Change the sound volume

To change the sound volume, open the system menu from the right side of the top bar and move the volume slider left or right. You can completely turn off sound by dragging the slider to the left.

Some keyboards have keys that let you control the volume. They normally look like stylized speakers with waves coming out of them. They are often near the “F” keys at the top. On laptop keyboards, they are usually on the “F” keys. Hold down the Fn key on your keyboard to use them.

If you have external speakers, you can also change the volume using the speakers’ volume control. Some headphones have a volume control too.

Changing the sound volume for individual applications

You can change the volume for one application and leave the volume for others unchanged. This is useful if you are listening to music and browsing the web, for example. You might want to turn off the audio in the web browser so sounds from websites do not interrupt the music.

Some applications have volume controls in their main windows. If your application has its volume control, use that to change the volume. If not:

  1. Open the Activities overview and start typing Sound.

  2. Click on Sound to open the panel.

  3. Under Volume Levels, change the volume of the applications listed there. The button at the end of the volume slider toggles Mute on and off.

    Only applications that are playing sounds are listed. If an application is playing sounds but is not listed, it might not support the feature that lets you control its volume in this way. In such case, you cannot change its volume.