Cortana can't hear me

[Jan Tomsic]

I changed the language and regional settings to get cortana to work, but she doesn't hear me?? It's like the microphones are off somehow. She picks my voice trough bluetooth headset though. Anyone with similar issue? Anyone with a fix?
Lumia 925

Even trough bluetooth, she gets most of the stuff I say wrong.

 

[Aniket Mhatre]

Try a soft reset

 

[klaw24]

I'm facing the same issue. It was working fine a couple of days ago. Now it doesn't hear me!
I tried a soft reset, disabled and enabled Cortana, still nothing.

 

[Dave Bhullar]

Is voice recognition working for the text messaging app? Try calling someone and see if they can hear you, then put it on speaker and see if they can still hear you. If voice recognition is not working for any app and the mic doesn't work when you put it on speaker, then you're facing a known issue. Your secondary mic is not working, this is the mic on the top, the bottom one is used for calls. This is a very mysterious issue encountered mostly with 925/1020. There is no software fix for this issue that works for everyone. I was having this problem about an hour ago and somehow it magically solved itself. If you read different threads about this issue then you'll find that some people fixed it by doing nothing like me, some installed indigo and it magically solved the issue (didn't work for me though), and some sent it to Nokia for repair. There are other weird solutions for this issue but I don't think they are real solutions, in my opinion the issue somehow solves itself and people think the last thing they did probably fixed it.

 

[anon(8012792)]

I think its a backend issue everytime Microsoft updates something in the backend the issue pops up and go after sometime so just stay put do nothing

 

[klaw24]

I'm able to use voice recording apps without a problem. Must be a backend issue with Microsoft's servers. I'll wait and see if it starts working in a day or two.

 

[Jan Tomsic]

Somehow later it started to work. Very weird. I haven't had problems with voice before, replying texts was a delight (too bad it doesn't work with whatsapp, since messenger somehow got removed with 8.1). I talked to cortana a little, it was like her answers are hardcoded for silly questions like 'who's your daddy', but apart from setting appointments and Bing searching, I haven't found much use for her. I rather use my phone in my own regional format, I can't stand 12h clock
Thanks for help, I guess the BETA is the reason for all issues with cortana.

 

[Vincent McLaughlin]

I have been having the same issue with my Lumia 1520. I'm not sure what the issue is, but I suspect that it is a firmware issue. The mic does pick up some sound, when I record a video, I can hear the sound, but it sounds muffled. When I am on voice calls, it's the same thing, people can barely hear me. Again, I don't think it is a hardware issue, but I could be wrong. I hope not, but I guess I will find out when the official wp8.1 update comes out, along with the Cyan firmware update.

 

[razvanfaget]

I know this is stupid, but i read this on an msdn forum and checked myself.
I have a Lumia 920 and the problem was with my second microphone, it had a broken pin.
So i opened my phone (first time since i bought it 4 months ago) and what do you know, i had a broken pin for the second microphone (on top of phone).
I don't know how it happened but it was there, and I also took some pictures at the contact board for the mic and the mark for that pin is on the edge, meaning it was like that from the factory. Hope this helps.

 

[accursedvenom]

Been having this problem for maybe a week or two. Finally contacted support who gave me a link to suggestions to fix it. Of course the last option if all others fail is to hard reset, which I am doing right now.

 

[accursedvenom]

update: hard reset didn't work. Voice to text message can't hear me either. Works through bluetooth and I'll assume wired headsets as well.

 

[Clinton_O]

Having mic problems as well, the mic wont pick up my voice during phone calls but works with every other voice feature.

 

[accursedvenom]

Had to order a replacement from tmobile. Must not be any dust blocking it since air duster didn't help either.

 

[kevjus07]

Loaded up Dev 8.1 on my 928 looked great after about 3 updates loaded.

Only problem seemed to be Cortana would not hear me (typed in queries ok), checked out Google etc.

In the end turned off Cortana, then checked 2nd mic worked by making 1 note audio note and checking music playback, then turned Cortana back on and it worked and has done so far for 3 days without a problem.

Did no soft or hard resets at any time in the whole 'upgrade' of 'fix Cortana' process.

 

[p.vivekkumar]

Why Cortana opens list of websites rather then giving answers. I asked few simple questions 1) who is the president of usa?
2) who is the prime minister of India?
3) who is the prime minster of England.
4) what is the time in Chicago right now.
5) what is the colour of sky.
Every time Cortana opened list of websites searched by bing.

 

[Sunny Le]

Vincent, your case sounds like hardware issue. Your speakerphone MIC is either dusted or malfunction. You can try blow air into the MIC to see if it helps, otherwise you need to go to the store and ask for a replacement by showing your problem to the store rep. I am assuming your case repro 100%.

 

[Chris_Kez]

I've had a 1020 for about two months and I notice this issue periodically. It happens at random times when I try to use Cortana. Doesn't matter if I'm using a wired headset, blue-tooth headset, or activating directly on the device; Cortana just suddenly can't hear me. I haven't tested a speakerphone call when the issue pops up, but will see if that still works. Sometimes I'll power cycle (soft reset) the phone; other times I just give up and go about my business. Not sure if it fixes itself or whatever.

I've thought about going back to the Microsoft store, but the problem is intermittent and I'm fairly sure that by the time I got there it would magically fix itself. Or they would reset the phone, confirm that it works again and send me on my way. It is really frustrating though. Would be nice if there was an easy way to send a diagnostic report when it happens.

 

[Pete Zarras]

I've had my 1020 since the day it released. First phone I've ever had were I wasn't anxious for the next one 10 months after getting it. That's generally still true today ~20 months later - with one exception - Cortana has ruined my phone!

Since updating to WP 8.1 shortly after release, the voice recognition capabilities of the phone are near worthless. I used to routinely use voice recognition to call people in my address book with probably 95-98% accuracy. Since Cortana has taken over these functions I'd say the accuracy is below 40%. I keep having to repeat myself and frequently give up. It doesn't seem to matter if I'm using the phone itself, bluetooth in my car, or my plantronics bluetooth headset.

My wife has the Lumia 925 and she's had similar results. Resetting the phones have no effect - including a complete wipe/reset for mine (haven't tried that on my wife's.).

Our kids have 2 iPhones and an Android phone - Cortana has become a laughing stock in our house as she's near worthless compared to what iPhone or Android seem to be able to do with speech recognition. The only cool thing I've found with Cortana is the alerts to tell me to leave for an appointment based on traffic.

Very disappointing - I can't believe this is what Cortana should be like - is this an ATT implementation problem?

 

[MBY]

Cortana hears me over BlueTooth fine for most things. I can say "text my wife" and she understands just fine. She does ok with dictation also. But when it comes to reading texts, her listening skills seem to disappear.

C: "You got a text from <name>. Should I read it, or ignore it?"
me: "Read it."
C: "Did you say read it, or ignore it?"
me: "Read!"
C: "Sorry, I'm still not getting it. Read it, or ignore it?"
me: "Damn it Cortana!"

This happens just about every time. My speech settings say to read over bluetooth. I've tried checking the advanced "connect in a different way" and unchecking it in the BT menu. Nothing seems to help.

 

[Michael McKee1]

If you say, "Hey Cortana" and then keep saying whatever it is you want to search she will hear you. Like keep going as if you are using one breath and NOT expecting someone to say, "What do you want?" Just let it flow. Example: If you want to search weather, you say, "Hey Cortana, Weather." (all at one time)