Windows plays a startup sound and other sound effects regularly, and they can get obnoxious. They're especially annoying on Windows 7, where Windows plays a click audio every fourth dimension you switch folders in Windows Explorer. You lot can disable them entirely—or even fix custom audio effects, if you prefer.

Update, 11/12/21: Looking to disable the startup sound on your Windows eleven PC?

RELATED: How to Disable the Startup Sound on Windows eleven

How to Disable All Sound Effects

To open the Sound control console, right-click the speaker icon in your organization tray and select "Sounds". Yous can likewise just navigate to Control Panel > Hardware and Audio > Sound.

On the Sounds tab, click the "Audio Scheme" box and select "No Sounds" to disable sound effects entirely. If yous also desire to disable the audio that appears when you sign into Windows, uncheck the "Play Windows Startup audio" checkbox.

Y'all can besides choose to disable sound furnishings for specific events. For example, you might want to disable "Notification" sound furnishings while leaving "Critical Bombardment Alarm" sound furnishings enabled. To do this, select a audio consequence in the list, click the "Sound" box at the bottom of the window, and click "(None)".

Click "OK" to save your changes when you're washed. You tin can always return here and gear up the sound scheme back to "Windows Default" to restore the default sound effects.

How to Disable the Windows Explorer Click Audio

If you're using Windows 7, y'all may be particularly annoyed past the sound effect that plays when yous navigate to a new folder in Windows Explorer. This detail sound result is disabled by default on Windows ten, and for expert reason.

To disable only this audio, curlicue down in the listing and select the "Showtime Navigation" sound result. Click the "Sounds" box at the bottom of the window and select "(None)". Click "OK" to save your changes.

How to Customize Audio Effects

If y'all similar the sounds instead, you can customize them from here. Select an effect and utilise the "Sounds" box to choose a sound file for it. You lot tin can click "Test" to hear a preview of the different sound effects here.

To use a custom audio file, click the "Browse" button. Your custom sound consequence file must be in the .wav file format.

To save your settings as a sound scheme, click the "Relieve As" push button at the tiptop of the window and provide a name. Yous can then choose your saved sound scheme from the list here in the future.

Why Do Sounds Keep Turning Dorsum On?

You may observe that sound furnishings automatically re-enable themselves when you customize your desktop. This occurs when you lot change your desktop theme using either the quondam Control Panel interface on Windows seven or the new Settings interface on Windows 10. That's because desktop themes tin include sound schemes also every bit desktop background images, colors, and mouse cursor themes. All the same, nigh themes just specify the "Windows Default" sound scheme, re-enabling it if you've disabled it.

RELATED: How to Install Desktop Themes on Windows 10

Subsequently irresolute to a new theme, you lot'll accept to head back to the Sounds window to disable sound effects, if you don't want to hear them.

Irresolute your arrangement sound settings will disable them in some—but not all—desktop applications. If an application continues playing sound effects even after you disable them in the Sounds control panel, you'll need to disable sound effects in that awarding'southward settings window.