How to Disable a Volume Change Beep

Many annoying or irritating system sounds in Windows can be turned off.

Many operating systems for computing devices have annoying sounds. Remember the horrible sound your computer made when it connected to the Internet via a dial-up modem? Coffee grinders make less noise. Windows, in particular, is known for irritating or annoying sounds such as the volume change beep. Whenever you adjust your volume using the task bar icon or the full volume control slider, there is a beep that sounds that increases in volume as your speaker volume increases. You can turn off this annoying volume change beep, but be aware that other sounds will not work anymore either.

Instructions

1. Right-click your speaker icon in the task tray at the bottom of your screen and select "Audio Properties." If you have Windows set up to not show this icon, you will need to go into your Control Panel and double-click the "Sounds and Audio Devices" icon.

2. Select the "Sounds" tab at the top of the dialog box.

3. Select "Default Beep" in the "Program Events" section. Select "[None]" from the drop-down menu in the "Sounds" section at the bottom. Click "OK."

4. Open the "Sounds and Audio Devices Properties" dialog box again and select the "Volume" tab at the top. Click "Advanced..." in the "Device Volume" section. This will open up the individual slider settings for each speaker. Check the "Mute" box under the one labeled "PC Speaker," if it is listed. It might not be listed if you are using a sound card and/or have turned off your on-board audio in your BIOS.

5. Close the volume control slider settings dialog box and click "OK" at the bottom of the "Sounds and Audio Devices Properties" dialog box.

6. Open your Start menu and right-click on "My Computer" or "Computer," depending on your version of Windows. Select "Properties" from the pop-up menu.

7. Click "Hardware" and "Device Manager" or just "Device Manager," depending on your Windows version.

8. Click "View" at the top of the Device Manager and select "Show Hidden Devices."

9. Right-click on "Beep" in the revealed devices and select "Disable." Select "Yes" when asked if you are sure you want to disable this device. Close all open windows and dialog boxes. Your volume change beep is now totally disabled.

Tips & Warnings

• Disabling any of the items mentioned above with also disable the sound from being used by other devices or operations. They can be turned back on and re-enabled by following the above steps and turning items back on or turning off mute.

References

• Optimality.com: Turn-off Beep When Changing Volume in Windows