Getting a group going
Voice chat is not working
Talking is the mechanic, not a convenience layer on top of it, so it is worth fixing before the session rather than playing around it.
What is going wrong?
Pick the closest match. Steps come from the developers' troubleshooting FAQ; the order is ours, putting the likeliest cause first. Big Walk (House House) (primary source, opens in a new tab)
Fixed in version 1.4.8
If the complaint is that everyone sounds too quiet, check your version first. A known issue made some players much quieter than intended, and version 1.4.8 fixes it. If voices sound too quiet, check you are on that version before changing anything else. Big Walk (House House) (primary source, opens in a new tab) checked 12 Aug 2026
The changelog is more specific than the FAQ about what changed: “Added output normalization of player voice's volume. This makes player voices louder, especially voices that would otherwise be too quiet.” That is a global change to how your voice is sent, so it helps quiet talkers without anyone having to fiddle with sliders. Big Walk (House House) (primary source, opens in a new tab)
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Open Settings and look at Microphone Activity. It shows whether the game is picking up any sound at all, which splits the problem in two: if the meter moves, the game hears you and the issue is elsewhere; if it does not, the microphone is the problem.
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Check the Mute Mode setting. If it is set to push-to-talk and you are expecting open mic, you will look muted to everyone else.
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Check that the microphone is physically plugged in, and that any hardware mute switch on the headset or cable is off.
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Check whether you have been silenced. The developers point at the in-game moderation menu — a silenced player looks exactly like a broken microphone to everyone else, including to themselves.
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On a Mac, grant the microphone in System Settings under Privacy & Security, where Big Walk has to be toggled on.
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On PlayStation 5, check the system setting that mutes all game voice chat: PS Button, then Sound, then Mute Game Voice Chat.
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If you are in a group call outside the game, that app may be holding exclusive control of the microphone. Close it. Note that the developers ask you not to use outside voice chat anyway.
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Open Settings › Audio and check the volume levels there before touching anything else.
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Confirm other applications are producing sound through the same output device. If they are silent too, it is a system audio problem rather than a Big Walk one.
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Remember that voice in Big Walk is positional. If everyone is far away, or there is terrain between you, quiet is the intended behaviour rather than a fault.
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This is almost always a microphone picking up voices coming out of a speaker, so each person is transmitted twice.
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Find out whose microphone it is: have each player mute themselves in turn and watch for the doubling to stop. That is the developers' own method, and it beats guessing.
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Switch to headphones. The developers name this as the fix.
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If more than one of you is in the same physical room, that is the other cause, and the FAQ notes the game does not work with everyone in one room.
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The FAQ attributes intermittent voice to networking rather than audio settings, so start there.
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Close programs that are using bandwidth: downloads, streams, cloud backups.
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Move closer to the router, or use a wired ethernet connection if you can.
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If other players also look like they are teleporting or moving erratically, that confirms it is the connection.
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Check you are on version 1.4.8 or later. A known issue made some players much quieter than intended, and that version fixes it.
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Raise input volume at the operating system level, not just in the game — the developers point at your device settings rather than theirs.
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Have everyone move their microphone closer to their mouth. Named by the developers as an easy fix, and easy to overlook.
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Remember that distance is meant to make people quieter. If someone is quiet only when they walk away, that is the mechanic working.
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You can still play the entire game. The developers say the in-game text chat has the same features as voice and that you can finish the whole game with it without missing out.
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Know that text carries the same limits as voice on purpose. It will not be readable to someone far away or on the other side of soundproof glass, and it works with items like walkie-talkies. Text replaces voice; it does not exempt you from the distance rules.
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Tell your group before you start so they use in-game text rather than drifting onto an outside voice call, which would leave you out entirely.
Why the game keeps you off Discord
Big Walk asks you not to use outside voice chat, and it is worth understanding that this is a design position rather than a technical restriction. Challenges are built around taking your voice away, splitting you up, or forcing you through a megaphone or a walkie-talkie. An external call routes around all of that. Big Walk (House House) (primary source, opens in a new tab)
The FAQ puts it bluntly, calling talking outside the game “not allowed”, but there is no enforcement of any kind. In the developers' own words, the game “won't stop running or punish you, but you'll miss out on the most interesting parts of the game.” Their summary is the clearest argument for playing it their way:
“It'd be like playing charades but everybody gets to talk.” Big Walk (House House) (primary source, opens in a new tab)
When the problem is Windows, not Big Walk
These are the causes the game's own FAQ cannot help you with, because they sit outside the game. That is exactly why they strand people: you check every setting inside Big Walk, find nothing wrong, and the switch that matters is somewhere in Windows. We have not tested any of these in Big Walk specifically — they are documented Windows behaviours, sourced below to Microsoft.
The microphone permission that shows no error
Windows has a separate switch called "Let desktop apps access your microphone", under Settings › Privacy & security › Microphone. The Steam build of Big Walk is a desktop app, so this switch governs it. With it off, the game receives no audio at all and shows no error. Microsoft Support (primary source, opens in a new tab)
Check Settings › Privacy & security › Microphone, and make sure both “Microphone access” and “Let desktop apps access your microphone” are on. Microsoft note that desktop apps may not be listed individually there, so the blanket switch is the one to look at rather than hunting for Big Walk by name. Microsoft Support (primary source, opens in a new tab)
Your default recording device is not the one you are speaking into
Windows picks a default input, and it is not always the microphone you think you are using — a webcam, a monitor, or a headset you unplugged last week can hold the slot. Open the sound control panel, go to the Recording tab, select the microphone you actually want and set it as default. Do the same on the Playback tab if you cannot hear anything.
