The ringing of Windows notifications annoys you, but you don’t want to cut the audio to continue enjoying the sound of other applications? Use the Windows Volume Mixer to dial it all in to your liking!
Hearing a small “ding” of notification coming from an app or Windows while you are well concentrated in an office software or captivated by a series broadcast in streaming in a browser can become very annoying. And we can say that Windows 10 and 11 love notifications and do not hesitate to let you know! Here to inform you that the antivirus analysis conducted in the background does not reveal anything, there to warn you of the arrival of a new email, there again to inform you of the availability of an update… System and apps wear out and misuse notifications. However, there is no question of radically cutting off the sound of the PC, otherwise you will no longer hear anything at all. To get out of this situation, Windows includes a mixer (or mixer, in English) volume. The principle of this rudimentary mixing console is simple: finely adjust the sound using small sliders for the system as well as for each of the open applications. In this way, it is easy to mute Windows and all the other apps that run in the background, leaving the volume only to the web browser, for example. To access it, Windows 10 and Windows 11 do not take the same path. Here’s how to reach and use the volume mixer.
How to Access Volume Mixer in Windows 10 and 11?
As often in Windows, there are several ways to achieve the same result. Thus, to reach the volume mixer, you have four possibilities.
Access the Volume Mixer from Windows Settings
► With Windows 10 or Windows 11, press the keyboard shortcut Win + I to open Windows Settings. Click on System then His. With Windows 10, click at the bottom of the window on Advanced sound options.
► With Windows 11, click on volume mixer.
► You then access the Volume Mixer, where a horizontal slider is associated with each open application and the system (Windows). All that remains is to adjust the sound level by dragging the slider to the left or to the right. You can also completely mute a “source” by clicking on the speaker icon; which works in “switch” mode: one click is enough to reactivate it, without touching the volume slider.
Access the Volume Mixer from the Control Panel
► Always present in Windows, the Control Panel contains a small app called Volume Mixer. Kind of a less polished version of the volume mixer available from Windows Settings but just as effective. Access the Control Panel by typing Sign in the Windows search field or through a shortcut that you have created as we explain in our practical sheet. In Control Panel, click Hardware and audio.
► In the next window, click on Adjust system volume in the section His.
► The window then appears volume mixer. Again, you have to drag a slider for each open application, but this time, up or down, because these settings are vertical. And a click on the speaker icon is enough to completely mute and unmute an application’s sound, without having to move the volume slider.
Access One-Click Volume Mixer in Windows 10
► Windows 10 has a peculiarity that disappeared in Windows 11. Click with the right mouse button on sound icon at the end of the taskbar. From the pop-up menu choose Open volume mixer.
► The Volume Mixer window appears. All you have to do is perform the dosage by sliding vertical sliders for each open application, up or down.
Access Volume Mixer in Windows 11
► With Windows 11, right-clicking on the sound icon in the taskbar no longer gives access to the Volume Mixer. You must do otherwise. Press the keyboard shortcut Win + R to display the window Execute. Then type sndvol.exe in the field Open. This is the Volume Mixer app. Validate with a click on OK.
► The Volume Mixer window appears on the screen. All you have to do is mix with the vertical sliders.
