Check App Microphone Permissions on macOS 13

Managing audio privacy on your Mac is essential for ensuring unauthorized applications cannot listen in on your environment. This guide outlines how to locate and review which applications have permission to access your microphone in macOS 13 (macOS Ventura). In just a few simple steps, you can view the complete list of authorized software and easily revoke or grant microphone access as needed.

Steps to View and Manage Microphone Permissions

1. Open System Settings Click the Apple menu () located in the top-left corner of your screen and select System Settings.

2. Navigate to Privacy & Security In the left sidebar of the System Settings window, scroll down and click on Privacy & Security.

3. Select Microphone In the right-hand panel, scroll down to the Privacy section and click on Microphone.

4. Review Installed Applications You will see a list of all installed apps that have previously requested access to your microphone.

   • Apps with a blue toggle switch currently have active permission to use your microphone.
   • Apps with a gray toggle switch are blocked from accessing your microphone.

5. Adjust Permissions To block an app, click the toggle switch next to its name to turn it off (gray). To grant access, click the toggle to turn it on (blue). If prompted, enter your administrator password or use Touch ID to confirm the change.

How to Tell When the Microphone Is in Use

In macOS 13, Apple displays an orange dot in the upper-right corner of your screen (next to the Control Center icon in the menu bar) whenever an application is actively using your microphone. Clicking the Control Center icon reveals which specific application is currently capturing audio.