If you are on a Bluetooth headset, read this one
Specific to this game, and easy to miss
A Bluetooth headset cannot give you a working microphone and stereo sound at the same time. Using voice chat forces it into mono — which quietly disables the one thing Big Walk is built on. Microsoft (Windows OS Platform blog) (primary source, opens in a new tab) checked 10 Aug 2026
Bluetooth Classic Audio has two profiles and a headset can only use one at a time. A2DP gives high-quality stereo but no microphone; HFP gives you the microphone but drops playback to low-fidelity mono. Opening a microphone forces the headset out of stereo. Microsoft (Windows OS Platform blog) (primary source, opens in a new tab)
In most games that is a quality annoyance. Here it is a mechanical one. Big Walk's voice chat is positional: how loud and how muffled a teammate sounds is how you work out where they are. Mono playback removes the direction. You still hear people, so nothing looks broken, but the cue the puzzles expect you to use is gone, and you are unlikely to guess that a Bluetooth profile is the reason. Big Walk (House House) (primary source, opens in a new tab) Wikipedia (secondary source, opens in a new tab)
What you can do about it, best first:
- Use a wired headset for Big Walk. Unsatisfying, but it is the only option that gives you a microphone and directional sound at once.
- Keep the headset for audio and speak into something else. A separate USB or laptop microphone lets Windows leave the headset in stereo, because nothing is asking the headset for input. Set that other microphone as your default recording device.
- Check the headset's Bluetooth services. Under the device's properties in Windows there is a Services tab listing profiles such as Handsfree Telephony. Turning that off keeps the headset in stereo — which also means its microphone stops working, so this only helps in combination with the option above.
This is a limitation of Bluetooth Classic Audio itself rather than anything Windows or House House chose, so no setting inside the game will work around it.
Spatial sound, if you have it on
Windows can apply its own spatial processing to whatever a game outputs. Big Walk already positions its audio itself, so the two are at best doing the same job twice. Turning Windows spatial audio off — right-click the speaker icon, Spatial sound, Off — is quick to try and easy to undo.
Flagging this as worth a try rather than as a fix: we have found no evidence tying it to audio problems in Big Walk specifically, only the general principle that two layers of positional processing are one more than the game asked for.
If the problem is joining rather than hearing
That is a different failure with different causes: stale join codes, friends lists that were never going to work, a host who has not started yet. We have split it onto its own page rather than bury it in an audio troubleshooter.
Quiet is sometimes correct
Before you troubleshoot, rule out the game working as intended. Voice is positional: how loud, muffled or echoing someone sounds depends on where they are and what is between you. A teammate going quiet as they walk over a ridge is the feature, not a fault. Big Walk (House House) (primary source, opens in a new tab) Wikipedia (secondary source, opens in a new tab)
Common questions
Why can nobody hear me in Big Walk?
Check Microphone Activity in Settings first, since it shows whether the game is receiving any audio. Then check the Mute Mode setting, that the microphone is plugged in, and that no hardware mute switch is engaged.
Can you play Big Walk without a microphone?
Yes. The official FAQ says the in-game text chat has the same features, and the same intentional limitations, as voice chat, and that you can play the whole game that way without missing out. Text is range-limited exactly like voice: it will not reach someone far away or behind soundproof glass.
Why does Big Walk sound wrong on a Bluetooth headset?
Because a Bluetooth headset cannot run its microphone and stereo playback at the same time. Bluetooth Classic Audio switches to the Hands-Free Profile when the microphone is in use, which drops playback to mono. Big Walk's voice chat is positional, so mono removes the directional cue the game expects you to navigate by. Use a wired headset, or keep the headset for listening and speak into a separate microphone.
Big Walk is not detecting my microphone at all — what do I check?
Check Windows first. Settings › Privacy & security › Microphone has a switch called "Let desktop apps access your microphone", and the Steam build of Big Walk is a desktop app. With it off the game gets nothing and shows no error. Then check that your default recording device is the microphone you are actually speaking into.
Why do voices echo in Big Walk?
The usual cause is a microphone picking up other players coming out of a speaker, transmitting them a second time. The developers recommend switching to headphones.
Why does everyone sound so quiet in Big Walk?
A known issue made some players much quieter than intended. Version 1.4.8 fixes it, so check you are on that version first. After that, raise input volume in your operating system settings rather than in the game, and get microphones closer to mouths. Distance-based quietness is separate and is the mechanic working as designed.
Why can nobody hear me on PS5?
PlayStation 5 has a system-level setting that mutes all game voice chat, separate from anything in Big Walk. Turn it off with the PS Button, then Sound, then Mute Game Voice Chat.
Why does Big Walk voice chat keep cutting out?
The official FAQ attributes intermittent voice to network problems rather than audio settings. Close bandwidth-heavy programs, move closer to the router, or use a wired connection.
Still stuck
The developers run a support address for problems this page does not cover: help@bigwalk.game. Big Walk (House House) (primary source, opens in a new tab)