In general, it is common to have a microphone for our computer, which we can use to make video calls, to communicate with our friends while we play online or even to record our songs or podcast. However, there are also users who do not want to have the microphone disabled on their computer , to keep their privacy safe, since it is possible that they can spy on us using the microphone or the camera of our computer.
Having our webcam or microphone constantly enabled can mean an open door that could affect our security and privacy . Hackers often use the control of these methods to gain access to everything we say and speak. That is why if we do not frequently use the microphone of our computer in Windows 10 we must learn to deactivate or disable in order to improve our security. That is why today we are going to tell you how we can completely deactivate the microphone of our PC.
Different ways to disable the microphone
If we have a desktop computer, we may not need to make any adjustments since it will be enough to have the cable disconnected. But in case we have a laptop, the microphone is integrated into the computer so we will not have this option available. Therefore, if we want to deactivate or disable the microphone, we must make the appropriate adjustments from Windows 10 or using third-party programs.
From Windows 10 sound options
One of the easiest options to disable the microphone in Windows is to do it from the sound options . To do this, we just have to click on the volume icon, with the right mouse button, which is in the system bar and select the option “Sounds”. Later, a pop-up window will appear, where we must click on the “Record” tab. Later we click on the right button on the “Microphone” and finally, we click is “Disable”.
From the setup menu
The first way that we are going to see to completely disable the microphone is from the Settings menu . To do this we must press the keyboard shortcut “Windows + I”. Later, we click on “Privacy“. In the new window we move through the left column and select the “Microphone” option.
Once in the Microphone section we go to the right panel where we will have two options that we must deactivate. The first will be the option to “Allow applications to access the microphone which we must deactivate”, clicking on the blue button so that it appears as Disabled. Next, we scroll down until we find the option “Allow desktop applications to access the microphone”. We must also click on the blue button to proceed to deactivate it.
Using Device Manager
Another way to disable the microphone in Windows is through Device Manager . To access it, just type Device Manager in the Windows search box and click on it. In this window we must access the option “Audio input and outputs” and click on it to display it. Here, we right-click on the “Microphone” option and a menu will appear where we must choose the “Disable device” option.
From the control panel
If we use the Windows 10 control panel we can also disable the microphone . To do this, we must write control panel inside the Windows search box and select it to open a window. Next, we select the option of “Hardware and sound” and later in “Sound”. Once in this section, a new window will appear where we must click on “Record” and right-click on the “Microphone” option to, finally, click on “Disable”.
Use the system registry editor
Accessing the registry editor is another option that we have to deactivate the microphone. This somewhat more complex form than the previous ones also helps us to guarantee that if another user connects to the computer, they will not activate it again. To do this, we must access the registry editor, pressing the Windows keyboard shortcut + R to activate the “Execute” command and then write regedit . Once in the registry we must navigate through the following route:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / MMDevices / Audio Capture
Now we must display the “Capture” folder and navigate between the records until we find the “Microphone” option within some of the “Properties” folders. Now we must right-click on the “DeviceState” file of that record and select “Modify”. There in the value information we must enter 10000001 to disable the option and click on “Accept”.
Once these changes have been made to the registry, it will be necessary for us to restart the system for the changes to take effect at the next login.
With a third-party app, MicMute
If we want to disable the microphone in Windows 10 but we do not want to do it from the system settings, we can use applications developed for this purpose, as is the case with MicMute . This application can be downloaded from this link , and just when we run it, it is placed in the system tray with an icon in the form of a microphone . From here we have the possibility of accessing the application settings to customize a keyboard shortcut that we can use to deactivate the microphone.
This app has some cool features like the ability to mute the microphone immediately once it starts. We will also have the possibility to see the devices with detected audio input on the screen and by simply pressing the secondary button of the mouse on their icon, we will be able to mute the microphone instantly. It is also interesting to know that in the event that we are going to use this app regularly, we can configure it to start with Windows 10. This is something that we will hardly notice thanks to the few system resources it consumes.