Looking to change the volume in smaller steps on your Mac or a quick way to mute? Find out here how to change the volume on a Mac with keyboard, trackpad and mouse.
First, Cut Lemony Slices
You can add frozen water to a drink, of course, to keep it cool and slowly but inevitably losing its taste.
I’ve had the opposite suggested once and am very fond of the idea already just seeing the ingredient: freeze sliced lemons (the kind you can eat whole) and throw them into water (or a favorite tasty drink, of course). This should keep the beverage cool and slowly but inevitably getting tastier.
Refreshed thusly, want to remove not heat but volume from your Mac’s sound? Or make it sound better by making it play louder? Here’s what I can suggest:
How to Change the Volume on a Mac
Control Volume Using Mac Keyboard Shortcuts
Time needed: 1 minute
To change the volume using a keyboard “shortcut” on a Mac:
- Press Volume up (🔊) to turn up the volume.
- Use Volume down (🔉) to reduce the volume.
- Press the Mute key (🔈) to turn off the sound altogether.
Back: To return to the previous volume, press Mute again.
Keyboard Shortcuts to Change the Volume on a Mac in Smaller Increments
To change the volume on a Mac with greater granularity in small increments:
- Press Option Shift Volume up (🔊) for a quarter step louder and
- press Option Shift Volume down (🔉) for a quarter step softer.
Volume won’t change? How to Fix Locked Sound Volume on a Mac
Using a Windows Keyboard (without Volume Keys)
To turn the volume up or down on a Mac using a keyboard that does not have volume keys (such as a Windows keyboard):
- Press Fn/Function F12 for volume up and
- Fn/Function F11 for volume down.
Control a Mac Volume Using a Mouse or Trackpad
You can always change the output volume directly in System Settings:
- Open System Settings (or System Preferences) on the Mac.
- Go to the Sound category.
- Select the Output tab under Output & Input.
macOS Monterey and earlier: Go to the Output tab. - Select the speaker or speakers you want to use for regular sound output.
Alert sounds: You can have alerts play using the built-in speakers (if available); see below. - Adjust the volume under Output volume.
Alerts: Again, alerts can get special treatment and always play softer other output; see below.
To select a different volume and output device for macOS alerts:
- Open Sound option in the macOS System Settings; see above.
- Choose the built-in speakers for Play sound effects through if you want alerts to always us these (instead of, say, a HomePod or Apple TV).
- Under Alert volume, pick the percentage of overall output volume to use for alerts.
Always <=: The maximum is 100%; you cannot make alerts louder than other sound output.
Zero is an option: You can silence alerts altogether here if you turn the slider to 0%.
Control the Volume in Menu Bar or Control Center
To turn a Mac’s volume up or down using macOS menu bar or Control Center using a mouse or trackpad:
- Open Control Center or the sound item in the menu bar.
Adding it: See below for adding volume control to the menu bar.
Control Center: You can always control volume using Control Center. - Use the Sound slider to control volume.
Click to set: You can click anywhere on the scale to instantly move the control there (e.g., no sound).
To add volume control to the menu bar:
- Open System Settings.
- Select Control Center.
- Choose Always Show in Menu Bar for Sound under Control Center Modules.
Change the Volume Using Siri
You can, of course, also change the volume by saying or typing to Siri:
- “Turn up the volume.”
- “Turn down the volume.”
How to Change the Volume on a Mac: FAQ
Can I change the volume for an individual app or application on the Mac?
No.
If the app itself does not let you control the volume, you can only resort to abating the global output volume in macOS, then adjust other applications as needed (if they let you).
(How to change the volume on a Mac tested with macOS Sonoma 14.2 and Ventura 13.4; updated January 2024)