How to allow microphone and camera access in your browser

How browser permissions work

When a website such as our mic test or webcam test wants your microphone or camera, the browser shows a prompt. What you answer is remembered for that site:

• Allow — the site can use the device without asking next time (Chrome on Android also offers Allow this time).
• Block / Don't allow / Deny — the site gets an error straight away, with no prompt. This is why a test "does nothing" after one wrong tap.
• Ask — the prompt appears again next time.

There is also a second gate: Windows, macOS, iOS and Android each decide whether the browser app may use the mic and camera at all. If the system says no, no website can get through, whatever you allow in the browser. The last section covers that.

Pages must be on https to ask for devices. Every page on DeviceKite is.

Chrome (Windows, Mac, Android)

Allow one site on a computer

1. Click the icon to the left of the web address (the slider or lock icon).
2. Select Site settings.
3. Set Microphone and Camera to Allow.
4. Go back to the page and reload it.

Undo a block for all sites

1. Open ⋮ More › Settings › Privacy and security › Site settings.
2. Under Permissions, select Microphone or Camera.
3. Under Not allowed to use your microphone (or camera), select the site and change it to Allow, or delete it with the bin icon so Chrome asks again.
4. Use the drop-down at the top of the same page to choose which microphone or camera Chrome uses by default.

Chrome on Android

1. Tap the icon left of the address › Permissions and turn on Microphone or Camera.
2. Or open ⋮ › Settings › Site settings › Microphone (or Camera), find the site under Blocked and choose Allow.

On a Mac, if Chrome shows Open settings, macOS is blocking Chrome itself: turn Chrome on there and restart it.

Microsoft Edge

1. Click the lock icon to the left of the address and choose Permissions for this site.
2. Set Camera and Microphone to Allow, then reload.

To see every site at once:

1. Open Settings and more (…) › Settings.
2. Go to Privacy, search, and services › Site permissions (in some versions the page is called Cookies and site permissions).
3. Open All sites to change one site, or All permissions › Camera / Microphone to see allowed and blocked sites and remove a block.

Typing edge://settings/content/microphone in the address bar opens the microphone list directly.

Firefox

Firefox shows a crossed-out camera or microphone icon in the address bar when a site is blocked.

1. Click that permissions icon at the left of the address bar.
2. In the panel, click the × next to Blocked to clear it.
3. Reload the page; Firefox asks again. Choose Allow.

To review every site:

1. Open Settings › Privacy & Security and scroll to Permissions.
2. Click Settings… next to Camera or Microphone.
3. Select a site and click Remove Website, or change its status, then Save Changes.

Firefox asks which device to use in the prompt itself, so check the device name there before you click Allow.

Safari on Mac and iPhone

Safari on Mac

1. Choose Safari › Settings, then click Websites.
2. Click Camera or Microphone in the list on the left.
3. Next to the website, choose Allow or Ask instead of Deny.
4. For all other sites, use When visiting other websites at the bottom.

Safari on iPhone and iPad

1. On the page, tap aA in the address bar (on newer iOS versions, the Page Menu button), then Website Settings.
2. Set Camera and Microphone to Allow or Ask.
3. For all sites: on iOS 18 and later Settings › Apps › Safari, on iOS 17 Settings › Safari; under Settings for Websites, set Camera and Microphone to Ask or Allow.

Chrome, Firefox and Edge on iPhone need their own switch: Settings › Apps › your browser › Microphone and Camera on.

Samsung Internet and in-app browsers

Samsung Internet

1. Tap the menu (☰) › Settings › Sites and downloads › Site permissions.
2. Open Microphone or Camera and allow the site, or remove it from the blocked list.
3. Check Settings › Apps › Samsung Internet › Permissions on the phone as well.

Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and other in-app browsers

A link tapped inside a social app opens in that app's built-in browser. Many of them can't pass the mic or camera to a website, or the app itself has no permission. The fix is simple:

1. Tap the ⋮ or … menu in the in-app browser.
2. Choose Open in browser, Open in Chrome or Open in Safari. Or copy the link and paste it into your browser.

When a browser can't reach devices at all, our tests say so and offer a Copy link button for exactly this.

Still blocked? Check the system

If the browser says Allow and the site still gets nothing, the operating system is blocking the browser:

• Windows 11: Settings › Privacy & security › Microphone (and Camera): turn on access and Let desktop apps access your microphone. Windows 10: Settings › Privacy › Microphone. Details in mic not working on Windows.
• macOS: System Settings › Privacy & Security › Microphone (and Camera): switch your browser on, then quit and reopen it. See mic not working on Mac.
• iPhone: Settings › Privacy & Security › Microphone: allow your browser.
• Android: Settings › Apps › your browser › Permissions, and the Mic access / Camera access tiles in Quick Settings. See mic not working on Android.

Also close other apps that may hold the device (Zoom, Teams, Discord, OBS): a camera in use elsewhere often shows as "busy". Then run the mic test, the webcam test or both together with webcam + mic.