How to Use the Windows 11 Volume Mixer
The Volume Mixer is one of the most useful tools built into Windows 11. It allows you to set a custom volume level for each app on your PC . You can use this to your advantage by lowering the volume for apps that send a lot of notifications and increasing it for apps you actually want to hear, like the music player. Although the volume mixer has been part of Windows for many years, Microsoft is working on modernizing it . The updated Volume Mixer is now available to every Windows 11 user: here’s how to get the most out of it.
How to use the volume mixer in Windows 11
The easiest way to launch the new Windows 11 Volume Mixer is to use the keyboard shortcut: Windows-Ctrl-V . You’ll see the volume mixer in the bottom right corner of the screen, just above the clock on the taskbar. You can also open the Volume Mixer by right-clicking the speaker icon on the taskbar, which is located in the same area. Once you open it, you will see the following sections:
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Output device
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Spatial audio
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Volume mixer
We need the volume mixer section, so scroll down to use it. Next to each one you will see several application icons and a volume slider. Move the slider to adjust the volume of each app. The first slider on the left is for system sounds, including alerts, so you can use it to reduce loud sounds in Windows 11. If the app you want to adjust isn’t listed, click the gear icon next to Volume Mixer . This will open the settings and show you its own volume mixer section. You should see your app here, but if you don’t, press Crtl+Alt+Del to open Task Manager and double check that it’s running.
Use the scroll wheel to adjust volume in Windows 11
I recently discovered a faster way to adjust the volume on my Windows 11 computer. If your keyboard has media buttons, press the volume up or down button first. In Windows 11, this opens a tiny pop-up menu that shows the current volume level. Move your cursor to this menu and use the mouse scroll wheel to adjust volume faster than the media keys would normally allow.
Alternatively, hover over the volume button on the taskbar and scroll up to increase the volume and down to decrease it.