How do I fix the unbearable mic static that appears during in game recordings? (Windows 11)

Question

How do I fix the unbearable mic static that appears during in game recordings? (Windows 11)

Bob Gilbert 20

(English is my third language, I apologize in advance in case the ideas written here bring any confusion.)

I occasionally record gaming sessions for fun and, for doing that, I used most of the times the in-built Game Bar tool. It is decent, unless I turn the mic on and this is where the "fun" begins. (No buzzing/static is there as long as the mic is not enabled, if it is enabled, the static kicks in. It only happenes when recording in game, nothing like that occurs when using the Recorder up or when screen-recording the desktop.)

I am locked with the in built microphone of a Dell Optiplex all-in-one-computer (wich is primarly made for office related work such as Word and PPT files editting and it does that perfectly and even some light gaming works as well on that intel core i3 with integrated graphics). I am locked with the in-built microphone, I do have a pair of earbuds that have one of their own as well except the issue that I'm having with them is that they cannot be detected by the PC (I'm using an extension aux cable wich has only two segments for the stereo sound delivery, im aware of that, thus I tried connecting the earbuds with their own plug). I tried both jacks that the PC has and it could not detect them through either, I tried both the setting app and the control panel. The earbuds do work as an output device though they do not show up as that kind either, they do work just fine when plugged into my phone.

I did try to tap on the PC chasis next to the mic and, funnily enough, it did seem to reduce the static (and my own voice's volume) by a lot, though only temporarily (for a few seconds untill it came back).

I checked the drivers for both the in- and the output devices: they showed up as up-to-date.

Later I decided to simply try a different app: the Snipping Tool. It worked wonders, untill it didnt: the sound quality during the recording with the mic turned on was much, much better than the one with Game Bar, the static was still there but in no way was is as loud as with the initial app, whatever

I was saying was intelligible for once, the new problem, however, ended up being the app itself, it crashes. No error messages (neither before hitting "record" nor after doing so), no alerts, nothing, it records for as long as it does (40~70 seconds) and then the red frame simply disappears and nothing is saved.

I tried a third party software once I started having issues with the in-built ones: WO Mic (this one was before the Snipping Tool, oh well) and OBS Studio.

I followed all the steps mentioned on the WO Mic site. I did manage to hook my older phone (Xiomi Redmi 2S) to the PC and it did work as a mic, although the quality wasnt much better than the one of Game Bar, instead of the loud buzzing and static it brought a weird artefacty sound that was just as unbeareble and was not caused by the phone' mic itself, wich actually is pretty decent on it's own. (Then I tried Snipping Tool.)

Apparently OBS Studio is being used by lots and lots of streamers and youtubers so it does have quite the reputation, right? Apparently those people use higher end devices wich allows them recording higher quality footage because when I tested it myself, the sound quality was about the same as the one offered by the Snipping Tool, but the frame rate was the absolute let-down of them all.

To summarize everything:

-the PC cannot detect my earbuds' mic though they do work as an outputdevice;

-Game Bar work fine unless the mic is turned on, wich brings an incredibly loud static;

-tapping next to the mic reduces the static only temporarily;

-WO MIcrohpone kind of work, by exchanging the loud static with a weird sound lag;

-the Snipping Tool records sounds with WAY less static, but does crash randomly;

-OBS Studio records in a terrible framerate;

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Answer 1

Clary-N 1,345 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Bob Gilbert,

Thank you for reaching out Microsoft Answers and providing such a detailed description of the issue. I understand how frustrating microphone static can be, especially when you're trying to enjoy and record your gaming sessions.

