How to Connect Your Guitar to a Computer
Updated October 4, 2026
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The most reliable way to connect a guitar to a computer is with an audio interface. Plug the guitar into the interface’s instrument input and connect the interface to the computer over USB. Then select the interface as the input in your recording software. Plugging straight into the computer’s mic jack usually gives poor results.
The Basic Signal Chain
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Guitar output | Your guitar sends its signal through a standard instrument cable. |
| 2. Instrument (Hi-Z) input | The audio interface’s input accepts that signal. Hi-Z means high impedance, the type of input made for a guitar plugged in directly. |
| 3. USB to computer | The interface turns the signal into digital audio and sends it to the computer. |
| 4. Software input | In your recording app, choose the interface as the input device and pick the input your guitar is plugged into. |
| 5. Monitoring | Listen through headphones or speakers connected to the interface. |
Some interfaces have a separate instrument jack, and others have a switch on the input. If you see a switch marked Inst or Hi-Z, turn it on for guitar.
Why the Mic Jack Is Usually a Bad Fit
A passive electric guitar puts out a signal meant for a high impedance input. Passive means it has no battery powered preamp. A computer’s ordinary mic jack is often a poor match for that signal. The tone can sound thin or dull, the level may be too low or noisy, and the plugs may not even fit without an adapter. It can work in a pinch, but an instrument input is built for the job.
USB Guitar Cables
A USB guitar cable has a small interface built into the cable. It can be a simple way to start, but these cables vary. Check two things:
- Drivers: Some work as soon as you plug them in. Others need you to install a driver, which is a small program that lets the computer talk to the device.
- Monitoring: Some have no headphone output. Then you can only hear yourself through the computer, which may add a noticeable delay.
Acoustic Guitars
If your acoustic has a pickup, plug it into the instrument input like an electric. If it has no pickup, put a microphone in front of it and plug the mic into the interface’s mic input.
When you record with a mic, listen on headphones instead of loudspeakers. Sound from the speakers can leak into the mic, and at higher volumes it can cause feedback.
Setting Up the Software
- Connect the interface before you open your recording app.
- In the app’s audio settings, select the interface for input and output.
- Create an audio track and choose the input your guitar is plugged into.
- Arm the track. Turn on monitoring if you want to hear the guitar through the software’s effects.
- Play, and set the input gain on the interface so loud strums don’t clip. Clipping is the harsh distortion you get when the level goes too high.
Once the track is armed and the level stays out of the red, many players start adding effects in the software. Delay is one that depends on the song itself. Repeats sound locked in when they land on note values at the song’s tempo, and timing delay to your song’s BPM shows how to convert that tempo into straight, dotted, and triplet millisecond values.
Worked Example: Electric Guitar Into an Interface
Say you have an electric guitar, an interface with two inputs, and headphones.
- Plug the guitar into input 1 and switch it to instrument or Hi-Z.
- Plug your headphones into the interface.
- Connect the interface to the computer with USB.
- In your software, pick the interface and set the track input to input 1.
- Strum hard and adjust the gain until the meter stays out of the red.
Next Steps
For a step by step PC workflow, see recording guitar on a PC. Mac users can follow recording guitar in GarageBand. If you add delay effects, the delay calculator helps you set delay times that fit your song’s tempo.
