Windows 11 brought back a classic feature that had been missing for years: a startup sound. Every time you turn on your computer or reboot from an update, a smooth, ambient chord plays just before the lock screen appears.
While this is a nostalgic nod to classic Windows operating systems, it can be incredibly disruptive. If you are booting up your laptop in a quiet library, turning on a conference room PC during a meeting, or starting a desktop late at night, the sudden chime broadcasting at full volume is embarrassing and unnecessary. Because the sound plays before you even log in, your user-specific volume controls do not affect it. If you want a completely silent, stealthy boot sequence, you must completely disable the startup sound.
Disabling the Startup Sound via Sound Settings
You can turn off the boot chime globally by digging into the legacy Windows sound control panel.
- Click the Start button and select the Settings gear icon (or press Windows Key + i).
- In the left-hand navigation sidebar, ensure you are on the System tab.
- In the main panel, click on Sound.
- Scroll all the way down the Sound page to the “Advanced” section.
- Click on More sound settings. This will open the classic, legacy Sound Control Panel in a small new window.
- At the top of this new window, click the Sounds tab.
- Near the bottom of this tab, just below the “Program Events” list, look for a checkbox labelled Play Windows Startup sound.
- Click the checkbox to uncheck it.
- Click Apply, then click OK to close the window.
The next time you reboot or turn on your PC from a cold state, the operating system will boot in absolute silence. Your screen will simply transition smoothly from the manufacturer logo to the Windows lock screen without broadcasting any audio.