How to turn On or Off Notification Sounds in Windows 11

Option 1Control Notification Sounds for All Apps Using Settings

Turning off windows 11 notification sounds for every app at once is easy using the main Settings app ⚙️. This stops all programs from playing alert noises at the same time, which helps when you need a quiet workspace. You can do this quickly by changing a single toggle switch in the system menu.

1. Open Settings. You can do this by pressing the Win+I on your keyboard.
2. In the Settings ⚙️ window, click on System in the left-hand menu.
3. Then, click on Notifications on the right side.
4. Click on the Notifications option to expand its settings.
5. You will see a setting called Play notification sound. Turn this switch On to hear notification sounds, or Off to silence them for all apps.

Close the Settings ⚙️ window.

Option 2Control Notification Sounds for Specific Apps Using Settings

Managing windows 11 notification sounds for individual apps lets you stop noisy programs while keeping alerts enabled for important ones like email or chat. You can change these preferences for any installed program through the system settings menu without turning off all alerts on your computer.

1. Open Settings by pressing Win+I.
2. Click on System in the left menu, and then click on Notifications on the right.
3. Scroll down to the list of apps that can send notifications. Click on the name of the app you want to adjust (for example, “Mail”).
4. Look for the setting Play a sound when a notification arrives. Turn this switch On to allow sounds for this app, or Off to disable them.

Close Settings when you finish.

Option 3Control Notification Sounds for All Apps Using Registry Editor (Advanced)

Modifying windows 11 notification sounds system-wide through the Registry Editor gives advanced users a permanent way to control alert noises. This method changes the underlying system database to turn off sounds for every program at once, which is useful when standard settings options do not work.

1. Open Registry Editor. Type regedit.exe in the Windows search bar and press Enter. You may need administrator permission to open this program.
2. Navigate to the following location in the Registry Editor's left pane:
   

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\Settings

To Turn Off Notification Sounds for All Apps:

Create or modify a DWORD (32-bit) Value (a setting used by Windows to store numerical data) named NOC_GLOBAL_SETTING_ALLOW_NOTIFICATION_SOUND and set its value to 0.

To Turn On Notification Sounds for All Apps:

This is the default setting. To ensure sounds are on, delete the registry setting NOC_GLOBAL_SETTING_ALLOW_NOTIFICATION_SOUND.

Option 4Control Notification Sounds for Specific Apps Using Registry Editor (Advanced)

Configuring windows 11 notification sounds for individual programs using the Registry Editor lets you disable audio alerts for specific apps at a deeper system level. This advanced method requires making changes to specific app registry keys to control exactly which software makes noise when messages arrive.

1. Open Registry Editor. Type regedit.exe in the Windows search bar and press Enter. You may need administrator permission to open this program.
2. Navigate to the following location in the Registry Editor's left pane:
   

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\Settings

3. Under the Settings key, find and click on the specific app's key you want to adjust. The names can look complex, like Microsoft.YourPhone_8wekyb3d8bbwe!YourPhoneMessages.

To Turn On Play Sound for Notifications from an App:

1. In the right pane of the app's key, look for a value named SoundFile.
2. If SoundFile exists, right-click on it and select Delete.
3. If SoundFile does not exist, it means sounds are already enabled for this app.
4. Click Yes to confirm if prompted.

To Turn Off Play Sound for Notifications from an App:

1. In the right pane of the app's key, look for a value named SoundFile.
2. If SoundFile does not exist, right-click in an empty space in the right pane, select New, then select String Value. Type SoundFile as the name and press Enter.
3. Double-click on the SoundFile value to edit it.
4. Leave the Value data field completely empty (blank).
5. Click OK.

Clearing the sound file value in the Registry Editor stops a specific program from playing an audio alert when new messages arrive. This step requires editing a string value inside the app's registry folder so Windows stops triggering notification noises for that exact software.

Summary

Manage notification sounds in Windows 11 through the Settings app for a user-friendly experience. For advanced control or to manage settings for all apps at once, use the Registry Editor.