How to change notification sounds on Windows 10

If you're already annoyed by the notification sounds, use this guide to change it on Windows 10.

Change sounds for notifications on Windows 10
Change sounds for notifications on Windows 10

On Windows 10, those toast notifications that appear in the lower-right corner help to keep you in the loop of events around your digital life and alert you of important system events. However, they always play the same old sounds, which after a while it can easily become annoying.

If you had enough of the same sounds for notifications, Windows 10 includes an option to change the sound to something different or remove it, if you get startled with every toast notification that arrives to your device.

In this guide, you’ll learn the steps to change the default sounds for notifications on Windows 10.

How to change notification default sounds on Windows 10

To change the sound for notifications on Windows 10, use these steps:

  1. Open Settings.

  2. Click on Personalization.

  3. Click on Themes.

  4. Click on Sounds.

    Themes settings, Sounds option, on Windows 10
    Themes settings, Sounds option, on Windows 10
  5. In the “Sounds” tab, under the “Program Events” section, select the Notification item.

  6. Use the Sounds drop-down menu and select a different sound. (You can also select the None option to remove the sound.)

    Themes settings, Sounds option, on Windows 10
    Themes settings, Sounds option, on Windows 10
    Quick tip: As part of the notifications sounds, you can also change the sounds for other notifications, including “New Mail Notification,” “New Text Message Notification,” “Desktop Mail Notification,” “Calendar Reminder,” and “Instant Message Notification.”
  7. Click the Apply button.

  8. Click the OK button.

Once you complete the steps, every time that you receive a new notification, you’ll receive an alert with the sound you specified.

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].