Most audio problems in browser-based video chat come down to a handful of usual suspects — a blocked permission, the wrong device selected, or another app holding onto your microphone. Here's the rundown, starting with the quickest checks.
Browsers block microphone access by default until you explicitly allow it. If you clicked "Block" by mistake at some point, or denied access without meaning to, the call will run with no audio at all and no obvious error message. Resetting this is usually quick — click the lock or info icon next to the address bar, find the microphone permission, and reset it to "Ask" so you're prompted again. Our full walkthrough is in clearing camera and mic permissions.
Is your system volume muted? Is there a physical mute switch on your headset that's active? Is the correct input device selected in your operating system's sound settings? Is another app currently using the microphone?
If you can hear audio but it sounds distorted or has an echo, that's usually acoustic feedback — your microphone is picking up sound coming out of your own speakers and feeding it back into the call. WebRTC, the technology behind the video call, includes built-in echo cancellation, but it isn't perfect in every setup. Headphones solve this reliably, since there's no longer speaker output for the microphone to pick back up.
If the wrong microphone is selected, sound from your actual mic won't go anywhere. To check:
Go to Privacy & Security, then Site Settings.
Select it from the list of permissions.
If you have more than one microphone option (built-in, headset, external), make sure the one you're actually using is selected.
The likely cause can differ depending on what you're using. On mobile, background microphone access is sometimes restricted by the OS, especially if battery-saving settings are aggressive. On desktop, the more common culprits are an outdated audio driver or a conflict with another application that's already grabbed the microphone. Closing other apps that might be using audio is worth trying on either platform.
Sometimes the audio itself is fine, but an unstable connection makes it cut in and out. A few things worth trying:
A wired or stronger Wi-Fi connection tends to be more consistent than a weak mobile signal.
A VPN is a legitimate privacy tool we'd generally encourage if IP visibility concerns you — see our guide on that — but some VPN configurations do interfere with WebRTC connections. If you're having trouble, disabling it temporarily is a useful way to check whether that's the cause, not a permanent recommendation against using one.
On a restrictive network — some corporate or school networks, for instance — a firewall might be blocking the kind of traffic WebRTC needs.
Usually a blocked browser permission, the wrong input device selected, or another app already using the microphone.
Use headphones instead of speakers. Echo usually happens because your microphone is picking up sound from your own speakers.
Yes, somewhat. Chrome and Edge tend to have more mature WebRTC audio support than some alternatives.
If none of the above resolves it, the issue is likely specific to your device or network setup rather than something on our end. Trying from a different browser or device is a quick way to narrow that down — if audio works fine elsewhere, the original device or browser is the place to keep looking.