The Unnecessary Volume Beeps
When you press the Volume Up or Volume Down keys on a Mac keyboard, macOS displays a translucent bezel on the screen to show the current volume level. Historically, macOS also played a short, popping “beep” sound with every single press of the volume key. This audio feedback was designed to give you an auditory reference for how loud the system currently is.
However, if you are sitting in a quiet office, a library, or on a late-night flight, rapidly pressing the volume down key to mute your system results in a rapid-fire series of loud, obnoxious popping noises, completely defeating the purpose of trying to be quiet. Most users rely entirely on the visual on-screen indicator and find the audio feedback highly annoying. You can easily silence this feature.
How to Silence the Volume Keys
You can disable the audio feedback in the Sound settings.
- Click the Apple Logo in the top-left corner of the menu bar and select System Settings… (or System Preferences).
- Scroll down the left-hand sidebar and click on Sound.
- Look in the main pane (often under a “Sound Effects” section or tab, depending on your macOS version).
- Look for the toggle switch or checkbox labelled Play feedback when volume is changed.
- Toggle the switch to the Off position (or uncheck the box).
Now, when you adjust the volume using your keyboard, your Mac will remain completely silent. The visual overlay will still appear on the screen, but you will no longer broadcast a series of pops to everyone in the room.