By MicProbe · Updated 18 October 2026

How to test your microphone in Webex

The Webex App has a microphone test that plays your words back, before or during a meeting. Use it first, then compare with a short browser recording made with the same microphone, so you can tell a microphone problem from a Webex setting.

Check my microphone with MicProbe

MicProbe’s Webex test approximates microphone processing locally in your browser. It does not join Webex or measure what a meeting participant hears.

Test your microphone in the Webex App

Outside a meeting, open Settings and select Audio. Before or during a meeting, select Audio options → Audio Settings.
Choose the Speaker and Microphone you want to use.
Next to the speaker, select Test. A sound plays and the output level bar moves.
Next to the microphone, select Test and say a few words. The input level bar moves and Webex plays your words back.

During a meeting you can also select Audio options → Test speaker and microphone. Cisco describes these steps in its guide to testing audio in the Webex App. In the older Webex Meetings app, the same test is under Settings in the preview window before you join.

Check the audio connection before you join

In the preview window, Audio options decides how you join: Computer audio, Call me, Call in or Don’t connect to audio. Your microphone is used only with Computer audio, where you can also pick the speaker and microphone and select Test. During a meeting, Audio options → Switch audio changes the connection.

Check smart audio

Webex’s smart audio options are under Audio options → Webex smart audio during a call, or Settings → Audio → Smart audio outside one. The desktop app offers Noise removal, which is the default, Optimize for my voice, Optimize for all voices and Music mode. They apply to computer audio only. On iPhone and iPad, find them under More options → Smart Audio; on Android, under More options → Advanced → Smart audio. See Cisco’s guide to removing background noise in Webex.

The Webex desktop app can change your Windows input volume without setting it back. If your level differs from one meeting to the next, check Automatically adjust volume in the app’s audio settings and your Windows input volume.

Compare with a browser recording

Open MicProbe, select the Webex test and choose the same microphone you selected in Webex. Follow the recording guide, then use Play to hear the saved sample. Keep your speaking distance, room and listening device the same for both checks.

A named MicProbe test is a local approximation, not a recording from Webex. It lets you hear your side and keep a sample for comparison; it cannot show how Webex processed or sent your voice.

What does the difference tell you?

Both recordings sound wrong: start with the microphone, its position and the room. Follow the guides for low volume, muffled speech or static and buzzing.
The browser recording is clear, but Webex sounds worse: recheck the microphone selected in Webex and compare one smart audio option at a time. Then read why a clear recording can sound worse in a call.
Words go missing in meetings: use the cutting-out microphone guide to separate missing words in your recording from interruptions in the call.

If Webex cannot hear your microphone

Check that you joined with Computer audio, that you are unmuted and that the microphone is connected and switched on. On iPhone, open Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone and turn on Webex. In the Webex web app in Chrome, allow the microphone at chrome://settings/content/microphone; after you plug in a new microphone, you may need to restart the browser.

The Webex desktop app hears only the left channel of a stereo input, so a microphone on an audio interface’s second input may not be heard. If you use an audio interface, plug the microphone into its first input.

If you use a Bluetooth headset, sound playing through it can change when its microphone is active; see the Bluetooth microphone guide.

Common questions

Does Webex let me hear my own microphone before a meeting?

Yes. In the Webex App, the microphone Test plays your words back. It shows how the microphone sounds through Webex on that device; a different audio connection or smart audio option in the meeting can still change what others hear.

Can I test my microphone in the Webex phone app?

Cisco’s help pages describe smart audio and the audio connection on phones, but not a microphone test. Check the app’s microphone permission in your phone’s settings, then ask another participant how you sound or compare with a recording made on the same phone.

Does MicProbe test Cisco’s servers?

No. Its Webex test uses a local approximation. The connection check sends a sample voice to a nearby Cloudflare server and back, not through Cisco’s servers. Read what MicProbe measures and what it cannot check.

For other apps, see the Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet mic test guides.