How to Change Notification Sounds in Windows 11

To change the sound itself, use the old Sound dialog, not Settings: search Start for Change system sounds, open the Sounds tab, select Notification under Windows and pick a different .wav file. Settings > System > Notifications only turns the sound on or off for each app. Outlook, Teams and WhatsApp have sound settings of their own, and those win for their notifications.

Three places that decide what you hear

The reason for the split: apps can ship their own notification audio. Microsoft's developer guidance gives a messaging app with its own message sound as the example, used instead of the generic notification sound. Changing the Windows default affects only the apps that leave it alone.

Change the default notification sound

1. Select Start, type sound and choose Change system sounds.
2. On the Sounds tab, scroll the Program Events list to the Windows group and select Notification.
3. Pick a sound from the drop-down list, or select Browse to use your own file.
4. Select Test to hear it, then OK.

Your own file has to be a .wav. Microsoft's instructions for the same dialog say MP3 and AAC files cannot be used, so convert the file first.

The same list holds other sounds you may want to change while you are there, such as New Mail Notification, which classic Outlook uses.

Silence one app without hiding its notifications

1. Open Settings > System > Notifications.
2. Under Notifications from apps and other senders, select the app.
3. Turn off Play a sound. Leave Show notification banners and Show notifications in notification center on if you still want to see its alerts.

These per-app options are listed in Microsoft's notifications guide. This page has an on/off switch, not a sound picker. You cannot give one app its own tone here; that has to come from the app.

Outlook: classic and new work differently

Classic Outlook plays the Windows New Mail Notification sound. Change it in the Sound dialog as above, then restart Outlook. To switch the sound off, go to File > Options > Mail and, under Message arrival, clear Play a sound. Both steps are in Microsoft's article on changing the new mail sound.

New Outlook for Windows has its own sound choices. Go to View > View settings > General > Notifications. Under Mail, the Play Sound option for new email and reactions takes a custom sound; under Calendar, event reminders have their own. Microsoft describes this in turning new message alerts on or off.

Microsoft Teams

In Teams, select Settings and more > Settings > Notifications and activity > Sound. Choose which kinds of notification play a sound, pick a sound for each from its drop-down list and select Play to preview it. Microsoft notes that custom sounds are available only in Teams for Windows and on the web.

Urgent messages and priority contacts can have a separate sound. When Microsoft introduced custom sounds, it also added an option to play sounds while your status is Busy or In a meeting, so clear that box if you want silence during calls.

WhatsApp Desktop

In WhatsApp for Windows, open You > Notifications > Messages, make sure Show notifications is on and choose a tone under Notification tone. Choosing None silences incoming messages. These steps are in the WhatsApp Help Center, which also notes that your device's notification settings override WhatsApp's. If Windows has Play a sound off for WhatsApp, its tone setting will not bring the sound back.

Chrome and website notifications

Chrome has no notification sound setting. Its notification settings decide which sites may send alerts and whether prompts are quieter. There is also an accessibility option, Flash Notifications, that flashes the screen. To mute Chrome's notifications on Windows, open Google Chrome in Settings > System > Notifications and turn off Play a sound. If Chrome is missing from that list, see why Chrome does not appear in Windows notification settings.

A sound with no banner

If you hear the sound but see nothing on screen, the problem is the banner, not the sound. The sound but no popup guide covers banner settings, Do Not Disturb and apps that play audio outside Windows notifications.

If you are not sure which app is making the noise, Notification Logger can tell you. It saves the sender, time and text of Windows notifications as they arrive, so after a sound you can open the log and see which app sent the latest entry.

Frequently asked questions