Mock Interview in CoPilot Interview records only your microphone. It doesn't capture the computer's audio, so the interviewer's voice is never graded as your answer, and your microphone stays closed while each question is read aloud. On paid plans the interviewer uses a natural-sounding voice; on the free plan it uses your computer's built-in voice. You can turn the voice off, repeat a question, and choose whether answers finish after 8 seconds of silence.
CoPilot Interview is an AI interview assistant for Windows and macOS. This article covers the voice and microphone settings for Mock Interview; for the general audio setup, see the setup guide.
Voice and answer settings
| Setting (🎧 Mock Interview tab) | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Interviewer reads each question aloud | The interviewer speaks each question. Turn it off to get the question as text only, with your turn starting at once | On |
| Auto-finish an answer after 8 s of silence (not for coding) | After you've said a few words, 8 seconds of quiet submits the answer | On |
| 🌐 Lang | Language of the questions, the voice and the feedback (10 languages) | English |
| 🎤 Microphone (in 1. Check your audio) | Which microphone records your answers | Default Microphone |
The interviewer's voice is a natural ElevenLabs voice on paid plans and your computer's built-in voice on Free. On a paid plan, the app also uses the built-in voice if the natural voice can't load.
During a question
- “🔊 The interviewer is asking…” means the question is being read and your microphone is closed. Click ⏭ Skip voice to stop the voice and start answering.
- “Your turn — answer out loud. Click Done, or pause for 8 s when you're finished.” means the microphone is open.
- 🔊 Repeat plays the question again; the microphone closes while it plays.
- “Finishing in 3… keep talking to continue” is the auto-finish countdown. Keep speaking and it cancels.
- ✅ Done answering, or Ctrl+Shift+A (⌘+Shift+A on a Mac), submits the answer yourself.
- The captions area shows “● REC MIC” and “Mock interview — only your voice is captured. Your words appear here as you answer.”
- If you had muted your microphone for a live session, Mock Interview turns it back on and restores your choice when the session ends.
Check your microphone before a round
- In 1. Check your audio, pick your microphone under 🎤 Microphone.
- Click ▶ Start test and speak. Watch the meter labelled You. The second meter reads “(not used)” in Mock Interview, which is expected.
- Click Record 5 seconds, then 🔊 Play back to hear yourself.
- Wired headphones with a microphone usually give the cleanest audio; Bluetooth earbuds can sound garbled while their microphone is in use. For external gear, see using a USB microphone or audio interface.
Fix microphone messages
| Message | Fix |
|---|---|
| “Microphone access is turned off in Windows” | Click Open Settings, or go to Settings › Privacy & security › Microphone and turn on Microphone access, Let apps access your microphone and Let desktop apps access your microphone. Restart the app |
| “Microphone permission is required” (Mac) | System Settings › Privacy & Security › Microphone › enable CoPilot Interview, then restart the app. Mock Interview doesn't capture the computer's audio, so it needs only the microphone permission |
| “Your microphone is in use or not responding” | Close the app using it (a meeting app, browser tab or recorder) or pick a different microphone. If it keeps failing, unplug and reconnect it |
| “The microphone you chose is not connected” or “Saved microphone not found — using the default microphone” | Plug it back in, or choose another microphone in the audio check |
| “No microphone was found” | Plug in or enable a microphone. On a virtual machine or remote desktop, pass an audio input through. Mock Interview can't run without one |
| “Nothing was heard. Check the 🎤 Mic (top left) and answer again — or Skip.” | The app caught no words. Check your input level, then answer again |
What happens to your audio
The note under the start button reads: “🔒 Only your microphone is captured · graded by the AI you picked, via our secure proxy · sessions saved on your device”. Short audio segments go through our server to the speech-to-text provider and aren't stored on our servers; the transcript text goes to the model you picked for grading. On paid plans, the question text is also sent to ElevenLabs to be read aloud. The session itself is saved on your computer in Documents › CoPilot Interview › Sessions. The Mock Interview guide covers the rest of the round.
Frequently asked questions
Can I turn off the interviewer's voice?
Yes. Untick “Interviewer reads each question aloud” before you start. Questions then appear as text and your turn starts immediately.
Why does my answer submit before I'm finished?
Auto-finish submits after 8 seconds of quiet once you've said a few words. Keep talking when the countdown appears, or untick “Auto-finish an answer after 8 s of silence” for rounds where you pause to think.
Can I use speakers instead of headphones?
In Mock Interview, yes. The app records only your microphone and keeps it closed while the question is read, so the interviewer's voice isn't taken as your answer. Headphones still help in a noisy room.
Why does the interviewer sound robotic?
On the free plan the app uses your computer's built-in voice. Paid plans use a natural-sounding voice; see the <a href="/pricing">pricing page</a>.
Does the voice work in other languages?
Yes. The voice and the questions follow the 🌐 Lang setting, which offers 10 languages.
Practice this interview before the real one
The AI mock interview builds questions from your resume and the job description, reads them aloud and scores each spoken answer out of 10. Included on the free plan.
Start a mock interview