The Muffled Audio
Windows 11 includes a built-in communications feature designed to make voice calls easier to hear. When the operating system detects that you have entered a voice or video call (using apps like Skype, Teams, or even Discord), it automatically ducks the volume of all other applications by 80%. The intention is good—it prevents your Spotify playlist from drowning out your boss. However, if you are a gamer trying to talk to friends on Discord while simultaneously listening to quiet in-game footsteps, this automatic volume reduction is catastrophic, rendering your game almost entirely silent.
Disabling the Communications Ducking
To retain full control over your audio mix and stop Windows 11 from automatically decreasing the volume of your games and music when you join a call, you must adjust the core sound communications settings.
Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialogue box. Type mmsys.cpl and press Enter. This will bypass the modern Windows 11 Settings app and directly open the classic Sound control panel. Look at the very top of this window and click on the Communications tab. You will see a section titled “When Windows detects communications activity.” By default, the option to “Reduce the volume of other sounds by 80%” is selected. Click the radio button next to Do nothing. Click Apply and then OK. Windows will now respect your manual volume settings and will never dynamically lower your audio output, regardless of whether you are in a voice call.