Which App Is Making Sound on My Mac? Find the Culprit

Short answer: Install SoundDial, turn on Show live meters for every playing app in its settings (it's off by default), open the popover and watch which app's meter moves when the sound plays. Then mute that one app.

Something on your Mac is playing sound. A faint jingle every few minutes, a video that started somewhere in the background, a notification chime you don't recognize. You check Spotify: paused. You look at your browser: no tab seems to be playing. You have twenty windows open and no idea which one is responsible. It's a surprisingly common problem, and macOS doesn't offer a direct way to answer the question "which app is playing sound right now?"

Why macOS makes this hard

macOS has one system volume and no per-app mixer. In recent macOS versions, Control Center can show what's playing in its Now Playing area, but only for apps that report media playback there. A website autoplaying an ad, a game menu humming in the background, or a chat app's notification sound usually won't show up there at all.

The usual detective work looks like this: quit apps one by one until the sound stops, or mute the whole Mac and lose everything else you were listening to. Both work eventually. Neither is pleasant, especially in the middle of a call.

Step 1: look at the list

SoundDial is a menu-bar app that gives each app that plays sound its own row and volume slider. That list alone narrows things down: apps that haven't played anything for 10 minutes (and that you haven't pinned) collapse into a Not playing (N) section, so the rows above it are apps that played in the last 10 minutes, plus any you've pinned.

Step 2: turn on meters for every playing app

By default, SoundDial shows a level meter only on rows for apps you've adjusted, or that are being lowered during a call. To catch an unknown source, turn on the extra setting:

1. Open SoundDial's Settings.
2. Turn on Show live meters for every playing app. It's off by default.
3. Open the SoundDial popover from the menu bar, or press Control-Option-S.
4. Wait for the mystery sound and watch which row's meter moves.

With this setting on, SoundDial listens to every playing app only while the popover is open. Close the popover and those extra meters stop.

About the recording indicator

While the setting Show live meters for every playing app is on and the popover is open, macOS shows its recording indicator in the menu bar. That's expected with this setting. SoundDial uses macOS's System Audio Recording Only permission to measure and change app levels. It does not read or record microphone audio, and it has no network entitlement and no account. If you'd rather not see the indicator, turn the setting off again once you've found the source.

Step 3: deal with the culprit

Once you've found the app, you have a few options right in the same row:

• Mute it. Click the mute button on that app's row. The row shows Muted, and every other app keeps playing.
• Turn it down. If you want to hear it, just not at that volume, drag its slider down, say to 20%.
• Keep it in view. Use ⋯ → Keep in List to pin the app so it doesn't collapse into Not playing when it's quiet. If Settings > General > When an app opens is set to Remember last, SoundDial brings back its volume and mute when the app opens again.

If you need silence immediately and can find the source afterwards, press Control-Option-M to mute or unmute all apps shown in the main list.

Honest limits

• Per app, not per browser tab. If the meter that moves is Safari, Chrome or Firefox, you know it's the browser, but not which tab. SoundDial groups a browser's helper processes under the browser, so there's one row per browser. To find the tab, look for the speaker icon most browsers show on tabs that play audio, and mute that tab in the browser.
• System UI processes get no slider. If no row's meter moves while the sound plays, the source may be a part of macOS that SoundDial doesn't list.
• Meters for every app need the opt-in and the open popover. This is a tool for finding the source, not a background monitor.

Examples

The mystery chime during work

Every few minutes you hear a soft ping. You open the SoundDial popover with the meter setting on and wait. The next time it plays, the meter on your team chat app jumps. Instead of hunting through its notification settings mid-task, you lower that app to 30% so the ping is still there, just not startling. Since you've now adjusted it, its row keeps a meter even after you turn the extra setting off.

Background video you can't find

Audio from a video is playing, but you can't see a player anywhere. The Chrome meter is moving. Now you know it's a browser tab, so you look for the tab with the speaker icon and close the one that's autoplaying.

A game left running

You hear quiet menu music. The meter on a game you thought you'd closed is moving. You mute its row, or quit the game.

Something during a call

You're on Zoom and something else is making noise. The setting Lower other apps during calls is on by default, so other apps play at 30% of their volume and the popover shows "Call – others lowered". Lowered apps show a meter even without the extra setting, so open the popover, see which one is moving, and mute it. Zoom itself is never lowered.

Common questions

Does macOS have a built-in way to see which app is playing sound?

Not for every app. Control Center can show media that apps report as Now Playing, but many sounds, like notification chimes, autoplaying web content or background apps, don't appear there.

Why does the recording indicator appear when I turn on the meters?

Because the setting Show live meters for every playing app, once you turn it on, listens to every playing app while the popover is open, and that triggers the macOS indicator. It's off by default; turn it off when you're done. SoundDial does not read or record microphone audio.

Can SoundDial tell me which browser tab is playing?

No. SoundDial works per app, not per browser tab, so you'll see the browser as a whole. Use the browser's tab speaker icon to find the tab.

Do I have to keep the extra meters on?

No. Turn on Show live meters for every playing app when you're looking for a sound, and turn it off afterwards. Apps you've adjusted, and apps lowered during a call, show a meter either way.

How do I undo a mute or a volume change?

Click the mute button again to unmute, or use ⋯ → Reset to 100% to return the app to normal volume.

SoundDial, a per-app volume mixer for Mac needs macOS 14.2 or later and costs €14.99 one-time purchase on the Mac App Store, no subscription.

Get SoundDial on the Mac App Store.