Is a Mac app using or changing the wrong microphone?

Understand the two selection layers

System Settings > Sound > Input chooses the macOS system default. Apps that are set to System Default, or that provide no separate microphone choice, normally use that input.

Some call, recording, transcription, and voice tools offer a microphone menu of their own. When one is set to a device by name, it can keep using that device even while Sound settings shows another system input.

Identify which of three changes happened

• The app is pinned to a named microphone: Sound settings can be correct while that app keeps using its own selection.
• The app follows System Default: the app changes because another device or piece of software changed the Mac’s system input.
• The app changes the system default: Sound settings itself moves when the app starts, connects, or changes modes. Mic Check can restore your highest-ranked connected input after that change.

Check which choice the app is using

1. Open System Settings > Sound > Input, select the intended microphone, and confirm its input meter moves.
2. Open the app’s settings and look for an audio, voice, recording, input, or microphone control.
3. If you want the app to follow macOS, choose System Default, Default, or the equivalent option.
4. If you intentionally want one fixed device only in that app, select it by name there and manage the choice inside the app.
5. Restart the app if it asks you to, then make a short test inside that app.

Labels and restart behavior vary by app. This guide avoids app-specific menu paths because those controls can change independently of macOS.

Do not confuse selection with permission

If the app cannot use any microphone, shows an access warning, or does not appear to receive audio at all, check System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone. Permission decides whether the app may access microphones. It does not choose which microphone the app uses.

The microphone permission versus selection guide separates those two failures step by step.

Where Mic Check helps

Mic Check protects the macOS system default. It is useful when the app follows System Default and another device or piece of software changes that system choice. Mic Check restores the highest-ranked connected input.

Mic Check cannot force an app to abandon a named input selected inside the app. Change that app-specific setting to System Default if you want it to follow the protected Mac input.