My microphone audio sounds choppy or distorted

If your recording’s microphone audio sounds choppy or distorted, there are a few steps you can take to resolve the problem. For more information on the difference between microphone, tab and system audio, click here.


Your microphone should only be used to record your voice, not any audio coming from your computer speakers. To capture audio from your computer, record system audio instead. 

Step 1: Check your microphone’s volume level

It’s possible that your microphone’s volume is too high, which makes the input too strong and creates a distorted audio recording. To resolve this, try these steps:

  1. Open the extension’s Recording Control Panel
  2. Under “Audio”, check “Microphone”
  3. Select the microphone you intend to use
  4. Next to the microphone drop-down menu, click themicrophone-iconicon
  5. The sound bar will pop up. Drag the orange circle to the left of the small line indicating a safe level to record, or until there is no more red or yellow appearing when you speak normally.

Step 2: Determine if the audio problem is present outside of Screencastify

Please visit this website and try recording your voice. If it still sounds distorted, the problem is more likely localized to your devices hardware or settings. Contact us and we may be able to assist you.

If your voice sounds normal, then please move on to Step 3.

Step 3: Restart your computer

It’s always possible that new software or patches that have been installed on your computer are interfering with the way that Screencastify is interacting with your microphone.

Step 4: Uninstall and reinstall Screencastify

Click here for instructions on how to uninstall Screencastify.




If you have followed the above steps and your audio still sounds choppy or distorted,  submit your logs to customer support. Please indicate that you've already tried the solutions above and provide as much detail as possible.
