When I am recording, even at the highest peak volume, the recording trace on both channels is only at approximately 50%. What do I have to do to increase the recording level. I have the microphone at max.
Win 10
Audacity 2.3.3
I assume that you are referring to the peak height of the blue waveform, in which case 50% is perfectly OK.
You can run the Amplify effect after recording. It’s normal to leave some headroom (for unexpected peaks) and editing & effects can affect the levels so you almost always have to adjust the volume anyway.
…You didn’t tell us anything about your set-up, but there are certain configurations where you have a stereo (2-input) interface and the signals are cut in half before being combined for mono, so they won’t try to go over 0dB (1.0 or 100%) and clip (distort) when combined.