YouTube Too Quiet in Safari or Chrome on Mac? Fix

You click a YouTube video. The creator is speaking, but you can barely hear them. System volume is at max. The YouTube player is at max. You open Spotify and the music is loud. So it's not your speakers. It's the video.

This is common, and it's usually not a bug. Some videos are simply quieter than others, and macOS gives you no way to boost just your browser.

Why some YouTube videos are so quiet

The video was recorded quietly

Not every creator has good audio gear. A video recorded with a laptop mic from across the room is much quieter than one recorded with a proper microphone.

Loudness normalization only goes so far

YouTube adjusts playback volume so loud and quiet videos end up at a more similar level. Loud videos get turned down, but a very quiet recording can't be fully brought up to match.

Your browser is one app with one level

On macOS, Safari or Chrome is a single app. Whatever you do, it plays at most at the system volume, and there's no built-in way to make one app louder than the rest.

Quick fixes to try first

Check the YouTube player volume

Hover over the speaker icon in the YouTube player and make sure the slider is all the way up. It's easy to drag it down by accident, and it's separate from your system volume.

Check the player settings

Open the settings gear in the YouTube player. If you see a "Stable volume" option, try switching it off and on to see which sounds better for that video.

Check that the tab isn't muted

In Safari, look for a speaker icon in the tab or address bar. In Chrome, right-click the tab and make sure the site isn't muted.

Try a browser extension

Search your browser's extension store for a volume booster for YouTube. Quality varies, so pick one with good reviews and only the permissions it needs.

Use headphones

If you're on the built-in speakers, headphones make quiet speech much easier to follow at the same volume.

Boost your browser above 100%

The real problem: macOS can't make one app louder than 100%. Your browser is maxed out, and maxed out isn't loud enough.

SoundDial gives each running app its own slider from 0% to 200%, including Safari and Chrome. If a video is too quiet, drag your browser's slider up in small steps, to 150% or 180% if needed (a boost can clip on loud parts). See how to boost one app above 100%.

• It's per app. Boosting Chrome doesn't make Spotify louder.
• It's in the menu bar. Click, drag, done; no browser settings to change.
• It works on any browser app you have open on your Mac.

Note that it works per app, not per browser tab: all tabs in one browser share one slider. To make other quiet audio louder, see how to boost Mac volume beyond 100%.

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.