Mac Volume Control: The Complete Guide (2026)

macOS gives you a volume slider and a mute key, and on the surface that's it. There's more underneath: finer volume steps, quick output switching, separate alert sounds and headphone settings. This guide collects what macOS can do, what it can't, and how to fill the gap.

Part 1: Built-in volume controls

The volume keys

The volume up, volume down and mute keys on your keyboard change the system volume in fixed steps and show the level on screen.

Finer steps: Option + Shift

Hold Option + Shift while pressing volume up or down. Each press moves a quarter of a normal step, which helps when one step is too loud and the next too quiet, especially on headphones.

The feedback sound: Shift

Holding Shift while pressing a volume key changes whether the little feedback sound plays. Handy during calls or presentations.

Open Sound settings: Option

Hold Option and press a volume key to jump straight to the Sound settings.

Menu bar slider

To keep a Sound icon in the menu bar, go to System Settings > Control Center, find Sound and choose to always show it in the menu bar. Clicking it gives you a continuous slider, so you're not limited to the key steps.

Control Center

Control Center also has a Sound section with a volume slider and access to your output devices.

Part 2: Output devices

Switching outputs

Click the Sound icon in the menu bar to see your available output devices and pick one. Or go to System Settings > Sound > Output and choose from the list.

Each device keeps its own volume

macOS remembers a volume level for each output device. Switch from speakers to AirPods and the volume jumps to whatever it was the last time you used AirPods. If you didn't expect that, it can feel like the volume changes by itself.

Multi-output devices

Audio MIDI Setup (in Applications > Utilities) can create aggregate devices (combining inputs) and multi-output devices (sending sound to several outputs at once). These are mainly for studio and recording setups, not everyday listening.

Part 3: Alerts and notifications

Alert volume

System Settings > Sound has a separate alert volume slider for macOS system sounds. It only affects system alerts, not notification sounds from apps like Slack, Discord or Teams.

Notification sounds per app

In System Settings > Notifications, each app has an option to play sounds for notifications. It's on or off, not quieter. More in control notification sounds on Mac.

Focus modes

A Focus (System Settings > Focus) can silence notifications from chosen apps. It doesn't touch media volume: your music keeps playing at the same level.

Part 4: Headphones

Headphone Safety

Look in System Settings > Sound for Headphone Safety. With 'Reduce Loud Audio' on, macOS can limit headphone volume. It only affects headphones, not speakers.

Spatial Audio

With supported headphones, Spatial Audio can be turned on from the Sound section of Control Center while audio is playing. It changes where sound seems to come from, not how loud it is.

Left/right slider

In System Settings > Sound, under Output, there's a slider between left and right. If one ear sounds quieter, make sure it's centered.

Part 5: What macOS can't do

Per-app volume

macOS has one output volume for all apps. There's no built-in way to set Spotify to 30% and Zoom to 100%. Some apps have their own volume slider, but there's no single place to set them all.

Boost past 100%

The system volume tops out at 100%. If a call or video is too quiet at maximum, macOS has no way to make just that app louder.

Mute one app

The mute key silences everything. To silence one app, you have to find and use that app's own controls, if it has any.

Part 6: Per-app volume with SoundDial

SoundDial, a per-app volume mixer for Mac covers these three gaps from the menu bar:

• Per-app volume: every running app gets its own slider, from 0% to 200%
• Boost: push a quiet app above 100%, up to 200%, without raising the rest. There's no limiter, so raise it in small steps. See boosting one app's volume on Mac
• Per-app mute: one click silences an app while everything else keeps playing

Version 1.1 adds a few more things: auto-ducking lowers other apps while a call app uses the microphone (on by default, can be turned off), profiles save your per-app levels and mutes under a name, and the panel has a master volume slider and an output picker that switches the Mac's system output. SoundDial also remembers the level you set for each app (Settings > General > Default volume for new apps: Remember last); mute is not remembered, and an app you open later may need a touch of its slider before the saved level applies. See all features.

It works per app, not per browser tab. Read more about per-app volume control on Mac.

SoundDial needs macOS 14.2 or later and costs €14.99 one-time purchase on the Mac App Store, no subscription.

Get SoundDial on the Mac App Store.