Slack Huddle Volume Issues on Mac: Too Quiet or Loud

Slack huddles are convenient: click a button and you're in a voice call. The audio is another story. The huddle plays at the same level as your music, Slack's notification sounds ping at the same level as the call, and screen shares with sound are either inaudible or far too loud.

The problem isn't really Slack. macOS gives you one volume slider, so huddle audio, notifications, music and browser audio all fight for the same space.

What Slack's own settings can do

Slack's audio options are limited:

• Notification sounds: in Slack's settings, look for the notification sound options (in recent versions under Notifications). You can change or turn off the sound, but you can't set its volume separately from the huddle.
• Huddle volume: there's no separate slider for the huddle versus Slack's other sounds. To macOS, everything Slack plays is one app.
• Devices: Slack's audio and video settings let you pick your microphone and speaker, but not volume levels.

The three Slack audio problems

1. Huddle too quiet next to your music

Your music is at a comfortable level. You join a huddle and your coworker's voice sits at the same level as the music, so you can't make out the words. Turning up the system volume makes the music too loud as well.

2. Notification pings during a huddle

Every incoming message pings at the same volume as the call. In a busy workspace, the constant pinging makes the huddle hard to follow.

3. Huddle too loud for background listening

Sometimes you join a huddle just to listen in while you work. You want it low, but loud enough to hear your name. macOS won't let you set Slack to 20% while the browser stays at 60%.

Native fixes to try first

• Pause or lower your music manually when you join a huddle, using the music app's own volume control.
• Reduce pings: mute busy channels, or turn off Slack's notification sound while you're in a huddle. A Focus mode in System Settings > Focus can also silence Slack notifications during meetings.
• Use headphones for huddles. Voices are easier to separate from speaker music.
• Check the output device in System Settings > Sound > Output and in Slack's audio settings, so the huddle plays where you expect.

These help, but they don't give Slack its own volume level.

Give Slack its own volume

SoundDial gives each running app its own slider, so Slack gets a level separate from your music and browser. Because huddle audio and Slack's notification sounds come from the same app, one slider covers both, which is usually what you want during a huddle anyway. More on this: per-app volume control on Mac.

Active huddle

• Slack: 90 to 100% (clear voices; notifications are loud too, but you're in Slack anyway)
• Music: around 15%, barely there
• Browser: muted with one click, so no tab surprises you

Listening in the background

• Slack: around 30%
• Music: around 40%
• Browser: around 50%

If a coworker's microphone is very quiet, you can push Slack above 100%, up to 200%, without making anything else louder. You can set these levels by hand from the menu bar, or save each mix as a profile and apply it with one click.

For problem 1, SoundDial's auto-duck can do the work for you: it is on by default and, while a huddle is using your microphone, lowers your other apps to 30% of their level (adjustable from 10% to 80%, or off, in Settings > Auto-Duck), then restores them when the huddle ends. SoundDial works per app, not per browser tab, so if you use Slack in a browser, the slider covers that whole browser.

For similar issues in other call apps, see Zoom call volume too low on Mac.

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.