Have to be half a centimeter from microphone to be heard in recording

Since you mentioned more than one app (Voice Recorder or Audacity)
the issue is most likely with your ThinkPad mic input settings.

If you are using the internal microphone in your Lenovo ThinkPad,
let's see if the microphone Boost function is turned on.

For this you will need to do the following:

In Windows, access your Control Panel by Clicking "Start" and select "Control Panel.
Note: You can also search for "Control Panel" in the search bar at the bottom of your screen.

Once you are in your Control Panel.
Click Hardware and Sound.
Then Click Sound.
Then Click Recording.
Select Microphone, and click Properties.
Click Levels and move the Microphone Boost slider further to the right.
Click OK.


That's it!

Test your microphone again and see if this helped.


If you are not currently using an external microphone, or a mic/headset combination,
I suggest that you use that instead of the built in microphone.

From the specs that I looked up online I see that your ThinkPad has an available audio input
(Headphone / Microphone combo jack)

also two USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports

and one USB 3.1 Type-C Gen 2 port


You could look for a Mic that works with either your USB port or Audio input,
but personally on a laptop I'd go for a USB device.

If you decide to shop for a Microphone or a Mic/Headset combo,
take a copy of this spec sheet with you, or bring your ThinkPad.

https://psref.lenovo.com/syspool/Sys/PDF...


Hope this helps.