Why Doesn't Mac Have a Volume Mixer Like Windows?

Windows has a volume mixer built in. Right-click the speaker icon, open the volume mixer, and every app has its own slider. You can mute Chrome without affecting Spotify, or lower Discord without touching your game.

On macOS you get one slider. Apple has never added per-app volume control to the Sound settings or Control Center.

So people keep asking: why doesn't Mac have a volume mixer?

It's not a technical limitation

macOS can do per-app volume. Its audio frameworks let developers work with the audio of individual apps, and third-party developers have built per-app volume mixers for Mac for years. The technology exists. Apple just hasn't built a version of it into macOS.

So why hasn't Apple built it?

Apple has never publicly explained it. Looking at how Apple designs its software, the most likely reason is that it prefers simplicity over power-user controls.

One volume slider is simpler than twelve. It needs no explanation and no setup. If you only do one thing at a time, listen to music or take a call or watch a video, one slider works fine.

There's also the idea that apps should manage their own audio: if Spotify is too loud, turn it down in Spotify; if Zoom is too quiet, turn it up in Zoom.

The trouble is that most people now have several things making sound at once:

• Music playing while working
• Video calls with notifications pinging
• Browser tabs autoplaying video
• Gaming with Discord running
• A podcast in the background while Slack keeps chiming

"Just adjust it in each app" means switching between apps, finding a different volume control in each (some don't have one), and doing it several times a day. That's not simple either.

Will Apple ever add it?

Nobody outside Apple knows. Apple has added features it long left out, so it could happen. But there's nothing to plan around today, and waiting means waiting indefinitely.

How to get a volume mixer on Mac right now

Until then, the answer is a third-party app.

• Background Music is free and open source.
• SoundSource by Rogue Amoeba is a broader audio tool, $49, not on the Mac App Store.
• SoundDial is our menu-bar app focused on per-app volume.

What SoundDial gives you:

• A volume slider for each running app, 0% to 200%
• Per-app mute: one click to silence an app, without touching the rest
• Boost above 100%: raise a quiet app up to 200% without raising everything else
• Lives in the menu bar, works per app (not per browser tab), and doesn't record anything

More on per-app volume control on Mac, or compare the options in our volume mixer apps for Mac roundup.

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