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Microphone Missing from Keyboard on iPhone or iPad

Microphone Missing from Keyboard on iPhone or iPad

By Mitch Bartlett 22 Comments

A common problem for Apple iPhone users is the microphone is missing from the keyboard. Users expect it to appear in the lower-left corner of the keyboard when using any app. There are a couple of things you can check to solve this issue.

Microphone on iPhone keyboard

Fix 1 – Enable Dictation

Enable Dictation under “Settings” > “General” > “Keyboard” > “Enable Dictation” > “On“.


Fix 2 – Enable Siri

Enable Siri under “Settings” > “Siri” > “On” > “Enable Siri“.


Fix 3 – Restart App

In some instances, I have seen the microphone go missing or become grayed out within specific apps. This happens frequently to me in the Google Hangouts app. Close, the app by double-tapping on the Home button, then swiping the app upward off the screen. From there, start the app again by selecting the icon on the Home screen. The microphone should then appear on the keyboard.


Fix 4 – Restart Phone

Sometimes, even if Siri is enabled and you’ve closed the app, you’ll still have problems with the microphone. Shut the phone off by unlocking the screen, then pressing and holding the “Power” button for about 5 seconds. From there, switch the “Slide to power off” option.


Fix 5 – Remove 3rd Party Keyboards

If you have installed any 3rd party keyboards, like Google’s Gboard, that might be the reason you don’t have the microphone option. Remove the keyboard app or switch to a different keyboard to get the microphone back.

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Filed Under: iOS Tagged With: ipad, iPhone

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Eric says

    December 4, 2020 at 9:20 pm

    Yes! Thank you the Screen Time Siri thing worked for me too

  2. Rebeka says

    September 26, 2020 at 11:54 am

    Really odd but the words enable dictation are missing. I also did a search in settings and it says what you said. But the words aren’t there
    I have iPhone 7 iOS 13.x
    I was originally resetting some privacy things then the microphone disappeared
    Any ideas?
    I restarted the phone too. Same issue

  3. Josue says

    June 20, 2020 at 2:56 pm

    This was awesome because of this I regained all my data and contents

  4. S says

    May 31, 2020 at 9:36 am

    No, went to content and privacy called privacy on my iPad. Doesn’t allow me to enable mic.. I had it before so obvious apple update issue.

    Maddening

  5. Tom Kodi says

    April 17, 2020 at 9:31 am

    I ended up deleting the Grammarly app and that fixed it after trying everything else

  6. chuck says

    March 8, 2020 at 4:11 am

    mic is back! thanks a million!

  7. Turkeylegs says

    February 22, 2020 at 9:51 pm

    Char!! I’ve been looking for this answer for months!!! Thanks.

  8. Ricardo Jorge says

    December 10, 2019 at 7:27 pm

    I had the same problem. I had tried everything and nothing worked till I went to the dictation languages and CHECKED them both( English and Spanish). If they’re added but not with the check mark, the mic will be greyed out

  9. Grace says

    October 17, 2019 at 10:00 pm

    Extremely helpful thank you!

  10. Bob says

    September 9, 2019 at 3:04 pm

    no. Apple iPad Pro 12.9 with Apple Smart Keyboard Folio. None of the above suggestions work!

  11. Char says

    September 5, 2019 at 9:01 pm

    Didn’t have the option to enable dictation: Go to Settings – Screen Time – Content & Privacy Restrictions – Allowed Apps – Siri & Dictation – Turn On
    Then go back to Settings – General – Keyboards – Enable Dictation

  12. Prin says

    July 13, 2019 at 5:17 pm

    Get rid of Grammarly! That worked for my iPad.

  13. Curtis Kitto says

    June 23, 2019 at 10:55 am

    “You can unhide Siri and Enable Dictation by going to Settings – Screen Time – Allowed Apps – Siri & Dictation – Make sure it’s On (Green)”
    Pidamiya, Ota!
    Thanks. The directions above worked for me.

  14. Grateful ?? says

    May 30, 2019 at 7:38 pm

    THANKKKK YOU TO ‘ Your wELCOME!! A freaking MILLIONNNNNNN! I’ve been so stress about this for the longest time! Like a yr. Being a busy mom i hate typing in the go so basically used this 100% of the time so THANK U THANK YOUUUUU!!!

  15. Catherine M Puskar says

    May 22, 2019 at 4:43 pm

    Help – I have the microphone for dictation in some texts (both with iphone and samsung) contacts, and not in others – I need my microphone back in all texts. Have updated, followed all setting and restart protocols to no avail. I am on an iphone7 ios 12.3 but had the issue before this update too.

  16. Your wELCOME says

    April 5, 2019 at 11:01 pm

    works currently on any iOS 12 as of April 2019

    You can unhide Siri and Enable Dictation by going to Settings – Screen Time – Allowed Apps – Siri & Dictation – Make sure it’s On (Green)
    Then go to General-Keyboard- and now you will see – Enable Dictation – Make sure it’s ON (green)

  17. Elizabeth says

    April 5, 2019 at 9:22 pm

    No, tried a million things but at nomtime did the microphone appear…bored now!

  18. Jim D says

    March 8, 2019 at 5:53 am

    For me on IOS 12 this was disabled: Settings > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Allowed Apps > Siri and Dictation

  19. Timothy S Lescinski says

    February 15, 2019 at 3:35 pm

    iphone 8, none of these fixes helped. please let me know if there are any other fixes for this.

  20. Margo says

    January 6, 2019 at 8:18 pm

    No this does nothing to find the microphone on the text message keyboard

  21. Larry says

    December 1, 2018 at 2:46 pm

    No … I have a 11 Ipad with Apple keyboard. I’m looking for the mic to do a voice message on messages and etc rather them type the message. How do I find the mike to use for voice messages with the keyboard?

  22. Bobbie says

    November 21, 2018 at 6:31 am

    Not really, I can’t find the App.

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