Voice Chat Not Working in Fortnite? Here's How To Fix It

Being able to communicate with your teammates is a vital part of playing any online game. If you're playing squad or duos in Fortnite, you've got to have a mic if you want to succeed.

Unfortunately, there are some fairly common issues that can cause your mic to malfunction and take your voice out of the game. If you want to ensure that you stay as competitive as possible, you have to learn how to fix mic problems as soon as they pop up.

Fortunately, the vast majority of problems with your mic can be solved if you put in just a little bit of effort.

Fixing Your Mic Problems

The good news is that the vast majority of voice chat problems are actually very easy to fix. In fact, you'll probably spend more time troubleshooting the cause of the problems than applying any of the solutions.

Voice Chat Not Working in Fortnite? Here’s How To Fix It

Below are some of the most common fixes, listed in order of when you should attempt each. Whether you can follow the steps carefully, you'll not only figure out how to deal with your mic issues but you should be able to fix them more quickly next time you notice that you've been disconnected.

Check Your Headset

If you're looking to fix voice chat problems, the first place you need to start is with your own headset. Sadly, many of the most common chat problems that users rail against in Fortnite are actually caused on their end, not on the end of the game.

If you can take some time to ensure that your headset is in working order, you'll be able to avoid the embarrassment that comes with complaining about major problems and then figuring out that you simply forgot to plug something in correctly.

Go through some basic troubleshooting here to figure things out. In case you are using a wireless headset, first check to make sure that your headset is actually powered on.

Whether your headset is not powered on, make sure that it is charged. After that, make sure that you have a solid connection to your gaming computer. If all that's in order, you can safely assume that the problem doesn't like in your headphone's hardware.

And, if you are using a wired connection, your job is even easier. Start by checking to make sure that your headphones are actually plugged into the computer and plugged into the right port.

If they're plugged in, double-check to make sure that you don't have to do anything to switch your computer's audio over to the headset. Once you've reached that point, you're probably safe on the headphone hardware front.

Check Your Drivers

Outdated drivers can be a major part of any gaming-related failure. While you definitely won't find yourself dealing with this kind of problem if you regularly update your drivers, you might find yourself without chat functionality if you are the kind of person who regularly puts off updates.

Always check to make sure your headphone drivers are up-to-date and that you have updated any relevant audio drivers on your computer as well. It won't take you long to check or update, but it should help you to solve many problems.

Teenager playing Fortnite video game on PC-min (1)

Other good idea is to check the Fortnite forums to make sure that an audio driver update hasn't done something to disable your ability to chat. This is very uncommon, but driver updates have been known to break game functionality for some users.

If you find that your new driver update is causing the problem, simply roll your hardware back to a previous iteration in order to go back to normal.

Dealing with the Game

Unfortunately, those who can get past the basic hardware checks might be dealing with a somewhat less fixable software issue. The good news is that there are a few ways to fix the most common chat problems, but the bad news is that none of them are actually guaranteed to work.

You'll want to try these fixes as follows:

Start by signing out of Fortnite and signing back in. This should take no more than a few minutes, and tends to solve most problems.
Download the latest patch. In case your game hasn't been updated, you might have some weird interactions between hardware and software that are keeping you from accessing voice chat. If you're already playing, though, your game should be patched.
If all else fails, reinstall the game. This is a lengthy process that's going to keep you from playing, but it should restore the game's settings to a point where your voice chat is working again.

The unfortunate truth is that none of these methods of fixing the problem are guaranteed to work. They are the last-ditch efforts that you should try, though, before you start digging into various audio problems on your own computer.

Your Voice Chat Problems: Finally Fixed

One good news is that your chat issues can probably be fixed without having to do anything to the game. Check your headphones to make sure they work, go into your audio settings to make sure that your headphones are connected, and remember to keep your drivers updated.

If all else fails, try to restart the game or to reinstall the game as a last resort. With a little work, you'll be able to start chatting with other players in no time.