They cannot hear me, I cannot hear them

First of all: is the microphone on? The first button of the bottom bar is crossed out and says «Unmute microphone» when it is off; when on, the volume bars next to the icon move while you speak.

Then the right device: the small arrow next to the microphone opens «Select microphone» and «Select speaker»; the one next to the camera, «Select camera». If you change headset with the meeting running, the switch is made here — even though kMeeting tries to do it by itself, and tells you with «Microphone switched to: ».

The messages, and what each one means

They appear in a notice at the top:

• «Your microphone is in use by another application: nobody can hear you. Close the other apps using it and try again.» — another app took it. Close it and try again.
• «Microphone permission denied: nobody can hear you. Allow microphone access in your browser settings, then try again.» — the block is in the browser, and is removed from its settings (the padlock icon next to the address).
• «No microphone detected: nobody can hear you. Connect a microphone and try again.» — there is none at all.
• «Your microphone does not appear to be active: nobody can hear you. Check the browser’s microphone permission (or close other apps using it) and click Try again.» — it is there but nothing gets through: try the «Try again» button in the notice.
• «Connection problem — it’s not your microphone. Participants can’t hear you.» ⚠️ This one is different from the others: the microphone works, it is the network. Use «Reconnect audio» in the notice instead of hunting for settings.

If you are the one who cannot hear

On the microphone button a small warning sign appears: clicking it you read «Audio devices unavailable» and the reason — «No speaker detected on your device. You won’t be able to hear other participants.» — with the advice «Connect an audio device and reload the page.»

If it is the VPN’s fault

«It looks like a VPN or a browser extension is blocking audio and video. Try turning off your VPN’s WebRTC protection, or join in incognito mode.» It happens more often than it seems: you turn off the VPN’s WebRTC protection, or you go into a private browsing window.

Questions this guide answers

• they cannot hear me
• the microphone does not work in the meeting
• I cannot hear the others
• how do I change microphone during the meeting