Resolving Sound Issues (Mac)

There are a number of factors that can affect the sound quality in a videoconference. Review the lists below to understand some of the more common factors.

You hear background noise.

  • Ask the person to move to a quieter location.
  • Ask the person to move closer to their microphone when they speak, and to mute when they are not speaking.
  • Use a headset or a speakerphone with echo-cancellation. Built-in equipment is more likely to pick up background noise.

You hear the sound at a very low volume.

  • Use your computer’s Audio Controls to increase your computer’s speaker volume.
  • If it is a specific participant you can’t hear well, ask them to use their computer’s Sound > Recording controls to increase the volume of their microphone.

You are sharing a video but other people cannot hear the video's sound.

When you are sharing a video (e.g., YouTube) using a Chrome or Edge browser, to allow other people to hear the sound you need to turn on the “also share audio” option.
Share screen pop-up

Note: Sharing sound is supported only by:

  • Chrome and Edge browsers.
  • The share "Tab" and "Entire screen" options. (The share "Window" option does not support sound.)

After selecting the “Share” button, in the “Choose what to share” pop-up:

  • If you are sharing a browser tab, click the Also share tab audio option.
  • If you are sharing an entire screen, click the Also share system audio option.

There are dropped or cut-off words.

  • Your CPU may be intermittently working on other tasks.
    • To free-up your CPU, close all applications except those necessary for your videoconference. (For example, shut down Outlook which can use a lot of bandwidth and CPU if it is downloading large attachments.)
  • Your internet connection may be poor or highly variable.
    • If you share a connection with others, another application or another computer streaming video or file downloading might be consuming bandwidth.
    • If you are connected via a wireless connection, you can improve the quality in most cases by using a wired connection.

You get an error message that no microphone is selected.

If Safari is your default browser, you need to ensure the video visit app can access your microphone.