# A recording is missing audio

> Fix microphone and system audio permissions when a recording captures only one side.

Source: https://notate.md/docs/troubleshooting/recording-permissions/

Category: Troubleshooting

Updated: 2026-08-12

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If a transcript is empty, or has the other side of a call but not your own voice, it is almost always an operating system permission rather than a problem with the recording itself.

The confusing part is that a partial failure does not look like a failure. On desktop, meeting mode records your microphone and your computer's audio as two separate streams. If the microphone is blocked but system audio is not, recording carries on and produces a transcript with your own voice missing.

## Windows

Windows has **two** microphone switches and both must be on. The second one is the one people miss.

1. Open **Settings**, then **Privacy & security**, then **Microphone**
2. Turn on **Microphone access**
3. Scroll down and turn on **Let desktop apps access your microphone**

With the first on and the second off, Notate cannot open the microphone, but your computer's audio still records. That is the case that produces a one-sided transcript with no error.

System audio needs no permission on Windows.

## macOS

Notate asks for microphone access the first time you record. If you dismissed or denied that prompt, no later prompt appears and you have to grant it yourself:

1. Open **System Settings**, then **Privacy & Security**, then **Microphone**
2. Turn on **Notate**
3. Restart Notate

Capturing your computer's audio needs **macOS 14.2 or later**. On earlier versions the microphone still records, so calls come through one-sided.

## Mobile

Notate asks for microphone access the first time you record. If you denied it, grant it in your phone's settings under Notate, then start a new recording.

Mobile records from the microphone only, so a call recorded on a phone captures your side and whatever the phone's speaker is loud enough to pick up.

## Checking before an important call

Record ten seconds, stop, and read the transcript. It is the quickest way to confirm both sides are being captured.