Steam voice chat not working? Don’t worry this is a fixable error most steam users face during voice chat or streaming. Sometimes steam application bugs prevent users from voice chat overlay. As a result, you can’t use the voice chat function. But microphone or voice chat may work correctly on other applications like skype, TeamSpeak, zoom, etc. In this guide, we will show you how to fix the steam voice chat function on your computer ( every solution verified by our technical team )
Why is my steam voice chat function not working?
From the user’s feedback, we notify some common malfunction block users from voice chat overlay.
- Microphone not plugged in properly: Your first priority should be checking whether your microphone plugged properly or not. If you are using a USB microphone, then check with a wired connection.
- Sound driver not working: Sometimes, proper drivers update automatically, and if the internet connection is disconnected during the update, it will be corrupted before fully updated again.
- Change in mic setting in games: You should give a microphone testing from Voice and setup testing to check, it is configured with your Windows device.
- Steam account using 2 or more computers simultaneously: You should skip using the same steam account for more than one device to get rid of voice chat stuck issues.
- Bugged Windows Audio Enhancements: Audio enhancement boosts your audio performance, but sometimes it causes voice output errors. Will give a perfect solution for this later.
- GE – GeForce Experience Update: After the GE update steam voice chat function stopped working, it’s complained by Nvidia users several times. It would be best if you fixed it manually (the solution is given below )
- Antivirus software: 3rd party antivirus software stuck steam voice chat function when it recognizes it as malware. So we need to whitelist the software.
How to fix steam voice chat function?
Fix steam voice chat with 6 easy methods. All methods were reviewed before posting here.
- Enable microphone from steam chat overlay
- Select Right Microphone or Enable microphone from windows sound settings
- Sign out your steam account from other devices
- Turn off windows audio enhancement
- Allow microphone from windows setting
- Whitelist steam on antivirus software
Follow these methods step by step to solve steam voice chat issues within minutes.
Fix 1: Enable microphone from steam chat overlay
Most of the user fix steam chat with 3 easy steps:
Step 1: Open Steam application > Click on the Setting icon.
Step 2: Click on Voice setting > then check the Voice input device, it should be like the image below.
Step 3: Your Voice Transmission Type must be set to Open microphone or Push-to-talk
Fix 2: Select Right Microphone or Enable microphone from windows sound settings
Step 1: Go to windows taskbar > right click on the sound icon ( some settings will appear )
Step 2: Click on Open Sound Settings
Step 3: Your microphone should appear like the image below, under choose your input device
Step 4: If your setting shows no microphone, then you can choose it manually by clicking manage sound devices
Step 5: After clicking manage sound devices, a list of connected devices will appear in a new window. From The list, click on the microphone you wanted to choose and click on the enable button below it.
Your job is done here.
Fix 3: Sign out of your steam account from other devices
A significant number of steam users use their same account for all their devices, usually, it’s not a problem, but sometimes simply logout from other devices can solve the voice chat error.
If you don’t remember devices you used or have no access to them, then change your password, it will automatically log out steam account from other existing devices.
Check again if your voice chat option is enabled or not. Suppose your answer is no, then follow the next methods.
Fix 4: Turn off windows audio enhancement
Disabling Windows audio enhancement may fix your steam voice chat malfunction. Windows audio enhancement is used for boosting audio performance, but these features can block steam from using audio devices. So, turn off audio enhancement for a little time. To do that, follow the below steps:
Step 1: Like fix 2, go to Open sound settings
Step 2: Now click on Sound Control Panel ( Marked on the image ), A new tab named “Playback” will appear on your computer
Step 3: Now right-click on your desired audio device and go to properties > Enhancements
Step 4: Now check on Disable all enhancement and save the settings
Step 5: Check steam if the issue resolved or not
Fix 5: Allow microphone from windows setting
Your microphone access may be disabled because of privacy issues, you need to enable it manually to access, among other applications. To enable it follow the below guideline :
Step 1: Go to settings from your Windows taskbar
Step 2: Go to privacy settings
Step 3: Now choose Microphone settings from the left side menu
Step 4: Turn on, Allow apps to access your microphone toggle.
Now check steam for voice chat.
Fix 6: Whitelist steam on antivirus software
3rd party antivirus software always creates mass, it may block applications by recognizing it as malware. That’s why we need to whitelist steam from antivirus software.
Whitelisting apps means marking them safe. To do that, go to your antivirus software > Go to settings > Exclusions tab > Mark your application among the application list to whitelist it > save the settings.
Conclusion about Steam voice chat error
Steam is famous for its voice chat function among the gamer community. It will be so annoying if you can’t use the function. But worry not, try our given solutions. During our survey, most users fix their voice chat function with Enable microphone from the steam chat overlay method. If your issue isn’t resolved with way one, then we have five other plans for you.
Faq about steam voice chat function issue
Why does my Steam voice chat not work?
Answer: There may be different reasons behind the problem, At first you need to check the microphone if it is connected correctly. Then you can enable the microphone from windows settings, sign out from other devices, turn off audio enhancement, whitelist steam on antivirus software. To do that, follow our fixes.
How do I fix Steam’s voice chat?
Answer: As mentioned above, you can quickly fix your Voice chat with our 6 proven methods. We tested all before post here.
How do I allow steam to access my microphone?
Answer: Go to steam settings page > click on Voice tab ( you can find it on the top of access your microphone settings )
Or, check the settings button from the main screen, then go to the voice tab ( if you are using steam big picture )
Why is my mic not working?
Answer: Maybe your mic isn’t connected correctly, or maybe your mic isn’t allowed on the steam.
Why is steam using my microphone?
Answer: Steam is a famous voice chatting application among gamers and YouTubers. Steam needs to access your microphone to output audio. If your microphone access is disabled, then you can’t access the voice chat function on steam.
How do I test if my mic is working?
Answer: Go to Windows 10 taskbar > search Sound settings > Click the first result > Under Input, choose your mic. Now watch for a bar under test your microphone ups and down. If the ups and downs, then your mic is still working, but if the bar doesn’t, then your mic isn’t working fine > click on troubleshoot and check the connection to fix it.
