How to Mute a Microphone on Your Computer

Did you know there exist several surveillance techniques that can activate your computer microphone without your knowledge? This affects your privacy and detects your location, speech, and other sounds.

And while the hack of using tape works magic for webcams, it's not the case with microphones. Muting or disabling your microphone blocks it from recording your voice. It is also a security measure against websites that ask for permission to use your microphone.

This blog will give you a detailed guide on how you can mute your microphone on your Mac or Windows 10 and outline a simple step-by-step guide on using Parallels Toolbox to mute your mic.

How to mute your computer microphone

A microphone is useful when talking to a client or when recording an audio file on your computer. But, you may get hacked or accidentally leave your microphone, which can record sounds on your computer. There are different ways to mute your computer microphone depending on the type of OS you use.

How to mute the microphone on Windows 10

Windows 10 offers several ways to mute the microphone, including;

Using the device manager

  1. Right-click on the start button and select device manager
  2. Expand the audio inputs and outputs from the device manager. You will see your microphone on the list
  3. Right-click on it and select disable. From the dialog box that pops up, click on "Yes" to disable the microphone. You can follow the same procedure to enable it.

Using device properties

  1. Access the device properties by clicking on Start>Settings>System>Sound. Alternatively, you can right-click the speaker icon in the system tray then click on open sound settings.
  2. From the dialog, scroll down and choose your microphone from the list of input devices.
  3. Click on device properties and click on the checkbox to disable the mic.

Using manage sound devices option

The manage sound devices contain all your input and output audio setups, including your in-built microphone.

  1. Access the manage sound devices screen below the device properties. Click on it to view the list of input and output devices.
  2. Scroll down to locate the microphone and click on it to access the disable button. Use it to disable or enable your microphone.

How to mute microphone on Mac

If you are using Mac, there are two ways you can mute your microphone:

Switching audio inputs

  1. On the menu bar, click on the Apple icon, then click on "System Preferences"
  2. Click "Sound" then the "Input" tab
  3. Click "Line-In" and close the window. This disables the internal microphone, but you can use an external microphone by connecting it to Mac's audio input port.

Using the System Preferences

  1. On your Mac, click on the Apple menu, then system preferences. Click on "Security and Privacy" and select "Privacy"
  2. Click on microphone
  3. Drag the slider to the left to mute the microphone. This prevents the microphone from picking any audio when muted.

How to mute your mic using Parallels Toolbox

Parallels Toolbox is an easy-to-use tool that allows you to mute your microphone on your PC or Mac. Here is a guide on how:

  1. Download Parallels Toolbox from the official website and launch it on your Mac or PC
  2. From the dashboard, click on "system" and select the "mute microphone" option. This mutes your microphone and prevents any applications from recording your audio.

When the mute microphone option is active, it notifies you every time an app tries to access your microphone and blocks it.

Conclusion

Regardless of the OS you use, there are various ways to mute your microphone. These methods turn off the microphone and prevent it from recording any audio. Parallels Toolbox is a simple tool that allows you to mute your microphone and prevent unauthorized listening by other applications on your Mac or Windows 10. Download a free trial of Parallels today to get started.