Windows plays a startup sound and other sound effects regularly, and they can become obnoxious. They're particularly annoying on Windows 7, where Windows plays a click audio every time you switch folders in Windows Explorer. You tin can disable them entirely—or even set custom sound effects, if you prefer.

Update, 11/12/21: Looking to disable the startup sound on your Windows 11 PC?

RELATED: How to Disable the Startup Sound on Windows 11

How to Disable All Sound Furnishings

To open the Sound control panel, right-click the speaker icon in your organisation tray and select "Sounds". You tin can also merely navigate to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound.

On the Sounds tab, click the "Sound Scheme" box and select "No Sounds" to disable audio effects entirely. If you also desire to disable the audio that appears when you sign into Windows, uncheck the "Play Windows Startup sound" checkbox.

You can also choose to disable audio effects for specific events. For example, you might want to disable "Notification" sound effects while leaving "Critical Battery Alarm" sound furnishings enabled. To do this, select a audio upshot in the listing, click the "Audio" box at the bottom of the window, and click "(None)".

Click "OK" to save your changes when you lot're done. You can always return hither and set the sound scheme back to "Windows Default" to restore the default audio effects.

How to Disable the Windows Explorer Click Sound

If you lot're using Windows 7, you may exist particularly bellyaching by the audio effect that plays when you navigate to a new folder in Windows Explorer. This particular sound issue is disabled by default on Windows ten, and for expert reason.

To disable just this audio, scroll downwardly in the list and select the "Starting time Navigation" sound issue. Click the "Sounds" box at the lesser of the window and select "(None)". Click "OK" to save your changes.

How to Customize Sound Effects

If y'all like the sounds instead, you tin can customize them from here. Select an effect and employ the "Sounds" box to cull a audio file for it. You can click "Test" to hear a preview of the different audio effects here.

To utilise a custom sound file, click the "Scan" push button. Your custom sound upshot file must be in the .wav file format.

To save your settings equally a sound scheme, click the "Save As" push button at the height of the window and provide a name. You can so choose your saved sound scheme from the listing here in the future.

Why Do Sounds Keep Turning Back On?

Y'all may find that sound effects automatically re-enable themselves when you customize your desktop. This occurs when you lot modify your desktop theme using either the quondam Control Panel interface on Windows 7 or the new Settings interface on Windows 10. That's because desktop themes tin can include sound schemes as well as desktop groundwork images, colors, and mouse cursor themes. However, virtually themes merely specify the "Windows Default" sound scheme, re-enabling it if you've disabled it.

RELATED: How to Install Desktop Themes on Windows 10

After changing to a new theme, yous'll take to head back to the Sounds window to disable sound effects, if you don't want to hear them.

Changing your system sound settings will disable them in some—but non all—desktop applications. If an application continues playing sound effects fifty-fifty later on you lot disable them in the Sounds control panel, y'all'll demand to disable sound effects in that application's settings window.