The Mac is provided with a specific startup sound that may be heard every time you boot up your device. There are some exceptions where there is no specific startup sound. For example, Macs were designed during the 2016-2020 period. Some people find this sound annoying, so they search for the method how to disable this feature. If you’re one of those users, keep on reading.
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How to disable or enable the Mac startup sound
Mac users who are running macOS Big Sur and higher are able to switch on and switch off the startup sound with the flick of a switch.
So, if you want to disable/enable the specific startup sound on Mac, you should follow the steps which would be mentioned in the section below:
It’s a quite simple process, you can do switch on or switch off the startup sound for your Mac from the System Preferences menu.
- First of all, you should tap on the Apple button which is located on the left side of the Mac menu bar and then, you should click on the “System Preferences” option.
- After that, you should tap on the “Sound” button.
- To complete the process, you should tap on the checkmark next to the “Play Sound on Startup” option, which can be found in the “Sound Effects” section, to turn on or turn off the feature.
Since then, your Mac or Macbook will now play (or not play) Apple’s iconic chime the next time your switch on your laptop or computer.
How to temporarily switch off the startup sound
Your Mac’s startup sound depends on the volume level your Mac was set to when it was shut down. If your Mac was set to maximum volume level, the boot chime will be played at maximum volume. In case your Mac has been muted, the startup chime will be silenced.
If you want to switch off the startup sound, you should click on the “Mute” button on your keyboard (that’s the F10 key on a MacBook) before your Mac gets switched off or restarted. This solution will be suitable for those users who don’t want to make any noise while suddenly restarting the device.
In case there is no Mute key on your keyboard, it’s always possible to set the volume slider to the lowest level it will go. In this way, you will also not make any noise.
How to switch off the startup sound via the terminal window
If you want to permanently turn off the startup sound in order not to hear it during the startup, even if you have your volume level set to maximum volume when you shut down, it’s required to use a terminal command.
So, if you want to switch off the startup sound via the terminal window, you should follow the instructions which would be mentioned in the section below:
- First of all, you should open a Terminal window.
- After that, you should hold Command + Space to open Spotlight search, then you should fill in Terminal, and click on Enter.
- Another way is to open a Finder window. Then, you should go to Applications.
- After that, you should head to Utilities.
- Then, you should go to Terminal.
- Next, you should run the following command in the terminal window:
sudo nvram SystemAudioVolume=%80 You should fill in your password when it would be required and then you should click on Enter. After that, you should restart your Mac and you won’t hear the sound. If you’d like to return your change later and have the startup chime play normally when you restart your Mac, run the following command: sudo nvram -d SystemAudioVolume
What to do if the command doesn’t work
Some people report that the above command doesn’t work on their Macs. If it didn’t silence the startup chime on your system, you may want to try running one of these other commands instead. These reportedly work for some people. This may be hardware-dependent, and certain commands may only work on certain hardware.
