Allowing the microphone

When you choose Record my voice and the block says "Microphone access was not allowed. You can change it in your browser settings.", your browser is blocking the microphone for this site. Allow it from the site settings in the address bar (or from Settings on an iPhone), reload the page, then choose Record my voice again.

Allow the microphone in your browser

The first time you record, the browser shows its own prompt and the block says "Allow microphone access in your browser, or choose Cancel." Choose Allow. If you closed the prompt or chose Block, the setting lives here:

1. Chrome and Edge (phone or computer): choose the lock or site-settings icon on the left of the address bar, find Microphone, set it to Allow, then reload.
2. Safari on a Mac: open the Safari menu, choose Settings for this website, and set Microphone to Allow (also under Safari › Settings › Websites › Microphone).
3. Safari on an iPhone or iPad: choose the page-settings icon on the left of the address bar, open Website Settings, and set Microphone to Allow. If the option is missing, open the iPhone's Settings app › Safari › Microphone.
4. Firefox: choose the permissions icon on the left of the address bar and remove the blocked microphone entry, then reload so it can ask again.

Chrome, Edge and Firefox usually remember the answer for this site; Safari may ask again in a new session.

Read the message under the buttons

The line under the record buttons tells you what happened; none of these is a fault with your take.

• "The microphone request is still unanswered. Choose Record my voice when you are ready to allow access." The prompt waited fifteen seconds without an answer. Look for it at the top of the window, answer it, then record again.
• "Recording cancelled. The microphone is off." You chose Cancel while the browser was still asking (or during the Get ready countdown), or you left the tab before recording started. The microphone is released straight away; nothing was kept. If you switch tab or app once recording has started, the take stops and is kept for you to listen back.
• "The microphone could not start. Please try another input device." The browser is allowed but the device didn't respond. Another app may be using it, or the wrong input is selected (see below).
• "Speaking Beta needs a current browser with microphone recording support." Update your browser, or try Safari, Chrome, Firefox or Edge.

Use a headset or Bluetooth microphone

There's no microphone picker inside the lesson; MicroEnglish records from whichever input your browser or phone is using. Connect the headset before you open the lesson, then check the input in your browser's microphone settings or your computer's sound settings. Phones use a connected Bluetooth headset automatically. Reload the page after switching so the next recording uses the new input.

What the microphone is used for

The microphone starts only when you press Record and turns off when you press Stop recording or Cancel. Your take stays on your device while you listen back: nothing is uploaded until you choose Get feedback. If you choose Discard this take instead, it is never sent. Audio is never used for voice cloning, and a sent recording is deleted after 24 hours; see Deleting a recording.

If the microphone works on other sites but not here, write to us with "Something else" selected, naming your phone or browser and the message you saw: Contact us about recording.