How to Disable the Internal Microphone on a Mac

A step-by-step guide to turning off your Mac's built-in microphone

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: May 27, 2022 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how set the volume on your Mac's internal microphone to 0, eliminating any chance that sound will be picked up by it.^{[1]
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Steps

1
Click on the Apple icon. It's the Apple logo at the top left corner of the main menu bar on your Mac.
2
Click System Preferences.

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3
Click the "Sound" icon. It looks like a speaker.
- If you can't see the main menu, click the three rows of dots at the top left corner of the window, which displays as Show All in earlier versions of Mac OS X.
4
Click Input. It's one of three options along the top of the Sound window.
5
Click on Internal Microphone to highlight it on the device menu.
6
Drag the "Input volume" slider all the way to the left. Doing so reduces the input volume to 0%, and "disables" the internal microphone from picking up sound.
- Alternatively, you can click on another sound input device from the device menu to use it as your main input device.
- You can test your input volume by monitoring the "Input Level" bar. Drag the "Input volume" slider above 0%, then clap your hands. You will see the input level bars turn grey as the internal mic picks up sound. Drag the slider back to 0%, and do the same test. You will not see any sound being picked up on the input level bars.

Community Q&A

Question

I'm trying to use a headset on my Mac, but when calls come in, sound is only coming through my speaker, not through my headset. Please help.

Community Answer

In your top bar, go to the very right and click on the speaker icon. You should be able to change the volume, and right under is the option for output devices. Select "headphones."
Question

After turning down the volume on my Mac, the mic is still picking up everything. Any advice?

Fancyghost

Community Answer

This is how a microphone works. Turning down the volume only changes what you hear, not what the microphone hears. Try some different troubleshooting steps.