My external headset microphone will not work

I too have this problem. I even tried updating the driver. the headset works on my PS4 and Mac but not this Inspiron 7567. I hope someone can help with this.

There are actually two different standards for how headset pin assignments should work, one pushed mostly by Apple and the other pushed mostly by Samsung. The two different standards use opposite mappings for the mic connector and the electrical ground connector; they agree on the pin assignments for left and right channel audio. That’s why you’ll see some headsets like the Bose QC20 have an Apple version and Samsung version, for example. It’s possible that your headset is wired one way and the headset jack in your system is set up the opposite way. The other possibility is that your system may allow dynamic switching. When you plug the headset in, do you see a popup asking you what type of device you plugged in? If so, do you perhaps have both a Headset and Headset (Alternate) option?

Further reading: https://blog.audio-technica.com/audio-solutions-question-week-can-use-microphone-ios-android-device/

Following up on the above, if that is in fact the issue, there are adapters that can switch between CTIA and OMTP pin mappings. You don’t need to worry about which of your devices uses which mapping, because this adapter simply reverses it from whatever it is by swapping the mic and ground pins around, so it works for both “conversion directions”. Here’s one example: https://www.headsetbuddy.com/3-5mm-audio-ctia-ahj-to-omtp-converter-adapter

I have seen instances where you just need to go into Settings-System-Sound and select the correct microphone. 

So does anyone know what standard (CTIA or OMTP wiring) Dell actually use for their laptop audio jack?

Or is it supposed to be clever and auto-detect so it adapts for either standard?

(although on my Inspiron 15 5000series the auto-detect is so flaky, it often refuses to recognise I've plugged headphones in at all!)