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How To

How to: Silence your Mac startup sound

Nick

Nick

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No matter how much Macs have changed over the years, one thing has remained constant – the startup sound. It’s not a feature that’s just for fun though – the sound indicates that all initial startup tests on your Mac’s internal components have been successful. That said, it can be inconvenient or even embarrassing if you switch on your Mac in a quiet public area, such as a library or classroom. Fortunately, there are a few simple solutions:

1. Mute your Mac’s volume when you shut down

The simplest solution is to mute your Mac volume every time you shut down your Mac. This ensures that the next time you switch on your Mac, the sound will be muted too. Of course, it’s not ideal if you’ve got a bad memory!

2. Install StartupSound.prefPane

This is a simple preference pane which which allows you to edit the volume of the startup sound alone via your System Preferences. It doesn’t affect the master volume controller on your Mac.

3. Install Psst

Another simple utility that works by automatically silencing your Mac volume every time you shut down, thus silencing the startup sound. However, this app is a bit dated and doesn’t work on all Macs so check compatibility first.

These are the three simplest and most effective ways to turn off your Mac’s startup sound. Note, however, that if you have either Tinker Tool System or MacPilot installed, you don’t need to use any of the above, as both applications have options to disable the Mac startup sound!

Nick

Nick

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