How to Turn On or off Notification Sounds in Windows 11

Option 1Control Notification Sounds for All Apps Using Settings

This is the fastest way to get a quiet workspace. These steps turn sound notifications on or off for every app with one switch. The pop-ups themselves still appear unless you turn those off separately.

1. Press Win+I to open Settings⚙️. The Settings window opens with the list of categories on the left.
2. Click System in the left-hand menu. The system options appear on the right.
3. Click Notifications on the right side. The notification settings page opens.
4. Expand the Notifications option at the top of the page. Skip this step if it is already open. The extra options appear underneath it.
5. Find the Play notification sound setting. This switch controls the alert sound for all apps.
6. Set the switch to On or Off. On lets notifications make a sound, and Off silences them for all apps. The change applies right away, so you do not need to restart.

Close the Settings window when you are done. To undo the change later, return to the same page and flip the switch the other way.

Option 2Control Notification Sounds for Specific Apps Using Settings

Muting individual apps lets you silence noisy programs while keeping sounds for important ones like email or chat. You can change this for any app in the notification list. The other apps keep playing their alerts.

1. Press Win+I to open Settings⚙️. The Settings window opens.
2. Click System in the left menu. The system options appear on the right.
3. Click Notifications on the right. The notification page opens.
4. Scroll down to the list of apps that can send notifications. Every app that has sent an alert is listed here with its own switch.
5. Click the name of the app you want to adjust, for example “Mail”. The settings⚙️ page for that app opens.
6. Find Play a sound when a notification arrives. This switch controls the sound for this app only.
7. Set the switch to On or Off. On allows sounds for this app, and Off disables them. The change takes effect immediately.

An app only appears in the list after it has sent at least one notification. If you cannot find it, trigger an alert from that app first, then check the list again.

Close Settings when you finish. To reverse the change, open the same app’s page and flip the sound switch back.

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

The Registry Editor gives advanced users a way to control alert sounds for every program at once. It helps when the normal Settings option does not work as expected. Registry changes affect the whole system, so work carefully.

Before you start, back up the registry. In Registry Editor, go to File › Export and save a copy. Double-click that file later to restore your settings.

1. Open Registry Editor. Type regedit.exe in the Windows search bar and press Enter. You may need administrator permission to open this program. If a User Account Control prompt appears, click Yes.
2. Go to the following location in the left pane: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\Settings. When you reach it, its values show in the right pane.

Now pick one of the two options below. Step 3 depends on whether you want sounds off or on.

To Turn Off Notification Sounds for All Apps:

3. Create or open the value named NOC_GLOBAL_SETTING_ALLOW_NOTIFICATION_SOUND. It is a DWORD (32-bit) Value, which is a setting Windows uses to store numerical data. To create it, right-click an empty space in the right pane and select New, then DWORD (32-bit) Value. If the value already exists, double-click it instead.
4. Set the value data to 0. Click OK to save it.
5. Sign out and back in, or restart. Do this only if the change does not take effect straight away.

To Turn On Notification Sounds for All Apps:

This is the default setting, so you only need to remove the change if you made it earlier.

3. Look for the value NOC_GLOBAL_SETTING_ALLOW_NOTIFICATION_SOUND in the right pane. If it is not there, sounds are already on by default and you have nothing to do.
4. Right-click the value and select Delete. Confirm when prompted. The value disappears from the right pane and sounds return to the default.

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

This method lets you disable audio alerts for specific apps at a deeper system level. It means editing the registry key of each app, so you control exactly which software makes noise when messages arrive. As with any registry change, export a backup first.

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. Go to the following location in the left pane: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\Settings. The keys for your apps are listed below it.
3. Open the app’s key under the Settings key. The names can look complex, like Microsoft.YourPhone_8wekyb3d8bbwe!YourPhoneMessages. Click each key and check its name until you find the right app. The values for the selected key show in the right pane.

To Turn On Play Sound for Notifications from an App:

These steps turn sounds back on for the app you selected. Continue from step 3 above.

4. Look for a value named SoundFile. Check the right pane of the app’s key.
5. If SoundFile exists, right-click it and select Delete.
6. If SoundFile does not exist, stop here. Sounds are already enabled for this app, so you have nothing to change.
7. Click Yes to confirm if prompted. The value disappears from the right pane.

To Turn Off Play Sound for Notifications from an App:

These steps turn sounds off for the app you selected. Continue from step 3 above.

4. Look for a value named SoundFile. Check the right pane of the app’s key.
5. Create the value if SoundFile does not exist. Right-click an empty space in the right pane, select New, then select String Value. Type SoundFile as the name and press Enter. The new value appears in the right pane.
6. Double-click the SoundFile value. The edit window opens.
7. Leave the Value data field completely empty (blank).
8. Click OK. The window closes and the value is saved.

Clearing the sound file value stops that one program from playing an audio alert when new messages arrive. Windows no longer has a sound to play for that app, and your other apps are not affected.

To undo it, follow the steps above that delete the value. If the sound still plays after the change, sign out and back in, or restart the PC.

Summary

For most people, the Settings app is the quickest and safest way to manage notification sounds in Windows 11. Use the Registry Editor only when you need advanced control or want to manage settings for all apps at once.