Revoking Steam's Mic permissions

[Glorious Magnificent Ducksu]

So this is the polar opposite of "My mic doesn't work" topics. I've encountered a problem where on some games, Steam accesses my mic every 4 seconds (I dont even have my mic plugged in) and causes games, and steam itself to jitter every 4 seconds. Just a tiny hiccup but it causes games to jump and even typing to freeze momentarily. I know ages ago you could literally disable steam's mic access in the settings, but that has been moved to the Friends List (it took me a while to find they moved mic settings into a separate window, wtf, Steam) and mic access can't actually be revoked, just set to "Push to Talk" which doesn't solve the problem.

I can disable all app access through Windows 10 settings, but I can't disable individual programs, so either I get Jitters every 4 seconds, or no mic in discord or any program. Is there any way to disable steam from trying to access my mic. Like flat out stop it. I can't even set my input device to "None" like in the old days.

[Cheezus Crisp]

Where did you actually pull from that Steam accessing your mic is causing jittering? I don't see anyone else on these forums with this specific issue with Steam. Jittering is typically caused my a different issue all together. If your mic isn't even plugged in your PC, Steam can't access it because there isn't any physical device that it can try to access.

If it bothers you so much, you should've seen yourself that there is a mute function for the voice chat which you can toggle. That disables Steam from trying to access your microphone.

[Glorious Magnificent Ducksu]

Originally posted by Ceezus Crisp:

Where did you actually pull from that Steam accessing your mic is causing jittering? I don't see anyone else on these forums with this specific issue with Steam. Jittering is typically caused my a different issue all together. If your mic isn't even plugged in your PC, Steam can't access it because there isn't any physical device that it can try to access.

If it bothers you so much, you should've seen yourself that there is a mute function for the voice chat which you can toggle. That disables Steam from trying to access your microphone.

I know it's steam accessing my mic cause
1) If I look in my task bar, I see a microphone appearing and disappearing every 4 seconds and the hiccup happens exactly as the mic connects and disconnects, and when I mouse over it it says "Steam is accessing your microphone"
2) If I go into Windows settings and disable all app access (steam is the only one accessing it at the time if you actually read my post "I can disable all app access through Windows 10 settings, but I can't disable individual programs, so either I get Jitters every 4 seconds, or no mic in discord or any program." you would know it was steam.
3) If I annoy my friends in steam chat by making a long drawnout sound over my mic that lasts longer than 4 seconds, the hiccup does not happen.
My mic plugs into my headset through my headset which goes into my PC through USB meaning most likely my headset always thinks there's a mic, just no input if I unplug my mic. As far as I can see, the only mute is "Push to Mute" which doesn't actually DISABLE steam from accessing my mic. This is probably the game's fault, but could easily be fixed if either Steam let me actually select "None" for input device or Windows let me disable individual apps other than microsoft programs from accessing my mic.

[Cheezus Crisp]

Originally posted by HexStadium:

Originally posted by Ceezus Crisp:

Where did you actually pull from that Steam accessing your mic is causing jittering? I don't see anyone else on these forums with this specific issue with Steam. Jittering is typically caused my a different issue all together. If your mic isn't even plugged in your PC, Steam can't access it because there isn't any physical device that it can try to access.

If it bothers you so much, you should've seen yourself that there is a mute function for the voice chat which you can toggle. That disables Steam from trying to access your microphone.

I know it's steam accessing my mic cause
1) If I look in my task bar, I see a microphone appearing and disappearing every 4 seconds and the hiccup happens exactly as the mic connects and disconnects, and when I mouse over it it says "Steam is accessing your microphone"
2) If I go into Windows settings and disable all app access (steam is the only one accessing it at the time if you actually read my post "I can disable all app access through Windows 10 settings, but I can't disable individual programs, so either I get Jitters every 4 seconds, or no mic in discord or any program." you would know it was steam.
3) If I annoy my friends in steam chat by making a long drawnout sound over my mic that lasts longer than 4 seconds, the hiccup does not happen.
My mic plugs into my headset through my headset which goes into my PC through USB meaning most likely my headset always thinks there's a mic, just no input if I unplug my mic. As far as I can see, the only mute is "Push to Mute" which doesn't actually DISABLE steam from accessing my mic. This is probably the game's fault, but could easily be fixed if either Steam let me actually select "None" for input device or Windows let me disable individual apps other than microsoft programs from accessing my mic.

Have you tried going to the audio devices and just disabling your headphone microphone from device properties instead? That way Steam would have no device to try to access. Second, are you receiving a pop up/icon when you mention that a microphone appears in your taskbar? I've never seen this before but it sounds like that's what's actually causing the jittering.

[Glorious Magnificent Ducksu]

Originally posted by Ceezus Crisp:

Originally posted by HexStadium:

I know it's steam accessing my mic cause
1) If I look in my task bar, I see a microphone appearing and disappearing every 4 seconds and the hiccup happens exactly as the mic connects and disconnects, and when I mouse over it it says "Steam is accessing your microphone"
2) If I go into Windows settings and disable all app access (steam is the only one accessing it at the time if you actually read my post "I can disable all app access through Windows 10 settings, but I can't disable individual programs, so either I get Jitters every 4 seconds, or no mic in discord or any program." you would know it was steam.
3) If I annoy my friends in steam chat by making a long drawnout sound over my mic that lasts longer than 4 seconds, the hiccup does not happen.
My mic plugs into my headset through my headset which goes into my PC through USB meaning most likely my headset always thinks there's a mic, just no input if I unplug my mic. As far as I can see, the only mute is "Push to Mute" which doesn't actually DISABLE steam from accessing my mic. This is probably the game's fault, but could easily be fixed if either Steam let me actually select "None" for input device or Windows let me disable individual apps other than microsoft programs from accessing my mic.

