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I have a third party radio app that I listen to all the time. Then I want to visit a website which has sound (or a game).

Is there a way to mute sound from one application on macOS ?

bmike
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aurel
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6 Answers6

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There's a nice open source app, BackgroundMusic, that provides for per app volume control in OSX10.10+:

enter image description here

Pierz
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    Really love this app. (Just note that after first installing, my experience was I needed to relaunch open apps for them to be affected.) – LordParsley Mar 26 '18 at 10:18
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    Mac has tons of software that comes pre installed and i cannot do this basic function without installing an app... – Xitcod13 Sep 22 '19 at 02:21
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    Oh FFS. This is a standard feature of windows. – dwjohnston Sep 30 '20 at 01:22
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    Note that Background Music may have to be selected to be the "output device" (or something similar) from within the options of the app that you are trying to adjust the volume. – iled Oct 08 '20 at 20:58
  • @Xitcod13 would be nice if you mentioned which of these 'tons of preinstalled software' could do this – Sofía Jun 01 '22 at 15:40
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    @Sofia my comment is an expression of frustration. you cannot do this by default – Xitcod13 Jun 01 '22 at 20:57
  • Oh sorry, out of my own frustration, i read your comment wrong - my bad – Sofía Jun 02 '22 at 21:10
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    @Sofia no apologies needed I think we are all frustrated. Hopefully one day it will be standard. – Xitcod13 Jun 09 '22 at 19:25
  • In 2024 this application is really buggy for me on MacOS Sonoma Version 14.2.1 (23C71). There is lots of different things that prevent it from working. To the point where it is not usable anymore. Does anyone know an alternative that is also free, in 2024? – Felix Olszewski Feb 08 '24 at 10:22
9

Finally something that works like in windows

Screenshot

Volume Mixer for Mac lives in your menu bar. With simple features like muting apps by double clicking and detaching an app from the master volume by right clicking, Volume Mixer is easy to learn and simple to use.

http://www.volumemixer-app.com/

Sadly not for free but it seems to have been harder work than you think, so support the devs!

CodeBrauer
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2

Audio Hijack Pro allows you to mute sound from any application. It is actually for recording an application, but you can mute applications as well. You can use the demo to just mute the sound. You shouldn't have to purchase a license.
Here's a screenshot. As you can see, the controls are at the top. Audio Hijack Pro

daviesgeek
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1

Also take a look at Hear, a systemwide Audio program that does mixing, EQ, etc.

segiddins
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0

SoundSource is good paid application ($40) that allows volume controls per application and also allows sound device selection per application.

kaznovac
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-7

Perhaps I'm missing something here (emphasis mine):

Is there a way to mute sound from an application?

If you are looking to simply mute quickly across applications, couldn't you just use the key (I know, the emoji is not an accurate representation of the key, but it's the thought that counts, right?)

soxman
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