You hit record in Bandicam, play the file back, and there is nothing. Or the game audio is there but your voice is gone, or your voice is there but the game is silent. These are the most common Bandicam complaints, and almost all of them come down to which device Bandicam is listening to.
This guide is based on Bandicam 2027 (v27.0.7.2687, the latest build as of November 12, 2026), Bandicam's official audio recording guide, and its support FAQ. Menu names follow the English guide and can look slightly different in older versions. If you want the general theory behind recorders that capture no audio, read no sound in game recordings alongside this one.
Where to look first, by symptom (Bandicam guide and FAQ, November 12, 2026)
| Symptom | Usual cause | Setting to change first |
|---|---|---|
| No computer audio at all | Speaker slot points at a device that is not actually playing, playback device disabled in Windows | Select your real speakers or headphones by name, set the device as default in the Playback tab |
| Game audio recorded, your voice missing | Microphone set to Disable, Windows mic access off, audio saved to a separate track | Choose Default Input Device, allow apps to access the microphone, check the mixing option |
| Your voice recorded, game audio missing | Bandicam muted in the Volume Mixer, game playing through a different output | Unmute Bandicam, point the speaker slot at the device the game uses |
| Silence after switching to a Bluetooth headset | Bluetooth device used as both speaker and mic | Use a non Bluetooth device for speakers and Bluetooth only for the mic |
| Silent only on laptop built in speakers | Built in speaker device does not capture reliably | Connect a USB headset or sound card and select it as the speaker |
| Zoom or Discord voices missing | Call app outputs to a different device than Bandicam's speaker slot | Set the call app output and Bandicam's speaker slot to the same device |
| Failed to start audio capture error | Audio tuning software holding the device, driver problem | Close tuning software, untick Enable audio enhancements, reinstall the sound driver |
Short answer: fix the two device slots first
Bandicam records two things separately: everything your PC plays (game audio, videos, the people on your call) through the speaker slot, and your voice through the microphone slot. So the first check never changes.
Open Video, click Settings, go to Sound, make sure Record sound is enabled, then confirm Speakers is set to Default Output Device and Microphone to Default Input Device.
If those three are right and the file is still silent, the cause is usually outside Bandicam: a Windows playback device that is disabled, a Bluetooth headset, Bandicam muted in the Volume Mixer, or microphone privacy turned off.
Find your symptom in the table, change one thing at a time, and confirm with a ten second test recording before you record a full session.
How to fix Bandicam not recording sound
- 1Check Record sound and the two device slotsIn Bandicam, open Video, click Settings, then Sound. Enable Record sound, set Speakers to Default Output Device and Microphone to Default Input Device. If you want game audio only, set the microphone to Disable. Quality and frame rate settings are covered separately in Bandicam game recording settings.
- 2Pick the real device if the default failsIf Default Output Device still records nothing, select the speakers or headphones you are actually hearing sound from by name. This happens often on PCs with several outputs, such as monitor speakers plus a USB headset.
- 3Fix the Windows playback device stateOpen the Windows Sound control panel and look at the Playback tab. If the device says Not plugged in, connect it. If it says Disabled, right click and enable it. If it says Ready, right click and choose Set as Default Device. A green tick means it is the default.
- 4Unmute Bandicam in the Volume MixerIf Bandicam is muted in the Windows Volume Mixer, computer audio will not be recorded. Unmute it, raise the level, and watch the sound meter in Bandicam's main window move along with the game before you hit record.
- 5Voice missing: mic privacy and input deviceIn Windows Settings, open Privacy, then Microphone, and turn on access for apps. On Windows 11 it sits under Privacy & security, then Microphone. A Windows update can switch this off. Also make sure your mic is the selected input under Settings, Sound. More checks are in mic audio not recording.
- 6Handle Bluetooth and the audio capture errorDo not use Bluetooth earbuds or headsets as the speaker device; assign them to the microphone only. If you see Failed to start audio capture, close tuning tools such as Sonic Studio or Nahimic and untick Enable audio enhancements. Still stuck? Reset settings in the General tab's advanced options or reinstall your sound driver.
Before you record again
- Look at the sound meter in Bandicam's main window before recording. If it is not moving, the file will not have that audio either.
- If the recording is too quiet, raise the recording volume. The official guide allows anything from 0% up to 200%.
- If your voice cuts in and out on a laptop's built in mic, open the microphone Filter and turn Noise Suppression off.
- If Two Sound Mixing is off, the secondary device is saved to its own track and players that only play the first track make it sound missing. Check in a player that shows tracks, and see separate game audio and mic tracks for how tracks work.
- A recording that stops at five minutes is not an audio bug; the free version is limited to five minutes per recording. What the paid license changes is covered in Bandicam license and price.
Recording games? Let audio take care of itself
If what you record is mostly games, you can skip the routine of checking device slots and pressing record every time.
DOR is a free Windows game recording app: launch a supported game and it is detected automatically and the whole match is recorded, with every recording collected in the app's My Clips. Game audio and your microphone are captured together on one track, so there is no track to pick on playback.
Recordings saved to your PC carry no watermark, and anything that is not a game can be captured with screen recording (default hotkey F7). See how it compares in free Bandicam alternative.