Have you tried going to the audio devices and just disabling your headphone microphone from device properties instead? That way Steam would have no device to try to access. Second, are you receiving a pop up/icon when you mention that a microphone appears in your taskbar? I've never seen this before but it sounds like that's what's actually causing the jittering.

It is whats causing the jittering. And yes, I can fix it by disabling my mic through windows settings but then that disables my mic for Discord, which I actually use to communicate with people. So its either I get voice and a hiccup every 4 seconds, or no voice input across all programs

[Cheezus Crisp]

Originally posted by HexStadium:

Originally posted by Ceezus Crisp:

Have you tried going to the audio devices and just disabling your headphone microphone from device properties instead? That way Steam would have no device to try to access. Second, are you receiving a pop up/icon when you mention that a microphone appears in your taskbar? I've never seen this before but it sounds like that's what's actually causing the jittering.

It is whats causing the jittering. And yes, I can fix it by disabling my mic through windows settings but then that disables my mic for Discord, which I actually use to communicate with people. So its either I get voice and a hiccup every 4 seconds, or no voice input across all programs

For the games that have this specific issue, do they happen to have a voice chat settings where you can specifically tell it to not use the microphone? I've never seen Steam try to access my microphone before but I might not play the games that have the issue that you have.

[Kingofblades]

Did you ever end up finding a solution for this? I'm getting the same issues for EDF Iron Rain now. Like you i can disable all apps from accessing my mic and it works fine, but cant talk with the guys in discord.

[Glorious Magnificent Ducksu]

Originally posted by Kingofblades:

Did you ever end up finding a solution for this? I'm getting the same issues for EDF Iron Rain now. Like you i can disable all apps from accessing my mic and it works fine, but cant talk with the guys in discord.

Nope. Never found a workaround. Havent played Iron Rain in ages, though, but there hasnt been any patches so I don't think it's been fixed on their end.

[rohanofgondor]

bruh this is still to this day problem in my ass

[boris]

Same here - Tabletop Simulator captures the mic. Discord works with every game except TTS.

[internisus]

I'm trying to disable Steam's access to my microphone because it regularly interferes with Discord (I'll try to use Discord and find that there's no input, and the solve is to restart Steam, which is problematic when I'm in the middle of a Steam game with people). It's frankly absurd that there is no option in Steam to disable the mic. I don't see any good solutions in this thread, either. Going to try setting the input device on Steam voice to something useless and see if that helps.

[Mikko]

Originally posted by Kingofblades:

Did you ever end up finding a solution for this? I'm getting the same issues for EDF Iron Rain now. Like you i can disable all apps from accessing my mic and it works fine, but cant talk with the guys in discord.

Why did you necro this post?

[internisus]

Originally posted by Rookie:

Why did you necro this post?

People necro posts because they're searching for solutions to problems and finding relevant threads that don't offer solutions, so the best they can do is add the report of their problem to the pile and revive the thread in hopes of improving the chances of a solution eventually presenting itself.

I mean, why not necro a thread? What's the problem? It hasn't stopped being relevant with time, or else it wouldn't have been necro'd.

[Frame Counting]

I have this problem in DOA6 and would love to have a solution.

[GuRu Asaki]

My XBOX 360 Controller does this same issue, but ive no Mic Attached to the Controller...

The problem is the Mic & Controller uses the same Drivers for both, or something... So evertime the Controller is Detected, so is the Mic., & Ive had issues trying to keep the XBox 360 Mic. from becoming Enabled, even when the Mic. is not there to start with...

Also, Mic. Mute only Effects the Game, not STEAM...

This is nothing New, & has been an issue before...

Only way to fix this? Get rid of the Device? Remove the Library Update Manually yourself? or Just deal with the Problem?

Valve never cared to fix the Library Update bugs before, I doubt they will start now...

The WebHelper, I think is behind this, btw...
It's used for Privacy Theft, & Identity Theft...

Look it up for yourself, & ask yourself?
Why wont Valve fix anything wrong with the Library Update? The Description of what the Web Helper actually does Explains everything wrong with STEAM Client, STEAM Website, Windows 10 Problems, & why the New Microsoft Edge was made to use the Chromium Platform, all of these issues...

Dont believe me? Then dont look it up yourself, & goodluck with waiting for a Fix...

Goodluck

[Tessia]

This is ridiculous, why is there no option to disable mic access, I don't want a workaround or to disable my mic completely. I have no games or software running through steam, no chat windows open, yet on the windows taskbar there is a mic icon, when you hover over it, it says steam is using your microphone! This is a straight up privacy violation! If this is not resolved I think I may reconsider using steam. It may not cause issues in games for me but that is beyond the point here.