The most common reason for this is that your operating system doesn’t let Audacity use your microphone. Other reasons could be: your USB microphone became disconnected, your device and Audacity are set to different sample rates, the Overdub option is turned on, or your antivirus or firewall is blocking Audacity from using the microphone. Now that you know the possible reasons behind this error, let’s move to the solutions.
1. Allow Apps to Access the Microphone
If you’re experiencing this issue on Windows 10, it’s likely caused by a privacy setting that blocks third-party apps like Audacity from accessing your microphone by default. Since the Creator’s Update, this setting is turned on automatically. Unless you specifically enable microphone access for third-party apps, you’ll keep seeing this error.
2. Close Skype
Skype is known to sometimes conflict with Audacity. Even if you aren’t actively using Skype, it can still run in the background and reserve your microphone, making it unavailable for Audacity. To fix this, make sure Skype is completely closed whenever you want to use a recording device with Audacity. Even if the Skype window isn’t open, right-click on the Skype icon in the system tray and select Quit Skype from the menu to make sure it’s not running. Once Skype is completely closed, try recording in Audacity again to check if the error is resolved.
3. Disable Host Intrusion Protection in Kaspersky Antivirus
If you’re using Kaspersky or another third-party antivirus, the error code 9999 may be triggered by security features that prevent unknown apps from listening to your microphone. In Kaspersky, this feature is called Host Intrusion Protection. To fix this in Kaspersky, open the Settings menu in Kaspersky Endpoint Security and go to Advanced Threat Protection → Host Intrusion Prevention. On the application screen, move Audacity from the Low Restricted group into the Trusted group, then save your changes. Note: If you’re using different antivirus software, this security setting might have a different name and location. In this case, look up instructions for disabling Host Intrusion Prevention in your specific antivirus. After making this change, restart Audacity and check if the issue is resolved.
4. Disable or Uninstall Third-Party Antivirus (if applicable)
If you suspect that your antivirus is still causing conflicts with Audacity, try temporarily disabling real-time protection or even uninstalling the antivirus to see if it solves the problem. Start by disabling real-time protection by right-clicking your antivirus icon in the system tray and choosing the appropriate option to turn it off. However, if the error is being caused by your firewall, just disabling real-time protection may not be enough. In this case, try uninstalling the antivirus entirely and see if the Audacity error goes away.
