Devices Enable or Disable Microphone in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you different ways on how to enable or disable the microphone on your Windows 11 PC.

When you are not using the microphone (mic) on your PC, you may want to disable it for privacy and security reasons, as it can get hacked and the hackers would be able to hear everything you say.







1 Press the Microphone key on the keyboard to toggle enable or disable. (see screenshot below)

The actual key you press on the keyboard may vary per manufacturer.

Not all keyboards will have a microphone key or switch available.

1 Open Settings (Win+I).

2 Click/tap on System on the left side, and click/tap on Sound on the right side. (see screenshot below)



3 Under Advanced, click/tap on All sound devices. (see screenshot below)



4 Under Input devices, click/tap on the Microphone you want to enable or disable. (see screenshot below)


5 Click/tap on Don't allow (disable) or Allow (enable) for what you want. (see screenshots below)

Don't allow will remove the microphone from Device Manager.

Allow will add the microphone back to Device Manager.

6 You can now close Settings if you like.





1 Open the Control Panel (icons view), and click/tap on the Sound icon (control mmsys.cpl,,1).

2 Click/tap on the Recording tab. (see screenshots below)

3 Right click or press and hold on the Microphone you want, and click/tap on Enable or Disable.

Disable will remove the microphone from Device Manager.

Enable will add the microphone back to Device Manager.

4 Click/tap on OK.

You must be signed in as an administrator to use this option.

1 Open Device Manager (devmgmt.msc).

2 Do step 3 (enable) or step 4 (disable) below for what you want.

This is the default setting.

You must be signed in as an administrator to use this option.

1 Open Windows Terminal (Admin), and select Windows PowerShell.

2 Copy and paste the command below you want to use into PowerShell, and press Enter. (see screenshots below)




3 When finished, you can close Windows Terminal (Admin) if you like.






That's it,
Shawn Brink