No matter what I do my Google Home keeps saying that the mic is off but it is not

[Rdianco]

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Original Poster: Selena Culvahouse 

I'm trying to get my mute button on my Google Home to work it is saying that it is muted but it's not I've already tried moving the switch back and forth tried looking to see if there's anything in the button to make it not work but it's not doing anything.

[nidostar]

In your case possibly. I couldn't say. But in mine it is clearly a hardware issue. It is now three weeks since I cleaned the switch as explained in an earlier post and the GH is still behaving as originally intended. So, in my case, it was definitely a hardware issue. I suggest you try the contact spray solution if your GH is still having issues.

[Tltaylor40]

Something isn't right, my mini home just started with mic off, mic on announcement this morning.  Google needs to find out who is hacking.

[AntBoots]

Same issue! 

[AuntieMarmite]

MIC ON MIC OFF  FIXED FOR ME 

I had the mic on mic off issue. I was reluctant to go opening things up and messing with stuff I didn’t have a clue about so I did nothing.  

I have 2 mini Google’s-and my kitchen google (newest) was driving me nuts with the mic on mic off business so I decapitated it (my name for when I remove the power cable 😋) I did it for a few hours and no change so I decapitated it and forgot about it.  It was unplugged for days, maybe even weeks and I just plugged it in while tidying and miraculously the mic issue has disappeared?!?! 

Unfortunately my bedroom google is now yapping on about the mic. Not as bad as my kitchen google which was non-stop mic this and mic that but we’ll see how things progress.

Just wanted to share my story so no-one does anything rash.

GOOD LUCK 😁

[Dabigo]

I have also been experiencing this issue.

[FeenX888]

Ending up here for the same issue only one of the 3 nest 1st gen I have has the always on mute issue even if the switch is not set to mute. Tried rebooting, power down and up, reset to default and nothing changed. I have never used the mute button on any of them either.

[JMZehr]

Same problem started here last night. Mic on, mic off.  Tried factory reset twice and nothing changed. Mic on mic off. Time to get rid of all things google and go Alexa!

[yorkie_rd]

Adding to the list of people who have started experiencing this. Happened this morning in the early hours, 6.30am of Friday 8th April 22. Maybe Google can see if any updates/changes were made to the software on my device at that time.

I agree that it is strange that all these problems have started in the last three months.

[yorkie_rd]

Mine seems to have resolved itself following a factory reset, no further interruptions in the middle of the night yet!! 👻

[FeenX888]

Update for me, I fixed it by opening my google mini, opened the small switch box and cleaned the contacts, tested the contact and closed it back, now its fully working. Seems my issue was the dirty mute switch even if I never used it.

[Tdt116]

Just did this myself and it seems to have worked beautifully!  I used WD-40 Specialist Contact Cleaner…only did 1 spray on all 4 sides of the mute switch mechanism after opening up the bottom cover.  

[Tltaylor40]

Terrific!

[cmypaintings]

Mine happened in the middle of the night. Freaking irritating

[JohnPC]

Two of my gh minis started it today..  not sure if it's coincidence (hardware) or some software problem.   Seems the problem are the minis??  I've got a Google Nest and no problems (yet)

[JannettePDX]

I own 3 and two have malfunctioned with the "mic on" and "mic off". Both ive had unplugged for 4 or 5 months.  I plugged one back in yesterday, all was good,  but today it started yet again. I did two factory resets and it did not fix the problem. 2 out of 3 bad ones,  I'm hesitant to buy a new version now. 

Oh where,  oh where, is google support? Oh where,  oh where,  could you be??!!!

[Bellatrini]

Same issue here. Seems like there is not real fix 

[nidostar]

Sadly the fix I posted on 6 March only lasted about a couple of months before the mic switched itself off again. Whilst I accept that things like this can go wrong after a reasonable amount of time I do not consider two years for this kind of tech "reasonable". I have received no further follow-up from the Google helpdesk so I can only assume they have filed it in the "too difficult" tray. A shame really. Clearly many of us have invested a lot in a Google Home Mini network. But Google seemingly having abandoned us in this instance means that we shall look elsewhere in future to alternative solutions eg Alexa or Apple Home Pod which, although more expensive, hopefully will be more reliable. Certainly, an iPod Touch I bought in 2009 still works perfectly without the need to pull it apart and clean components. You get what you pay for, I guess.

[JohnPC]

I took it apart and oiled the mute switch.  It works right now (seems the connection is bad) but afraid it'll go back to not working soon 

[Tltaylor40]

So true.

[MotherOfGoats]

I guess I'm here to add myself to the growing list of people having this problem. 

[Jay0955]

Add me to the ever-growing list.  Just started telling me the Mic is off this morning.  Sooooo Google, what's the fix?  And don't tell me to open it up and solder/spray anything. I'm to old for that.

[Tdt116]

Not sure if anyone else has tried this, but I suppose you could try spraying some electrical contact cleaner into the mute switch from the outside if you’re that opposed to opening it up.  Just make sure you pour out the excess and allow for enough time for it to dry before plugging it in.  

[JohnPC]

If you are able to take it apart and just wd40 the mute switch button, it seems to do the trick.  I did have to find that sweet spot for it to work but better than throwing it away

[Huntress]

My Gh is doing this. Just started a couple of days ago. Obviously with this many people having the same issue there is something wrong with GH. Google figure it out cause I'm about to switch to Alexa. 

[Haroonbg]

Having the same issue!

[MitchB]

If you know how to get it open, which involves peeling the bottom off and using a Torx driver to get to the switch, the best thing to do is to remove the little bracket on top of the switch and then the slider and clean it with a toothpick and a paper towel to remove the tarnish on the contacts. Then put a drop of WD-40 on the contacts.  Put the switch back together and then flip the switch back and forth a number of times.  Reassemble the unit.

As an alternate to taking it apart, flip the switch back and forth 50 to 75 times and it will wipe the contacts clean to some degree, but how long that might last is anybody's guess.

[Haroonbg]

Thank you so much! I really mean this!!! I was about to bin the device as I couldn’t get it to work no matter what I did. I moved the switch about 50 times whilst powered off turned it back on and it worked immediately! You are a legend!

[HighResolution]

This one actually works for me too, it was about tarnish on the contact so WD-40 but you actually have to take it apart (bottom part)

[Haynesherway]

Yay I guess I have joined this club too