Troubleshoot audio and video issues in Slack
Having trouble with audio or video in Slack? Read on to learn how to troubleshoot common issues with connections, audio, video, and screen sharing.
Use our troubleshooting tools
Huddles troubleshooting panel
Audio, video, and screensharing test
You can quickly check the huddles troubleshooting panel to get helpful tips to solve problems while on a huddle on your desktop.
- From a huddle, click the huddles troubleshooting icon in the bottom left.
- Navigate the tabs to identify issues and note any guidance provided.
- If you’re having connection problems, toggle Audio-only mode on to improve your connection.
A warning icon displayed in the troubleshooting panel indicates that there’s something wrong with your huddle audio or connection. Click the icon for more information and troubleshooting guidance.
Tip: If you're still having issues with huddles after using the troubleshooting panel, try running our audio, video, and screen sharing test for additional troubleshooting guidance.
Our audio, video and screen sharing test can help identify problems you may be having with huddles. After running the test, use the troubleshooting information in this article to address any issues flagged in your results. Here's how to run the test:
- From your desktop, click your profile picture.
- Select Preferences from the menu.
- Click Audio & video in the left-side column.
- Below Troubleshooting, click Run test.
Note: The audio, video and screen sharing test is only available from the Slack desktop app and Slack in Chrome.
Bandwidth issues
Bandwidth requirements
Your experience with huddles depends on the strength of your network connection and your bandwidth:
| Type of huddle | Download speed | Upload speed |
| Voice | 200 kbps | 100 kbps |
| Video* (2 participants) | 600 kbps | 600 kbps |
| Video* (3 participants) | 1.2 Mbps | 600 kbps |
| Video* (5+ participants) | 2 Mbps | 600 kbps |
*Requirements are the same when screen sharing
Troubleshooting
If your bandwidth meets or exceeds our requirements and you're experiencing issues with huddle audio or video quality, audio cutting in and out, or lag, try one of these options:
- Run a speed test to double-check that your device's bandwidth meets our requirements.
- Switch to a wired connection if possible, or move closer to your Wi-Fi router.
- Reset your router by turning it off and back on again.
Connection issues
Resolve connection issues
If Slack is unable to establish a huddle connection, try these options to narrow down the source of the connection issues:
- Make sure you're on the latest version of the Slack desktop or mobile app. If not, update your app.
- If you're having trouble with huddles on the desktop app, open your workspace in Google Chrome and try starting a huddle.
- If you can't connect from the desktop app or browser, try starting a huddle from the Slack mobile app on the same Wi-Fi network. If you can connect, there may be an issue with your computer, like an anti-virus software blocking the connection. If you can start huddles from your mobile device with data but not Wi-Fi, that most likely indicates an issue with your network.
Tip: If you can't connect to Slack at all, visit Troubleshoot connection issues for help.
Update firewall settings
Huddles connection problems may also be caused by an issue with your firewall. If you're experiencing connection errors, you (or someone from your company's IT team) may need to check that the correct huddles network paths have been configured.
Audio issues
If you experience audio issues during a huddle, quit and reopen the Slack desktop app or your browser. If that doesn’t help, try restarting your device.
Check audio input and output sources
If neither of the options above works, go to your audio and video preferences and check the following:
- Make sure you've selected the correct microphone and speaker.
- Test your microphone by saying a few words. If the voice meter doesn't move up and down as you speak, try the other options in the microphone dropdown menu.
- Test your speaker by clicking Test. You'll hear a chime if your speaker is unmuted and working correctly.
Check audio settings
Check to make sure your audio isn't muted, then confirm that Slack has permission to access your microphone:
Mac
Windows
Chrome
- Open System Preferences.
- Select Security & Privacy, then click the Privacy tab.
- Select Microphone from the list on the left.
- Check the box next to Slack. If it's already checked, uncheck and recheck it.
- Open Settings.
- Select Privacy.
- Click Microphone.
- Toggle the setting on to allow apps to access your microphone.
- In the list of Microsoft Store apps, find Slack and toggle the setting on.
There's also a known issue with Windows 10 where Slack cannot detect communications devices (like headphones or headsets) that are not the system default. To set your preferred device as the system default, follow the steps below:
- Open Settings.
- Select System.
- Select Sound.
- Below Select your output device, choose the one you want from the drop-down menu.
Lastly, check that your audio drivers are up to date. If they're not, updating may resolve these issues.
- From Chrome, click the three dots icon in the top right and select Settings from the menu.
- Select Privacy & security in the left sidebar.
- Click Site settings.
- Click Microphone.
- Check that Slack has not been blocked. Add your workspace URL to the Allow list to always allow Slack microphone access.
Note: If you use a third-party calling app and Slack huddles, Slack's access to your microphone may get revoked when switching between the two. You can follow the steps above to re-grant Slack access to your microphone.
Video issues
Having issues with video? Quit and reopen the Slack desktop app or your browser. You can also try restarting your device.
Check camera and video settings
If restarting your device or quitting and reopening Slack doesn't help, try these options:
- If you're using the Slack desktop app, check if video huddles work from Google Chrome (or vice versa if you're using Chrome).
- Check your audio and video preferences to make sure the correct camera is selected. You should see yourself in your own video thumbnail.
- Check if your camera works with another calling app (like Zoom or Webex). These apps use different technology than huddles in Slack, so if issues persist, that may indicate a hardware issue with your camera.
Tip: If you're using an external camera, make sure to plug it in to your computer before starting a huddle. If you plug it in after a huddle has started, video won't display.
Check camera permissions
If others can't see you on a video huddle, Slack may not have access to your camera. Follow these steps to check your camera permissions:
Mac
Windows
Chrome
- Open System Preferences.
- Select Security & Privacy, then click the Privacy tab.
- Click Camera.
- Check the box next to Slack. If it's already checked, uncheck and recheck it.
- Open Settings.
- Select Privacy.
- Click Camera.
- Toggle the setting on to allow apps to access your camera.
- In the list of Microsoft Store apps, find Slack and toggle the setting on.
You can also check to make sure your video drivers are up to date. If they're not, updating them may clear up issues.
- From Chrome, click the three dots icon in the top right and select Settings from the menu.
- Select Privacy & security in the left sidebar.
- Click Site settings.
- Click Camera.
- Check that Slack has not been blocked. Then, add your workspace URL to the Allow list to always allow Slack camera access.
Note: If you notice your computer running slowly during video huddles, that may be due to high Central Processing Unit (CPU) usage. For huddles with many participants, disabling your video or turning off noise suppression may help speed things up.
Screen sharing issues
If you're unable to share your screen, use these steps to troubleshoot:
Mac
Windows
- Open System Preferences.
- Click Security & Privacy, then select the Privacy tab.
- Select Screen Recording from the list on the left.
- Click the lock icon to make changes.
- Check the box next to Slack, then click the lock icon again to save your changes.
- Quit and reopen the Slack desktop app.
Still having trouble?
Reach out to our Support team and include the following information if you can:
- The results from your audio, video and screen sharing test.
- Timestamps for any recent huddles that you experienced an issue with.
- Screenshots or a screen recording showing any errors you've seen or the problem you're experiencing.
- Any other details you remember. For example, it's really helpful for us to know if problems arose immediately after you started a huddle, a few minutes in, when you started screen sharing, etc.