microsoft
Shortcut to mute mic
Description of the new feature / enhancement
A keyboard shortcut that toggles mute mic.
Scenario when this would be used?
This feature is useful while gaming, to mute your mic across all programs that is receiving mic input. For example, if you're using discord, and playing a game with voice chat, you can mute your mic input on the game and discord with one shortcut, rather than 2, or more, if you where using more programs.
Supporting information
This feature used to be in PowerToys, under the name video conference mute but has since been removed. This was the only tool I used in PowerToys, and the only reason I downloaded PowerToys. I would be grateful if this feature was added back, whether under the same name, or a different name. I am requesting this feature as there is no other easy way to toggle mute across all platforms using a keyboard shortcut to my knowledge.
I join the request to add the functionality back. (me sumo al pedido para que vuelvan a agregar la funcionalidad)
There is no built in replacement in Windows that does the same thing. Windows key + Alt + K mutes the active application's microphone input but does not propagate this change to the device at the Windows level, which is required for the mute state to be global.
Please please, bring back this feature. I miss it so much. It was the only reason why I downloaded PowerToys
I have pinned PowerToys at v0.87.1 and will continue using it until a suitable replacement comes along, or technical / security reasons force me to do otherwise.
IMO for reasons of safety and privacy a general Block Media Input hotkey would make a great addition to any OS. Until that is the case I'd very much appreciate to see this function return as a part of PowerToys.
thank you, i love powertoys in general, but this feature and the “push to talk” hotkey functionality were my favorites
i’m also sticking to the old version that had it on my main pc - thanks for your great work, and thanks for bringing this back
I would like to add that they also bring back the video mute. I am still using 0.87.1 because I use the video mute just as much as the audio mute.
I would like to add that they also bring back the video mute. I am still using 0.87.1 because I use the video mute just as much as the audio mute.
same and I can't find any better alternative
I would like to add that they also bring back the video mute. I am still using 0.87.1 because I use the video mute just as much as the audio mute.
When it comes to privacy and avoiding embarrassment, a "visual mute" is IMO even more important than an auditive one. The unique selling point of VCM is to reliably block audio & video input with a single button-press.
Remapping a key to (Win + Alt + K) using Keyboard Manager works for me in Win 11
It works similarly to how VCM previously did to mute/unmute the mic, even when you're not in the meeting apps. It show dialog/toast (u name it) to notify when it triggered
Remapping a key to (Win + Alt + K) using Keyboard Manager works for me in Win 11
It works similarly to how VCM previously did to mute/unmute the mic, even when you're not in the meeting apps. It show dialog/toast (u name it) to notify when it triggered
this doesn't work globally, it requires the app to support it, which doesn't help me at all and also is terrible
this doesn't work globally, it requires the app to support it, which doesn't help me at all and also is terrible
Seconded. The built-in mic mute from Windows does not function as a global mute, and is a notable downgrade from the mic mute that used to be in PowerToys. It's asinine for MS to add a global chord for muting just Teams (I haven't heard of anybody else hooking into it), and it was a bad move to take the superior tool out of this suite.
Joining the choir of people who have said they have been sticking to 0.87.1 purely because of VCM. It's saved me many an embarrassing moment and also is just convenient to have as some form of software-based privacy security. I feel removing this feature for the lacklustre implementation in Windows 11 is a massive downgrade, and hurts the appeal of this tool which is designed for power users.
Made an account just to join in to say that this was my main reason for using PowerToys.
The reason the deprecated video conference mute feature was so great was that it justed worked globally. This was especially useful for web conferencing applications not listening to hotkeys while in background.
Most of the applications that support the W11 Win+Alt+K feature already allow setting hotkeys on their own, while browser based applications can't and are now left out.
This is especially bad for corporate users that can't just install 3rd party software to provide basic functionality
