You join a Zoom meeting and nobody can hear you. Or your video won't turn on. Or both. Everyone else in the meeting is fine — it's just you. You've checked that your microphone and camera are physically connected, the device looks like it's working in other apps, but Zoom simply isn't picking it up.
This is one of the most searched Zoom problems for good reason: it happens constantly, across every operating system, and the cause is almost never obvious. The fix that works for one person doesn't work for another because there are at least five distinct reasons this can happen — and they all look identical from the outside.
This guide walks through every cause in order of likelihood, with the exact steps to fix each one.
Before You Do Anything: The 60-Second Check
Before going through full troubleshooting, run through these three things first. Each one takes less than 20 seconds and resolves the problem for a significant number of people:
Check whether you are muted inside Zoom. The microphone icon in the bottom-left corner of the Zoom window shows a red line through it when you're muted. Click it once to unmute. This sounds too simple, but accidental muting — especially when joining a meeting — is behind a large percentage of "nobody can hear me" reports.
Check whether your camera is turned off inside Zoom. The video icon sits next to the microphone icon in the same bottom toolbar. A red line through it means your video is off. Click it to turn it on.
Check whether Zoom has the right device selected. Click the small arrow (^) next to the microphone or camera icon. A dropdown shows all available audio and video devices. If Zoom has selected the wrong one — a built-in microphone instead of your headset, for example — switching to the correct device here fixes it instantly.
If none of these apply, continue with the full troubleshooting below.
Why Zoom Can't Access Your Microphone or Camera
Operating system permissions are blocking Zoom Both Windows and macOS have privacy settings that control which apps can access your camera and microphone. If Zoom doesn't have permission at the operating system level, it cannot use these devices regardless of what its own settings say. This is the most common cause of this problem in 2026, particularly after operating system updates that reset app permissions.
A conflict with another app using the same device Your camera and microphone can typically only be used by one app at a time. If another application — a different video calling app, a browser tab running Google Meet, or even a program running silently in the background — has claimed the device, Zoom can't access it. The device appears available but is actually locked by another process.
Zoom's audio and video settings are pointing to the wrong device Zoom stores a preferred device in its settings. If you've changed headsets, plugged in a new webcam, or updated your audio drivers since you last changed these settings, Zoom may be pointing to a device that no longer exists or has changed its system name.
An outdated Zoom version with a known audio or video bug Zoom releases updates frequently, and specific versions have had documented bugs affecting microphone and camera functionality — particularly after major operating system updates. Running an outdated version of Zoom is a surprisingly common cause of audio and video issues that appear to be hardware problems but resolve immediately after updating.
A driver conflict on Windows On Windows specifically, audio and camera drivers can conflict with each other after system updates. When this happens, the device appears functional in Device Manager but fails when Zoom tries to initialize it.
Step-by-Step Fix: Microphone Not Working
Step 1 — Check operating system permissions
On Windows: go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone. Make sure "Microphone access" is turned on, and scroll down to confirm that Zoom specifically is allowed. If Zoom is not in the list or is toggled off, turn it on, then restart Zoom.
On Mac: go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone. Confirm that Zoom has a checkmark next to it. If it doesn't, click the toggle to enable it. You may need to restart Zoom after making this change.
Step 2 — Close all other apps that might be using your microphone
Close every other video calling app — Teams, Google Meet, FaceTime, Discord, Skype — and close any browser tabs that are running video calls. Then close Zoom completely and reopen it. This releases any microphone lock held by another application.
Step 3 — Check and reset Zoom's audio settings
Inside Zoom, go to Settings (the gear icon) > Audio. Under "Microphone," click the dropdown and select your correct device. Click "Test Mic" to confirm it's picking up sound. If you hear nothing, try selecting a different device from the dropdown — sometimes Zoom needs to be pointed to the device explicitly even if it looks like it's already selected.
Also look for a checkbox that says "Automatically adjust microphone volume." If this is checked, uncheck it and set the input volume manually to around 70%. Automatic adjustment sometimes causes Zoom to incorrectly set the microphone gain to zero.
Step 4 — Update Zoom
Click your profile picture in the top-right corner of the Zoom app and select "Check for Updates." If an update is available, install it and restart. If Zoom is already up to date, this step is still worth doing because it forces Zoom to verify its installation files and repair any that are corrupted.
Step 5 — Reinstall the audio driver (Windows only)
Open Device Manager (search for it in the Start menu). Expand "Audio inputs and outputs." Right-click your microphone device and select "Update driver" > "Search automatically for drivers." If no update is found, right-click again and select "Uninstall device," restart your computer, and let Windows reinstall the driver automatically on startup.
Step-by-Step Fix: Camera Not Working
Step 1 — Check operating system permissions for camera
Follow the same process as microphone permissions above, but navigate to Camera instead of Microphone in your privacy settings. Confirm Zoom has camera access at the system level.
Step 2 — Check for a physical camera privacy cover or switch
Many laptops — particularly Dell, Lenovo ThinkPad, and HP models — have a physical privacy shutter over the camera lens, or a dedicated camera on/off switch on the keyboard. Check whether the lens is covered or the switch is in the off position. This is easy to miss and causes Zoom to show a black screen even when everything else is configured correctly.
Step 3 — Check Zoom's video settings
Inside Zoom, go to Settings > Video. Check whether your camera is listed in the dropdown and selected. If you see a black preview or no preview at all, try selecting a different camera from the dropdown if one is available. Click "Test Video" to confirm the feed.
Also uncheck "Turn off my video when joining a meeting" if it is checked — this setting automatically disables your camera every time you join, which can look like a technical fault.
Step 4 — Close the browser and use the Zoom app instead
If you're using Zoom through a web browser, browser-based camera access is more restricted than the dedicated app. Download and install the Zoom desktop app from zoom.us/download and join your meetings from there instead. Camera and microphone reliability is significantly better in the native app.
Pro Tip: Use Zoom's Built-In Audio and Video Test Before Every Important Meeting
Zoom has a feature that almost nobody uses but that would prevent the majority of last-minute audio and video panics: a pre-meeting test that checks your microphone, speakers, and camera before you join.
To access it: go to zoom.us/test in your browser while Zoom is installed. This launches a test meeting that checks every component and shows you exactly what others will see and hear before the real meeting starts.
Running this test five minutes before an important meeting — a job interview, a client call, a presentation — takes less than two minutes and eliminates the risk of discovering a problem after you've already joined. The embarrassment of "can everyone hear me?" followed by frantic troubleshooting while others wait is entirely avoidable.
Most people only discover Zoom's audio and video test after they've already had a bad experience in a meeting. Now you know it exists before that happens.
If the Problem Only Occurs in Zoom but Not in Other Apps
If your microphone and camera work perfectly in FaceTime, Teams, Google Meet, or any other app — but not in Zoom specifically — the issue is almost certainly inside Zoom's settings rather than with your device or system permissions.
In this case, the fastest fix is to reset all of Zoom's settings to factory defaults. On Windows: go to C:\Users[your username]\AppData\Roaming\Zoom and delete the "data" folder inside it. On Mac: open Terminal and type the following, then press Enter:
rm -rf ~/.zoomus/
Restart Zoom. This wipes Zoom's stored settings and forces it to reconfigure itself from scratch — which resolves most cases where Zoom's settings have become misconfigured over time.
Last updated: June 2026. Steps are based on Zoom version 6.x for Windows 11 and macOS Sequoia. Interface details may vary slightly on earlier versions.
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