Guide

How to change the volume of one app on a Mac

Music too loud under a video call, a game drowning out a podcast: here's how to turn one app down without touching the rest.

Use the app's own volume

Many apps that play sound have a volume of their own, separate from the Mac's:

• Music and Spotify: the volume slider in the player.
• Video in a browser: the player's own volume, or mute a whole tab from its tab (right-click the tab in Safari or Chrome).
• Zoom, Teams and other call apps: the speaker volume in their audio settings.
• Games: usually a master volume in their settings.

This works without installing anything, but every app keeps the control somewhere different, and many apps (notification sounds, most utilities, some games) have none at all.

Use a per-app volume app

A per-app volume app puts a slider for every app that's playing in one place, usually the menu bar. These are the common ones:

• Sordina (ours): a menu bar app with a slider and mute for every app, free. Sordina Pro adds turning other apps down during calls, going louder than 100%, an EQ and settings for each output, for €7.99 once.
• SoundSource by Rogue Amoeba: a paid app with per-app volume plus audio effects and routing for each app.
• Background Music: free and open source, with per-app volume and auto-pausing music. It works through a virtual audio device.

With Sordina

1. Open Sordina from the menu bar. Every app making sound has its own card with a slider.
2. Drag an app's slider, or click its mute button. The other apps don't change.
3. The Mac's own volume still works as usual on top: it sets the overall level, and each app sits within it.

The first time you change an app, macOS asks for System Audio Recording permission. Sordina needs it to pass that app's sound through itself and change its level; nothing is recorded or sent anywhere. An app you never touch plays straight through as before, and if Sordina quits, every app goes back to its normal volume at once.

Sordina needs macOS 14.2 or later and works on Apple silicon and Intel Macs, with any output: built-in speakers, headphones, AirPods, displays and audio interfaces.

Common questions

Is there a volume mixer on Mac like on Windows?

Not built in. Windows has a volume mixer with a slider per app; macOS doesn't. A per-app volume app adds one.

Can one app be louder than the Mac's maximum?

Only with an app that can boost. Sordina Pro's Louder goes up to +100% past the Mac's maximum, for every app or one, with a limiter so loud parts don't crackle. Start low: big boosts can strain small speakers.

Does turning one app down affect what it records or sends on a call?

No. Changing an app's volume only changes what you hear from it.