WhatsApp and Telegram Notification Sounds Too Loud on Mac

A WhatsApp ping or a Telegram chime that is far louder than your music or your meeting is jarring. Start inside each app: both let you turn notification sounds off or mute noisy chats. macOS adds a second on/off switch. What neither offers is a level, so if you want the app quieter rather than silent, you need a per-app volume control.

Start with the app's own notification settings

This is the most precise fix, and it doesn't affect anything else on your Mac.

WhatsApp Desktop

Open WhatsApp's Settings and look for Notifications. There you can turn notification sounds off while keeping banners. There is no volume slider for the sound, so it is essentially on or off.

Telegram Desktop

Open Settings > Notifications and Sounds. Telegram is more flexible: you can turn the notification sound off, and you can mute a single noisy chat or group from that chat's menu. In recent versions you can also pick a different notification tone, which may be gentler.

If the sound is fine but too frequent, mute only the chats or channels that fire most often. Important alerts stay audible and the noise drops.

Turn off the chime in macOS System Settings

Go to System Settings > Notifications, select WhatsApp or Telegram in the list, and turn off Play sound for notification. The banners still appear, the chime doesn't.

This is a good fix if you only care about notification sounds and not the app's other audio, like calls or voice messages.

The limit: macOS has no per-app volume

Everything above is an on/off switch. None of it can set WhatsApp or Telegram to, say, 40% while everything else stays where it is. macOS has no per-app volume mixer, and no hidden setting or Terminal command adds one.

That matters when:

• WhatsApp or Telegram calls play much louder than your music or another meeting
• You want to keep the notification sound, just quieter
• A ringtone spikes far above whatever else you are listening to
• You want the app audible in the background while you focus on something else

Built-in tools only offer mute, not a level.

Set a level for the whole app

A per-app volume mixer fills that gap. SoundDial is a menu-bar app that gives each running app its own slider and mute button.

For this problem:

1. Click the SoundDial icon in the menu bar and find WhatsApp or Telegram in the list (it appears while the app is running).
2. Drag its slider down to a comfortable level, while your music, browser or call stays untouched.
3. Click its mute button to silence just that app during a meeting, and click again when you want it back.

If a chat app is ever too quiet instead, the slider goes up to 200%, so you can boost it without raising everything else. More on this: per-app volume control on Mac.

One honest caveat: lowering the app's volume also lowers its notification sounds and its calls, because to macOS it's all the same app's audio. If you want notifications off but calls at full volume, use the app's own settings and System Settings for the chime, and use a per-app slider for the general level.

SoundDial is €14.99 one-time purchase on the Mac App Store, no subscription, and needs macOS 14.2 or later.

Which fix should you use?

Work top to bottom: the app's own notification settings first, then System Settings to turn off the chime. If what you really want is WhatsApp or Telegram at a lower level, or a one-click mute for that app during calls, that is where SoundDial, a per-app volume mixer for Mac helps. For other apps that ping too much, see how to control notification sounds on Mac.

Get SoundDial on the Mac App Store.