Based on your observations, here are a few steps you can try to reduce or eliminate the static:

*****Audio Settings Adjustments

Disable Audio Enhancements
- Go to Settings > System > Sound
- Under Input, select your microphone
- Click Device Properties > Additional device properties
- In the Advanced tab, uncheck Enable audio enhancements
Change Audio Format
- In the same Advanced tab, try lowering the sample rate (e.g., from 48kHz to 44.1kHz or 16-bit)
Reduce Mic Boost
- In Control Panel > Sound > Recording tab, select your mic
- Go to Properties > Levels and reduce the Microphone Boost slider

***** Earbuds Mic Detection

It appears your earbuds are not being detected as a microphone due to the type of extension cable used. Most standard aux cables support only stereo audio (TRS), not microphone input (TRRS). To resolve this:

Consider using a TRRS splitter adapter, which separates the mic and audio output channels and allows proper detection by your PC.

***** Game Bar Specific Issue

Since the static only occurs when using Game Bar with the mic enabled:

Try disabling background recording in Game Bar settings.
Ensure no other apps are accessing the microphone simultaneously.
Test with different sample rates and enhancements as mentioned above.

***** Snipping Tool Crashes

While the Snipping Tool offers better audio quality, its instability may be due to system limitations or compatibility issues. I recommend checking for:

Windows updates
App updates via Microsoft Store
Sufficient system resources during recording

If your system is running near full capacity, it may struggle to record smoothly. Here’s what you can do:

Check usage: Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) and monitor CPU, RAM, and disk usage under the Performance tab.
If usage is high:
Close unnecessary background apps.
Restart your PC before recording.
Free up disk space.
Lower recording resolution and frame rate.
Increase virtual memory (page file) if RAM is limited.

I hope these steps help improve your recording experience. If the issue persists, feel free to reply with any updates or additional questions. I'm always here to help.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Bob Gilbert 20 Reputation points

2025-08-22T11:01:33.3366667+00:00
Hello, Clary-N, I appreciate the answer.

Despite using the up-to-date windows 11 operating system, I could neither find the Additional device properties, nor the Advanced tab, nor the Enable audio enhancements option. The system language is my native one, and I do not think that this affects the UI so much to the point where it entirely differs from one language to the other, unless I was not cautious enough while searching for it and I completely overlooked it.

The audio format has been set to 44.1 kHz and, despite that, the Game Bar recording static with the microphone turned on hasn't changed.

I have reduced the mic boost option all the way down to 20 per cent of the volume, the same static (voice volume as well) with it turned on still persists. Regarding the extension cable, I have mentioned that I was aware of it's segments, wich are responsible mainly for the stereo sound delivery, thus I kept trying without it, by plugging the earbuds straight into the PC headset jack (there is a second jack as well that I would normally plug my Genius external speakers wich were allways detected while my earbuds, being plugged into that one as well would be able to output the sound without showing up at the control panel in the first place) by plugging the earbuds straight into the PC headset jack, in the end achieving the same result with the control panel. Regarding the Game Bar specific issue, I cannot find the background recording option. Regarding the Snipping Tool crashes, both the system and the app are up-to-date, the cooling fan does not go much louder than it usually would while performing the same task (which led me to thinking that there are enough resources) so I decided to enable the High Performance option from Grafics Preferences (System>Display>Grafics>) and it crashed anyway, but, once I checked the Task Manager, as you have advised me to, I saw this: The CPU usage averages at 70 per cent, the iGPU has some similar results (ofc it has, its an intel core i3 cpu with integrated graphics in 2025, after all); the network data flow is normal, it does not go too high up the graph, barely reaches half of it most of the times; around 5 (out of 7.9) gigs of RAM were in use. I do not think I can close unnecessary background apps since all of the ones working at the time seemed to be quite necessary, in the system-based meaning of the word, so I left everything as is (during the recording the only apps that were working in the tool bar were: the game that I'm recording and the Snipping Tool app, nothing else like Google Chrome was running in the background). Heres's a fun detail: the mic gain setting affects the Snipping Tool and not the Game Bar, at 20 per cent gain I could barely hear myself while talking at an ordinary volume while in the Game Bar recordings this setting has, as I've mentioned above, no effect.I just tested the Snipping Tool again, by recording the game in... I'm not entirely sure about the term, it's almost full screen except you can still acces the tool bar below and its not a resizable window unless you drag it from the top downwards and it's size reduces automatically (I apologize in case I sound silly while trying to explain this). The recording has been going for 3 minutes and 11 seconds while, yesterday, not long before writing the initial question, I would record in full screen and the Snipping Tool would crash at around 40 to 70 (~1 minute 10 seconds) seconds mid recording.

