What this message means

If you see a crossed-out microphone icon on a note with the message No audio detected, it means Chartnote received your recording but found no usable speech in it. The recording was silent, or effectively silent, from start to finish.

When this happens, Chartnote intentionally stops and does not generate a note.

This is a safeguard. Previously, a silent recording could still produce a note — but because there was nothing to transcribe, that note was either blank or filled with plausible-sounding content that was never actually said. Blocking generation is the safer behavior: an obvious error is far better than a clinical note you might not realize is wrong.

Nothing is lost. Your note was not generated, but no incorrect documentation was created either. Once you fix the underlying cause, you can record again.

The four most common causes

Work through these in order. In practice, the first two account for the large majority of cases.

1. The wrong voice language is selected

This is the single most common cause, and it surprises people because the microphone is working perfectly.

If your voice language is set to Spanish and you dictate in English (or the reverse), transcription returns nothing at all — not a bad transcript, an empty one. To Chartnote, an empty transcript looks identical to silence.

Fix: Check your voice language setting and confirm it matches the language you are actually speaking. See How to Change your Voice Language.

If you routinely mix English and Spanish in the same encounter, select the multilingual option rather than a single language.

2. Your microphone is muted or the input level is too low

A microphone can be fully permitted in your browser and still send no sound. Common culprits:

• A physical mute switch or mute button on a headset, webcam, or conference mic

• A software mute in your operating system's sound settings

• A hardware volume dial turned all the way down

• The wrong input device selected — for example, a webcam mic across the room instead of the headset you are wearing
  

Fix: Before you record, watch the blue bar under Recording Mode / Microphone. If it isn't moving while you speak, no audio is reaching Chartnote. Then check your input device and level at the operating system level:

• Windows: How to set up and test microphones in Windows

• Mac: Change the sound input settings on Mac

For the full walkthrough — permissions, device selection, and running a test recording — see Troubleshooting Audio and Microphone Issues.

3. No recording was made at all

If you pasted text or attached a file into the context field and then generated a note without recording, there is no audio for Chartnote to work with — so you will see this error.

Fix: If you want to turn pasted text, labs, or prior notes into a formatted note without dictating, use Scratch Pad instead. Scratch Pad is built exactly for this: it works from written input alone and does not require a recording. AI Scribe and Voice Chart both expect audio.

4. A network or security policy is blocking audio processing

Some hospital networks, firewalls, or endpoint protection tools block the browser resource Chartnote uses to prepare audio for transcription. Audio is captured locally, but never makes it through for processing.

Fix: If your microphone tests fine in other applications and your language setting is correct, ask your IT team to review the whitelist requirement described in Audio Processing Not Working? Ask Your IT Team to Whitelist a Required Chartnote Resource.

Quick fix checklist

1. Confirm your voice language matches the language you are speaking.

2. Check for a physical mute switch or mute button on your headset or mic.

3. Confirm the correct input device is selected in Chartnote's microphone settings.

4. Speak and watch the blue bar or wave lines — they must move.

5. Make a short test recording and play it back. If you can hear yourself, Chartnote can too.

6. If audio plays back fine but the note still fails, revisit step 1. It is almost always the language.

How to avoid this going forward

Watch the wave lines during the first few seconds of every recording. This is the most reliable habit you can build. Moving wave lines mean audio is being captured. A flat line means it is not — and catching that at second five costs you nothing, while catching it after a full encounter costs you the whole visit.

Run a test recording after any change to your setup. New headset, new laptop, new exam room, updated browser — do a ten-second test and play it back before you rely on it with a patient.

If your device microphone won't cooperate

If you're troubleshooting a hardware or IT issue and need to keep documenting in the meantime, use Chartnote Mobile as a workaround. Your phone's microphone is independent of your workstation, and recordings sync to your account, so you can capture the encounter now and finish the note at your desk.

Still stuck?

If you've worked through the checklist and are still seeing No audio detected, contact us at support@chartnote.com. It helps enormously if you include:

• The date and time of the affected recording

• Which tool you were using (AI Scribe, Voice Chart, or Chartnote Mobile)

• Your voice language setting

• Your device, operating system, and browser

• Whether a test recording plays back with audible sound

We can also clear out any notes left behind by failed recordings so your chart list stays clean — just let us know.