How to Disable Notification Sounds in Windows 10

Notifications in Windows have evolved over time, and Windows 10 further expanded the whole notification system. Notifications now slide out along the bottom right of your screen and each is accompanied by a chime, which can be irksome whenever files are added to your Dropbox or you plug in a new device.

Now that notifications are cataloged in the Action Center, you can view notifications you might have missed. So, if you still want to see notification banners in the lower-right corner of the screen, but you find the notification sounds annoying, you can turn the sounds off without fearing that you might miss important notifications.

To access Windows 10’s notification settings, click the notifications icon in the taskbar’s system tray area, then click the “All settings” button.

On the main Settings screen, click the “System” option.

Click the “Notifications & actions” category.

Under the “Notifications” section, the “Get notifications from apps and other senders” option allows you to turn notifications completely off.

Below the main Notifications options, there are options to disable certain apps from displaying notifications. You can also choose notification settings for each of these apps individually. To customize notifications for a specific app, click on that app in the list. For example, we want to see notifications from Outlook when we get new emails, but we’d rather not hear a sound every time, so we click “Outlook 2016” in the list.

To disable the notification sound for the selected app, click the “Play a sound when a notification arrives” slider button so it turns white and reads Off. You can also set various other notification settings on this screen, such as whether you want to see notification banners, keep notifications private on the lock screen, show notifications in the action center, and the number of notifications visible in the action center.

To close the Settings window, click the “X” in the upper-right corner.

You have to turn off the notification sounds for each app separately. But, once you do, you can enjoy getting notifications without the annoying chime.