How to Use Your Phone as a Microphone in Zoom

3 1 minute read

Laptop microphones pick up keyboard noise and make everyone sound like they are calling from a bathroom. If your headset died before an important call, your phone can stand in as a much better microphone – and Zoom will not even notice the difference.

Why the phone sounds better than the laptop

Laptop mics are tiny, positioned near fans and keyboards, and usually lack noise suppression. A phone has microphone arrays with beamforming and echo cancellation tuned for voice. The improvement in clarity on a Zoom call is immediately obvious to other participants.

Setup in five steps

Install the WO Mic client on your computer and the WO Mic app on your phone. Connect both to the same Wi-Fi network, open the app and start the server, then click Connect in the desktop client. Finally, in Zoom open Settings – Audio and select the WO Mic virtual microphone as both input and output device.

Install client and app
Join the same Wi-Fi network
Start the connection
Pick the virtual mic in Zoom audio settings
Run Zoom's automatic microphone test

Getting the best call audio

Place the phone 20-30 cm from your mouth, ideally on a stand or propped against something soft. Enable the app's noise suppression if available. Use headphones on the PC so Zoom's echo cancellation is not fighting your speakers.

If Zoom does not see the microphone

Close and reopen Zoom after installing the driver – it enumerates audio devices at startup. On Windows, check Privacy settings and allow desktop apps to access the microphone. If the device appears but produces silence, verify the phone app shows 'Connected' and the PC client shows a green level meter.