So, probably not recording in true full screen is the way to go with the Snipping Tool app?

I'm not recording for professionalism or anything, I just find it interesting to record more special moments that I might be interested in rewatching later.

With that being said, I really appreciate your attention and the advices you gave me for fixing the issue, have a good time!
Clary-N 1,345 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-23T08:42:28.02+00:00

Hi Bob Gilbert,

Thanks so much for your patience and for sharing such a detailed update. I really appreciate the effort you've put into troubleshooting this.

Based on what you've described, it sounds like you've already tried all the key adjustments - mic boost, audio format, direct jack connection, and even system performance checks. The fact that the static persists in Game Bar recordings despite these changes suggests it may be a limitation or conflict specific to Game Bar itself, especially since mic gain doesn’t seem to affect it.

Your discovery about Snipping Tool working better in borderless windowed mode is a great insight. It’s likely that full screen recording pushes system resources just enough to cause instability, especially with integrated graphics and limited RAM. Sticking to borderless mode sounds like a solid workaround for now.

If you’re open to it, I’d recommend trying a TRRS splitter adapter or a basic USB microphone to improve mic detection and input quality.

If you have any further questions or need additional assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach back. I'm always here to help.
Bob Gilbert 20 Reputation points

2025-08-23T11:53:58.26+00:00

Hello again!

A small update on the Snipping Tool workaround, I think I simply got lucky with the 3 minutes and 11 seconds because when trying the same method a second time it crashed at around 1 minute, just like it previously would. I did notice one thing though:

I heard a short, high pitched noise that sounded almost like a "beep" (it seemed to have been delivered by my earbuds, I'm not sure if that was an actual physical component that produced it), maybe around 10 seconds before it crashed, I remember hearing it previously when using the Snipping Tool (before it would fail) but I never knew it's meaning at those times. Now I think that the beep-like sound hints towards the app crashing.

Thats not an issue though, well, not anymore, as I thought of solution that will put an end to it all:

The mic, when comunicating with other people in-game, does not have any major issue like the unbeareble static im dealing with in the Game Bar recordings (with the voice recording on) as nobody complained about its quality yet. So, since in-game or in video conferences the mic itself does not present any issue, for recording my voice I will use my phone separately with its in-built recorder app. At the end I would save the voice recording as an mp3 file wich I would later send to my PC and, with the help of an editing software, I would add the mp3 file to the mp4 one and synchronize them.

To summarize the idea: the PC in-built mic will still be in use for in-game chatting (but not for the recording itself), while for the voice recording I will use the phone's one separately and sinchronize the two files later and save the final one.

As for a TRRS splitter adapter or a USB microphone, I currently do not have either but will definetely look into trying it in the future!

Thank you very much for being here and offering different in-sights in an attempt to fix the issue. Have a good time!
Clary-N 1,345 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-28T08:21:14.4533333+00:00

Hi Bob Gilbert,

Thank you for sharing this detailed update and for your efforts in troubleshooting the issue. I really appreciate the observations you made regarding the Snipping Tool behavior and the beep sound before the crash, it’s helpful information for understanding the pattern.

Your proposed workaround of using your phone’s built-in recorder for voice capture and later syncing the audio with the video is a practical solution, especially since the in-game mic works fine for communication. This approach should help you maintain good audio quality while avoiding the static issue in Game Bar recordings.

As for the TRRS splitter or USB microphone, those are excellent options to consider in the future for a more streamlined setup.

If you experience any further issues or would like additional assistance, please let me know. I’m here to help.

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How do I fix the unbearable mic static that appears during in game recordings? (Windows 11)

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