Mac Notification Sounds Too Loud? How to Turn Them Down Without Lowering Your Music

To make Mac notification sounds quieter without lowering your music, open System Settings → Sound and drag the Alert volume slider down in the Sound Effects section. Then switch off sounds for the noisiest apps under System Settings → Notifications → (app name) → Play sound for notifications. For chat apps like Slack and Discord that play their own pings, turn down that app's volume alone with a per-app mixer such as Soundish, so the rest of your audio stays put.

The rest of this post explains why the ping is so much louder than your music, and which fix suits which kind of sound.

Why is the notification ping louder than my music?

Most of the time it's a mismatch of levels. Your music app (or a YouTube tab) may be playing quietly, with the Mac's output volume sitting high to compensate. A notification then plays at the full system level, which is far louder than the music you were calmly listening to.

The other cause is the Alert volume slider itself. It's set separately from your output volume, and if it's near the top, every Messages, Mail and Calendar alert will be punchy no matter what else is playing.

So you have two things to adjust: how loud alerts are, and which apps get to make noise at all.

How do I lower the alert volume on Mac?

1. Open System Settings → Sound.
2. In the Sound Effects section, find Alert volume.
3. Drag it down. Click the alert sound in the list above it to hear a sample as you go.

This controls the standard macOS alert sounds: the ones used by Messages, Mail, Calendar reminders, and any app that uses the system's default alert. It's one slider for the whole Mac, so you can't have a quiet Mail and a loud Calendar. If you want that split, you need the per-app switch in the next section.

While you're in the same pane, two toggles are worth a look:

• Play user interface sound effects controls the small clicks and swooshes (emptying the Trash, for example).
• Play feedback when volume is changed is the little pop you hear each time you press a volume key. Turn it off if you tweak volume a lot.

If you'd rather the alerts came out of a different device from your music, the Play sound effects through menu in that section lets you pick, for example, the built-in speakers while music goes to headphones.

How do I silence notification sounds for just one app?

This is the cleanest native fix for an app that pings too often:

1. Open System Settings → Notifications.
2. Click the app in the list (Mail, Messages, Slack and so on).
3. Turn off Play sound for notifications.

The banner still appears, but the noise is gone. It's a good trade for apps whose notifications you want to see but not hear, such as a calendar, a shopping app or a news app.

To cut sounds for a while rather than permanently, use a Focus. Open Control Centre → Focus and pick Do Not Disturb, or one you've set up, and notification sounds are held back for apps that aren't allowed through.

What about Slack, Discord and Teams, which have their own sounds?

Chat apps often play their own audio rather than relying on the system alert. Check their settings first, since this is the quickest fix and works on any Mac:

• Slack: open Settings → Notifications and look under Sound & appearance. You can change or mute the sound for messages.
• Discord: open Settings → Notifications and uncheck the sounds you don't need, such as join and leave sounds for voice channels.
• Teams: check the notification options in its own Settings.

The catch is that most of these are all or nothing. You can usually pick a different sound or switch it off, but rarely make it quieter. And that's often what you want: you still want to hear the ping, just not at a volume that makes you flinch.

How can I make one app's pings quieter, not silent?

This is where a per-app volume control helps. If the app itself plays the sound (as many chat apps do for message pings and call tones), lowering that app's volume lowers its pings, while your music, video and everything else stay where they are. macOS has no such control built in; the Sound pane only has the system output slider.

Soundish is my menu bar mixer for this. Each app gets its own slider, from 0 to 200%, plus a mute button. When Slack or Discord makes a sound it shows up in the list, and you can drop it to 30% and leave Spotify alone. If you've ever wondered why the app list takes some getting right: Electron apps like Slack, Discord and Chrome produce sound from helper processes that don't look like the parent app, and matching those streams back to the right app name was the hardest part of building Soundish. You see "Slack", not a mystery process.

A few honest limits:

• Soundish only lists apps that are producing audio, so make the sound happen once (send yourself a message) and the app appears.
• Sounds that macOS itself plays for system alerts follow the Alert volume slider above. Treat Soundish as the fix for sounds an app plays, and the Sound pane as the fix for system alerts. If a particular ping doesn't appear under an app, that's a sign it's a system alert.
• Soundish has to be running for its levels to apply. Quit it and every app plays normally again.

It needs macOS 14.6 or later, costs $14.99 once after a 7-day free trial (no card), and there's no subscription. If you want the full tour of the per-app sliders, adding a per-app mixer to the menu bar walks through the setup, and muting one app without muting everything else covers the mute side.

Can I save a quiet-pings setup for work hours?

If you want pings low during the day and normal in the evening, save each state as a profile so you don't re-drag sliders. Soundish profiles store every app's volume, mute and output, and you apply them from the popover or a hotkey. The walkthrough is in Mac audio profiles: save and restore per-app settings.

Common questions

Can I change the notification sound on Mac?

Yes, for system alerts. Go to System Settings → Sound and click a different sound under Alert sound. Individual apps can offer their own sound choices in their settings, but macOS doesn't let you choose a different system alert for each app.

Why does my Mac play a sound when I change the volume?

That's the "Play feedback when volume is changed" setting in System Settings → Sound. Untick it and the pop disappears, while volume keys still work normally.

Is there a per-app notification volume setting on Mac?

Not built in. macOS offers one Alert volume slider and a per-app on/off switch for notification sounds. To set an app to a quieter level instead of off, you need a per-app volume control, which works for sounds the app plays itself.