Adjust and Mute Volume for Individual Windows Applications

Sometimes, you might have one or a few applications that will make noise on your computer for whatever reason on a regular basis or the cause of the sound is outside of your control (i.e. receiving instant messages, e-mail, etc). This can be particularly annoying if you are trying to concentrate on other things such as movies or general work.

Luckily, since Windows Vista, there has been the ability within Windows to change or mute the volume on a per application basis. All you need to do is:

1. Right click on the volume icon down in the system tray next to the time,
2. Left click on “Open Volume Mixer”.

Windows 7 Volume Mixer

You’ll then see a window similar to the above. As you can see, each application has its own volume slider which you can adjust as well as a mute button underneath. You’ll notice that I have muted the two instant message applications as well as the system sounds. Also, on the far left, you’ll see a master volume slider which will influence both the maximum and relative volumes for all applications which will save you the effort of adjusting each slider individually.

Of course, if you have more than one sound device (like speakers and a pair of USB headphones) you can control those by using a dropbown menu that will appear in the “Device” section on the left of the Volume Mixer window.

Windows 7 Volume Mixer (Sound Device Selection)

Hopefully this tip will come in handy for you!