What is causing the Microphone Levels to Auto-Adjust on Windows 10?
We investigated this particular issue by looking at various user reports and the repair strategies that are commonly being used to resolve this particular issue on Windows 10. As it turns out, there are several different culprits that have the potential of producing this problem: If you’re currently struggling to resolve this error, this article will provide you with several different troubleshooting steps. Down below, you’ll find a collection of methods that other users in a similar scenario have successfully used to resolve the microphone issue on Windows 10. Each of the potential fixes featured below is confirmed to be effective by at least one affected user. For the best results, we advise you to follow the methods in the order that they are presented since we ordered them by efficiency and severity. One of them is bound to resolve the issue regardless of the culprit that’s causing it.
1. Preventing Skype from automatically adjusting the microphone (if applicable)
If you have the habit of keeping Skype open most of the time, chance are the VoIP client is actually adjusting your microphone levels without telling you. As it turns out, Skype is configured by default to be allowed to modify the volume of your connected microphones. This happens with both the desktop and the UWP version of Skype. Several affected users have reported that they managed to resolve the issue indefinitely by accessing Skype’s settings and disabling the client’s ability to adjust the microphone level’s. Here’s a quick guide on how to do this:
2. Preventing Steam from automatically adjusting the microphone level (if applicable)
As it turns out, Steam is yet another application that might be causing automatic microphone level adjustments on a Windows 10 computer. If you have Steam installed and it’s configured to launch automatically at every system startup, chances are it has the capabilities to make microphone level adjustments. Several affected users have reported that they managed to resolve the issue by accessing the Friend List’s settings of the Steam client and disabling the Automatic volume/gain control setting from the Automatic Settings menu. Here’s a quick guide on preventing Steam from automatically adjusting the microphone level via the Friend’s list window: If this method wasn’t applicable to your current situation, move down to the next method below.
3. Preventing applications from taking exclusive control of the Microphone
Several affected users have reported that they managed to resolve the issue after re-configuring the MIcrophone settings so that no application is allowed to take exclusive control of the device. This procedure is quite easy to replicate and is effectively disables any type of 3rd party intervention that might cause the automatic microphone level adjustments. But keep in mind that this procedure might also cause some voice features to stop functioning as intended. Just keep this in mind before implementing this, and in case some functionality is affected, reverse engineer the procedure below: If the issue is still not resolved, move down to the next method below.
4. Modifying the Microphone Value Manually
If you’re looking for a quick fix, you can probably override whatever is automatically adjusting your microphone level by setting a default value for your microphone level via Control Panel. As reported by several users, this procedure has the potential of overriding a lot of level changes that are triggered by 3rd party applications. But keep in mind that this procedure will not allow you to pinpoint the real cause of the issue and will override any microphone level previously established by most 3rd party applications. Here’s a quick guide on modifying the microphone value manually to fix the auto adjustment of the microphone on Windows 10 : If this procedure wasn’t applicable to your current situation or you’re looking for a different approach, move down to the next method below.
5. Updating your Microphone Driver
Your microphone drivers can also be responsible for levels inconsistencies. You might also be able to resolve the issue by updating your microphone drivers or by uninstalling the current driver, forcing Windows to install a new driver of your recording device. Several affected users have reported that this procedure resolved the issue indefinitely for them. Here’s a quick guide on using Device Manager to update your microphone driver:
If you’re still encountering the same issue, move down to the next method below.
6. Removing the Malware Infection
As it turns out, this particular issue can also be caused by malware that is capable of shutting the mic or adjusting the level automatically. Several affected users have reported that Windows Defender and a few other 3rd party clients didn’t manage to discover the malware when they performed a security scan. However, most users that encountered this issue have reported that they managed to identify and isolate and quarantine the malware by using Malwarebytes. In most cases, the malware made it’s way to the system from a catcher application or extension. If you think the issue might be caused by malware, follow this article (here) for steps on installing and performing a deep scan with Malwarebytes. If the virus scan hasn’t revealed any evidence of a virus infection, move down to the next methods below.
7. Performing a Clean Boot
If you’ve come this far without a result, it’s possible that the issue is being caused by a 3rd party application that has admin access. If the culprit is not apparent to you, you can verify whether a 3rd party app is causing the problem by performing a clean boot. Several affected users have confirmed that this procedure allowed them to confirm that the issue was being caused by a 3rd party app intervention. Once they managed to confirm that an application was causing the automatic microphone adjustments, they eliminated all potential culprits until they managed to isolate the application that was producing the error. Here’s a quick guide on how to perform a clean boot in order to determine which application is causing the automatic microphone adjustments:
8. Disabling Microphone Enhancements
The Microphone audio enhancements can also be a problem in some cases, it’s possible that your Microphone is self-leveling itself because of these Enhancements, Follow these steps to disable the Audio Enhancements from your Microphone:-
9. Registry Fix
Sometimes, the issue lies with the registry configuration of the microphone level. Windows might have stored a value in the registry for your Microphone level which might receive precedence over the manual value that you select from the Sound Control Panel. You can adjust this value by:
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