Category: scripts

How to mute your computer microphone with a single keyboard key

With everyone working remote these days, it is nice to follow phone/video conference etiquette and mute your microphone if you are not the speaker. I was surprised to learn that there isn’t a dedicated mute key on most keyboards to mute your microphone. The mute button on my laptop and keyboard only mute the speakers. So here’s a script I put together that mutes your microphone. It relies on registry values so it is more dependable than hacking your system by emulating send keys values. This works best with keyboards or mice with customization capabilities. I’m using a Logitech keyboard. Alternatively, you can also use keyboard shortcuts.

What you’ll need before starting.
* Administrative or elevated privileges to your computer
* A little determination

Step 1: Identify your microphone registry values. Yes, this isn’t for the faint of heart.
Step 2: Modify Powershell script below. Replace “Placeholder” with your register value. Save file as “mute.ps1”.
Step 3. Create a simple .bat script that calls the PowerShell script with the proper execution permissions. (note, you may also need to run this code in an administrative PowerShell window. “set-executionpolicy unrestricted” if the code is still not executing. Call the file “mute.bat”.
Step 4: Update Folder ownership within Regedit for the folder containing the “microphone array” item. Change it from “System” to all users and applications.
Step 5: Customize keyboard key to reference this “mute.bat” script when the button is pressed.

Note, I implemented this on Windows 10 Pro. Version 1903. The script does modify a single Registry value so you may want get buy-in from your IT department prior to incorporating this.

Code for step 2: Here’s the Powershell code. Note, you will only have to change the “PLACEHOLDER” value.

$micStatus="Enabled"
$Key = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\MMDevices\Audio\Capture\{PLACEHOLDER}'

if(Test-Path $key){
	$item = Get-ItemProperty -path $Key -Name DeviceState
	$item.DeviceState
}
else
{
	Write-Host 'path not found'
}
if( $item.DeviceState -Match "0")
        {
 
        Write-Host 'Mic Enabled'
                Set-ItemProperty -Path $Key -Name "DeviceState" -Value '1' -Force | Out-Null
				$micStatus="Enabled"
        }
else
 
        {
        Write-Host 'Mic Disabled'
 
                Set-ItemProperty -Path $Key -Name "DeviceState" -Value '10000001' -Force | Out-Null
				$micStatus="Disabled"
 
        }
		
Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms
$global:balmsg = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.NotifyIcon
$path = (Get-Process -id $pid).Path
$balmsg.Icon = [System.Drawing.Icon]::ExtractAssociatedIcon($path)
$balmsg.BalloonTipIcon = [System.Windows.Forms.ToolTipIcon]::Warning
$balmsg.BalloonTipText = 'Mic status of apps not updated'
$balmsg.BalloonTipTitle = "Microphone $micStatus"
$balmsg.Visible = $true
$balmsg.ShowBalloonTip(50000)

“mute.bat” code for Step 3

powershell.exe -executionpolicy bypass -file "C:\Users\C\Documents\work\mute.ps1"

Step: 4 – Error message you will see if you don’t update permissions.

You may likely get the above error message when you attempt to run the PowerShell script directly. In this case, you will need to update the Owner within the registry. After doing this your script should work properly.

Before mapping the mute.bat script to the keyboard, attempt running the script by double clicking the .bat file. After the script executes, you should see a notification message at the bottom right of Windows. You can also see the notification if you expand the notifications Window. Screenshot below. Navigate to sound settings to ensure the microphone was indeed disabled.

screenshot of microphone disabled notification
Screenshot of microphone disabled notification
screenshot of Windows 10 sound menu
Navigate to Sound setting by right clicking on the speaker icon in your toolbar then selecting “Open Sound settings”
Screenshot of Microphone when it still enabled.
Windows 10 Screenshot of Microphone disabled
Screenshot of Microphone when it is disabled. Notice, the input device is missing.

This script can also be retro fitted to disable web cams with a single keyboard press. You’ll just need to identify the registry values for the webcam. Dr Scripto also has an alternative method for disabling the webcam.

Outlook script to export /copy email data

Have you tried selecting an email in Outlook and copying it to learn that it copies the entire .msg file instead of just the raw data such as the subject line or just the sender? Perhaps you want to create a log of emails from certain senders so you can categorize the emails in Excel or just have a printed record. Here’s a handy visual basic for application(VBA) script that does this. I tested this with a folder of over 2,000 emails and it works well. It will likely take a while to execute if select a folder with a large number of emails. To use this code, you’ll have to create a macro in Outlook. Note, the output will be sent to the immediate window. This is similar to the debugging window in Outlook.

Sub PrintSubjectLineForSelectedFolder()
  
Dim olApp As Outlook.Application
Dim objNS As Outlook.NameSpace
Dim olFolder As Outlook.MAPIFolder
Dim msg As Object
 Dim myItems As Outlook.Items

Set olApp = Outlook.Application
Set objNS = olApp.GetNamespace("MAPI")
Set olFolder = objNS.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderInbox)

    Dim objFolderSelected As Folder
     Set objFolderSelected = objNS.PickFolder
    If TypeName(objFolderSelected) <> "Nothing" Then
    
        Debug.Print objFolderSelected
        Set olFolder = objFolderSelected
        'Set olFolder = olFolder.Folders("Test Results")' can also be hardcoded
      
        For Each msg In olFolder.Items

'Debug.Print TypeName(msg)
    If msg Is Nothing Then
'If varValue = Nothing Then

        Exit For
   
	Else

    If Not msg Is Nothing Then
 
        Debug.Print msg.Subject
        
       
   End If
   
   End If
   
Next

    Else
    
        Debug.Print vbCr &amp; "User selected Cancel No Folder selected"
    End If

    Set objFolderSelected = Nothing
    Set objNS = Nothing

End Sub