Topic: Need help, fortnite voice chat issue and dad who needs to help son

Hi, I dont game but may have to learn soon. My son wanted a headset to talk to his buddies in fortnite. I got him one made for switch and then in settings for fortnite under voice chat it has an On AND Off option. I cannot get it to switch to on?? Also when he logs in it pops up saying parental controls prevent him from free chatting. Does parental controls have anything to do with being able to enable voice chat? He is upset and none of my online searches are helping. Thanks in advance!

Whom is the maker of the HeadSet? Also you might want to check on some Fortnite Forum for more help on this as well. I know of one that I used and there is a thread about headsets for Fortnite so you want to search on here for that discussion as well.

@SwitchForce thanks, it's not the head set it's the settings in fortnite. It has toggle for enabling voice chat. I cannot choose yes. This is very frustrating wonder if his moms parental controls have anything to do with it

@Pufffee1 @Mowax77 @ataravillo
I emailed Epic Games (maker of Fortnite) about "can't enable fortnite voice chat" for the Switch. They replied to me with in 3-4 hours (impressive). I'll paste what they said. Let me know if it helps you or not:

Hi xxxxxx,
Thank you for contacting Epic Games Player Support. My name is (deleted for privacy), and we'll work together today. I understand that you are experiencing issues using Voice chat feature. Don't worry, you can manage voice chat options in Fortnite, using the following steps:
1. In game, select the menu icon.
2. Select SETTINGS.
3. Select the Audio icon to display the Audio page.

Please check that voice chat option is ON instead of Press to talk, and volume is on the correct level.

Options:
Hover over each of the options to read the tooltip about what exactly they do before changing any settings. You can turn on/off voice chat, as well as manage notifications.

(https://d2duuy9yo5pldo.cloudfront.net/epicgames/4ad99470-4ae2-4643-9ce5-292d6eb2c1c1.png)

In addition, please try playing on Switch Portable mode to ensure if issue remain.

Remember that if you have more questions, you can easily contact us back. It will always be a pleasure for us to assist you. Regards, Epic Games Player Support -xxxxxxxx

Epic Games Player Support - (name deleted for privacy)

@Woomy_NNYes

Thanks but I cannot get passed this option this is the problem. It does not allow me to select or Toggle over to ON. sorry this is frustrating lol

Please check that voice chat option is ON instead of Press to talk, and volume is on the correct level.

If it says it's the parental controls, that's where I'd look .... Not familiar with those, though

@Pufffee1 Hmm. Have you checked for parental settings on your Nintendo account on accounts.nintendo.com? Some switch functions are dictated by this account AND NOT affected by any settings on the console itself. Forgive me if you've checked there already.

Like I said above, they replied to my email pretty quick(within 3 - 3.5hrs), which is respectable. If you email them, copy & paste the content above to show the directions you've gotten already (I told them I would be sharing the email with several people here in the nintendolife forum). If you're really tired of the issue, definitely ask for the manager in your email, to show that your serious about figuring this out, because a lot of people appear to struggle with this. So I'm not sure what the catch is. But it may take the manager to get serious about resolving this issue.
(I wouldn't totally fault this rep. If you look in your email notification for this post, I included the rep's name),

@BruceCM I think, maybe?, the catch people are stuck on is that a parental setting on their Nintendo account, on accounts.nintendo.com, is blocking the voice chat function - and it's not a setting on the Switch console itself.

But like you, I haven't messed with parental settings either.

I'm starting to wonder if I need to do Epic Games' job, reinstall Fortnite, to see if I can recreate the issue people keep running into.

Well, I downloaded the app, to have a look, @Woomy_NNYes .... Can't see an option for voice chat specifically but it'd be worth the parent checking that isn't covered in other settings there
Here's Nintendo's page on it all: https://www.internetmatters.org/blog/parental-controls/gaming...

@BruceCM I'm re-downloading the game. Now I'm really curious! I'm going to do Epic Game's support job. I'm so curious now

Since it seems it'd have to be part of the specific app controls, @Woomy_NNYes .... You can't activate the app specific controls without linking your Switch to the app, it's quite a faff!

@BruceCM Yup. That's what I just figured out. I'd have to set up the parental control app.

So, I've never set up parental controls, and I can enable voice chat in Fortnite. I'm worried getting the app and setting up parental controls will create future headaches. I don't now how easily it can all be turned off.

Regarding my Nintendo account on accounts.nintendo.com, I'm set as the admin. I didn't see anything in there that would be related to parental settings. So, my theory about the Nintendo account appears to not be relevant here.

Well, you can unlink the app & turn parental controls completely off on your Switch, @Woomy_NNYes .... But there's basically no way they set themselves up, so someone had to do it. Since it wasn't the OP, it was presumably the other parent! Not a lot for us to suggest about that, though

@Mowax77 @ataravillo @Pufffee1 The solution to your Fortnite voice chat issue is likely in Switch Parental Controls. Parental controls are in the Switch console settings. (If you opted for the Switch Parental Controls app, then you must use the app). Under "Restriction Level", "Communication With Others" must be set to "Not Restricted" for voice chat to work in Fortnite. Otherwise, Fortnite settings won't let you turn voice chat "On".

Notes for App:
***After you toggle the App setting, YOU MUST TAP THE ORANGE CHECK MARK on the screen to apply the setting change.
(*** If the switch console is on & connected to the internet, changes in the Parental Control app settings, will be applied to the Switch instantaneously. If you change the settings in the App while the Switch is off, you may have to go into the Switch settings (the gear icon on the Switch home screen), go to Parental Controls, and hit "sync with app" for the new settings to be applied.)

Let me know if it works, @Pufffee1, @Mowax77, @ataravillo.

Other set up details. I used the headphones w/ mic that I got with my Samsung Galaxy - headphones are plugged into the Switch headphone jack. I know Fortnite voice chat on the Switch is at least supposed to work with headphones & microphone like you get with smartphones.

@BruceCM - using the Switch Parental Controls app easy to toggle stuff on and off. So, I'm no longer worried about being able to undo the parental settings. It's a breeze to use.

Cool, I just had no reason to look into it before, @Woomy_NNYes .... Hopefully, that'll sort their problem out

I share the solution that worked for me.

I have OneOdio G Headset that was not working in Fortnite, while other non-gamer headsets worked fine (like those for android mobiles)
My headset has a on/off mic switch in the cable. It may work if you have a similar kind of button in your headset.

1. Unplug the headset from your Nintendo Switch
2. Open Fornite
3. Turn off the "mic switch" from your headset
4. Plug the headset
5. Turn on the "mic switch" from your headset
6. Test the mic in group mode ("Open Mic" option in settings should be enabled)

Hope it works.

Cheers