If you are listening to music, watching a YouTube video, or sitting in a Zoom meeting on your Mac, you may occasionally notice the volume of your media suddenly dropping by 50% for a few seconds. This is due to an accessibility feature called “Audio Ducking.” When a system notification arrives (like a new iMessage or a calendar alert), macOS automatically lowers the volume of your primary application to ensure you clearly hear the notification “ping.”
While this ensures you never miss a text message, it is incredibly annoying for users who listen to music while working. Having your favorite song violently muffled every time a coworker sends a Slack message completely ruins the listening experience. If you are doing professional audio mixing or video editing, audio ducking makes it impossible to accurately judge your audio levels.
You can dive into the macOS Accessibility settings to completely disable audio ducking, ensuring your media volume remains perfectly level.
How to Turn Off Audio Ducking on a Mac
You must disable this feature within the VoiceOver accessibility menu.
- Open the System Settings (or System Preferences) via the Apple Logo in the top-left menu bar.
- Scroll down the left sidebar and click on Accessibility.
- In the right-hand pane, click on VoiceOver.
- Click the button labeled Open VoiceOver Utility… (this will launch a separate application window).
- In the left sidebar of the VoiceOver Utility, click on Sound.
- Look for a checkbox labeled Enable Audio Ducking.
- Uncheck this box.
- Close the VoiceOver Utility window to save your changes.
macOS will immediately stop interfering with your audio levels. The next time you receive an iMessage, the notification “ping” will play right over the top of your music at the normal volume, leaving your primary audio completely undisturbed.