Playing Overwatch with friends and family is a beautiful gaming experience that every gamer wants to have. Developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment, this multi-player game is known as one of the best first-person shooter games in the gaming industry.
The game divides 6v6 players into each of the two teams. Players on a team work together to defend and secure control points on a map or escort a payload all over the map in a stipulated amount of time. It is not worth it if we play a team game without any communication between the teammates.
This problem is solved in this beautiful game, which allows you and your teammates to team chat with each other while playing the game. This feature not only enhances gameplay but also provides hassle-free deployment of plans and skills to accomplish missions in the game. You can also talk and discuss the strategy to fulfill missions.
Sometimes due to software or hardware glitches/errors, the communication between teammates is hindered, destroying the delightful gaming experience. Below are some of the errors that may occur while playing overwatch and also the solutions for those problems.
Here are some of the solutions that may be needed to resolve the overwatch mic not working problem
- Check your microphone/ headset
- Set default devices on your PC
- Overwatch in-game audio settings
- Disable PC Audio Device Exclusive
- Update your PC’s audio driver
- Adjust the Microphone Privacy Settings
- Reinstall the overwatch game
Below are the moves you need to follow to perform the above solutions.
1. Check your microphone/ headset
- Before looking for any software glitches, firstly, we need to check if the hardware is in working condition or not. Check if your microphone/ headset is appropriately connected to the jack and if either the jack or pin is faulty.
- Now check if mute mutton is activated on your headphone or mic. If yes, deactivate it.
Now check if the Overwatch mic is not working or working.
2. Set default devices on your PC
There are chances that your PC settings are not allowing voice chat devices in overwatch, causing overwatch voice chat not to work. There are chances that your headset device is detected by the computer but could not use it as a primary device. You need to check and rectify this by manually setting it as the default playback device by following these steps:
- First, close the Overwatch by exiting it.
- Press Windows key + R on your keyboard or search run. On the opened tab that appears, type “mmsys cpl” (only text and full stop between words), then press Enter.
- In the opened window, go to the Playback tab. Search for the speaker/ headphone you need to use. Right-click on it, then select the Default device.
- Right-click and click Disable on all the given devices except the one you want to set as the default device.
- Now go to the Recording tab. Identify the speaker/ headphone you need to use. Right-click on it and select the Default device.
- Click OK and exit.
Now open the overwatch game, join a voice chat, and check if the problem of overwatch voice chat not working is fixed or not.
3. Overwatch in-game audio settings
The issue of the overwatch mic not working could arise in the audio settings of Overwatch itself. Tweaking the game settings can instantly bring voice chat. Follow these steps to solve:
- Open Overwatch, then go to Options and click Sound.
- Turn up the sound on your headphones or speakers to an adequate level.
- Make sure that “TEAM VOICE CHAT” and “GROUP VOICE CHAT” are set to AUTO JOIN.
- Ensure that the right devices are selected for VOICE CHAT DEVICES ( make it default or choose your device.
- Change the key-shortcut (keybind) for Voice Chat if voice chat is set to “Push To Talk.” Simplifying above, changing “Push to Talk” to another key in the Controls menu. (push-to-talk allows voice chat when the key is pressed)
Check the game if overwatch voice chat not working or overwatch mic not working problem is still there.
4. Disable PC Audio Device Exclusive
If the Overwatch in-game audio settings didn’t help, you probably have a third-party application preventing the Overwatch game from using your audio devices. To solve this, you have to disable the “exclusive mode” of your headphone, speakers, microphone, headset. Below are the instructions to solve this:
- Type mmsys cpl in the Run window and hit enter.
- In the opened window, go to the playback tab.
- Find your device and right-click on it. And select properties.
- In the opened properties window, click on the “advanced” tab.
- Now find the “Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device.”
- Uncheck “Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device.”
- Click on Apply, then OK.
After clicking ok, any third-party device that may be hindering the proper function of voice chat will be resolved.
5. Update your PC’s audio driver
Old and outdated audio drivers are another reason for overwatch mic, not working problems. With every new update, the latest firmware is added to software drivers making old ones incompatible with the latest devices. To solve this, you need to update your personal computer’s audio drivers.
To update drivers below is the step-by-step guide:
- There are two methods to update the audio driver, which are:
- To update manually from the official website of the audio device provider:
- Assuming the audio driver provider is Realtek. We would go to the official website of Realtek. Click here
- Choose from the list the driver compatible with your motherboard configuration.
- Download and save the audio driver to your personal computer
- Install the driver into the system drive and restart your computer to make the update come into effect
- To update automatically by using third-party driver update utility like driver talent
I. Download and install driver talent from its official website
Il. Scan your personal computer for any redundant or outdated software.
lll. Search for an audio driver in the list and update it accordingly. By clicking on the repair tab.
6. Adjust the Microphone Privacy Settings
Windows 10 privacy settings may block your microphone access for Overwatch games. You can easily visit the privacy menu in windows 10 and reconfigure the application to access the mic.
- First, open windows 10 settings by going to start- settings or simply search settings in the search bar.
- Go to privacy and scroll down to find a microphone in the app-permission section from the several given tabs
- Select on the “allow apps to access your microphone.”
- Restart your computer to see the effect
Check if the overwatch voice chat, not working problem is rectified or not.
7. Reinstall the overwatch game
There is a possibility that some of the files are missing from the game setup itself. Or maybe corrupted or unable to install in the system due to many reasons. We need to fix overwatch.
It’s always good to download and install the game from its official website and not use any crack tools for the game as it may contain malicious files that can lead to the game’s improper functioning. Fix overwatch by :
- First, uninstall the game from your personal computer.
- Download any cache remover tool (CCleaner)to remove every bit of the game from the pc
- Download and install the game on your personal computer from its official website.
- Run the game
By performing all the above-given steps, most probably the problem of overwatch mic not working will be resolved. Now you can enjoy the game in team voice chat with your mates. If the issue is not resolved even after performing the above steps, please let us know.