Error while opening sound device | Audacity | Windows 10

In this guide I will show you how to fix your microphone not working in Audacity. For me my blue yeti microphone was not working. I got the error, “error while opening sound device. Please check the recording device settings and the project sample rate.” This problem comes from one of the newer features in Windows 10 and is easy to resolve.

Audacity - Error while opening sound device

The first thing you need to do is click on the start button and then go to Privacy settings. I like to use the search feature to make this easy.

Windows 10 - Start - Privacy Settings

Once the privacy settings show up you will click on the Microphone option on the left-hand side.

Windows 10 - Privacy Settings - Microphone

Next you’ll scroll down to where it says Allow desktop apps to access your microphone. If you see that the toggle is off, this is most likely your problem. Simply move the toggle to the on position by clicking on it.

Windows 10 - Allow desktop apps to access your microphone - off

As you can see below the toggle is now in the on position. You can also see information about some of the last apps to use your microphone.

Windows 10 - Allow desktop apps to access your microphone - on

Now if we go back to the audacity program and try to record audio. You should see that it is now working.

Audacity - Blue Yeti Microphone working

As you can see it was easy to resolve “error while opening sound device”. This will get your microphone working in audacity on windows 10. My blue yeti microphone not working, was a symptom of the overall operating system security settings. If you’ve experienced something similar please drop a comment below to get the conversation started.

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