How to Change or Disable Notification Sounds in Windows 11

Quick Tips

• If you don’t like the current notification sound, Windows 11 allows you to change or set a custom notification sound.
• If you don’t want your computer to play any sound whenever you receive a notification, you can disable the notification sound.

How to Change the Default Notification Sound in Windows 11

If you’re going to hear the notification sound all day, you might as well change it to something you like. The Settings app provides access to all the sound settings on Windows 11. Here’s how to use it to change the default notification sound.

Step 1: Click on the Start button on the Taskbar and click the Settings icon to launch the app.

Step 2: In the System tab, click on Sound.

Step 3: Under the Advanced section, click on More sound settings.

Step 4: Head over to the Sounds tab. Under the Program Events section, scroll down to select Notification from the list.

Step 5: Next, select a different sound in the drop-down menu under Sounds. You can use the Test button to play the sound if you want.

Step 6: Click Apply > OK to save the changes.

How to Add Custom Notification Sounds in Windows 11

Although Windows 11 gives you plenty of notification sounds, you can always download and use a custom notification sound from the internet.

There are plenty of websites like SoundBible or Freesound from which you can download notification sounds for free. The audio file you download must be in a WAV format.

Once you have the audio file, here’s how to set it as the default notification sound in Windows 11.

Step 1: Copy and paste the downloaded audio file into the folder where Windows stores all the system sounds.

C:\Windows\Media

Step 2: When you try to paste the audio file, you’ll see the Destination Folder Access Denied dialog box. Click on Continue to proceed.

Step 3: Next, right-click on the speaker icon in the Taskbar and select Sound settings.

Step 4: Click on More sound settings.

Step 5: Under the Sounds tab, select Notification. Then, use the drop-down menu to select your custom audio file.

Step 6: Click Apply > OK.

Although Windows 11 lets you customize the default notification sound, it does not allow you to set different notification sounds for different apps.

How to Disable Notification Sounds for Individual Apps in Windows 11

You can also disable notification sounds for unimportant apps to avoid distractions. To disable notification sounds for a specific app on Windows, use the following steps.

Step 1: Open the Settings app > select System from the sidebar > Notification on the right.

Step 2: Under Notifications from apps and other senders, you’ll see a list of apps. Click on the app to disable notification sounds.

Step 4: Toggle off the Play a sound when a notification arrives option. From this menu, you can also prevent the app from showing notification banners.

You can repeat the above steps to disable notification sounds for the other apps.

How to Disable All Notification Sounds in Windows 11

If you find it tedious to turn off notification sounds for specific apps, you also have the option to silence all notifications on Windows. This is useful if you don’t want to be bothered by constant notification sounds. Follow these steps to mute notification sounds in Windows 11.

Step 1: Open the Settings app > choose System > Notifications.

Step 2: Click the drop-down arrow next to Notifications > uncheck the box for Allow notifications to play sounds.

Though you’ll continue to receive notifications as usual in the background, you won’t be bothered by any sounds.

Also Read: How to fix messages notifications not working on Android