey's releases are signed and notarised by Apple, so macOS shows the prompt for them. If a recording still comes out silent with the permission allowed, see meeting recording silent or transcript empty.

Other problems with audio on a Mac

If the microphone permission is not the cause, one of these probably covers it:

Frequently asked questions

Why is my app not in the Microphone list on my Mac?

An app appears in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Microphone only after it has asked for the microphone at least once. If it has never asked, open the app and start whatever uses the microphone. If it still does not appear, the app may not be signed in a way macOS accepts, and macOS will not show a prompt for it.

How do I reset microphone permission for one app?

Quit the app, then run tccutil reset Microphone followed by the app's bundle identifier in Terminal, for example tccutil reset Microphone com.ainject.notey for Notey. The next time the app asks, macOS shows the prompt again.

I turned the microphone on but the app still cannot hear me. Why?

macOS applies the change after the app restarts. When you switch it on, System Settings offers Quit & Reopen; use it, or quit the app yourself and open it again.

Does my Mac show when an app is using the microphone?

Yes. An orange dot appears in the menu bar while any app is using the microphone, and Control Centre names the app. That shows the app is listening, not that it is receiving sound, so a silent recording is still possible if the wrong input is selected.