Muting Other Sounds on Windows 10: Microsoft, in their infinite wisdom and cack-handedness (delete as appropriate) have decided to make it impossible without third party software to mute ALL sounds from ALL applications in Windows 10.
To quote the developer of one such piece of free software: “It’s like you’ve got a remote control in front of you, but pressing the mute button changes your TV to a different channel that’s even louder.”
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Fortunately there IS third party free software available. All you need is something like AutoHotKey. And here are some simple instructions for using it.
1) Download and install AutoHotKey.
2) There is a file included with this download entitled “Win10 Muting Script.txt”. Right click on it and choose ‘Edit’. The following script will appear:
F6:: ; Increment counter.
Loop, %Counter% { WinSet, AlwaysOnTop, Off, ahk_id %ThisHotkey% return, 1 ; Do nothing when toggle is pressed. After a while it will increment the counter and activate the next line. The line above that then immediately deactivates this Toggle Hotkey.
if Counter = 10 { WinSet, AlwaysOnTop, On, ahk_id %ThisHotkey% break, 2 ; Exit when the counter reaches 10.
else { WinSet, AlwaysOnTop, Off, ahk_id %ThisHotkey% }
3) Before editing this file any further it is essential to save it as a different file with a new name. Something like “Mute All Other Sounds on Toggle_Hotkey.ahk”.
4) Now to actively start this script and toggle muting of all other sounds at will: Press both the Windows key and the letter ‘ R ‘ simultaneously (R for Run). This opens up a ‘Run’ box. Now type in ” MuteAllSounds “.
5) To make this script run when Windows starts up, right click on the Taskbar and choose ‘Toolbars’, then ‘New Toolbar’. A ‘Choose a folder’ window will open. Choose the AutoHotKey file you edited earlier. It should then be listed as a Toolbar on the Taskbar.
6) Right click on the ‘AutoHotKey’ toolbar and select “Lock the taskbar”.
7) And finally, just to be sure that it runs when Windows starts up: Go to Start > AllPrograms > Startup. There should now be an entry for AutoHotKey with a checkmark beside it.
8) To quickly turn off/mute all sounds from all Windows programs, simply press the Toggle Hotkey!
9) Should you change your mind about muting ALL other sounds on your PC permanently, this can easily be undone by turning off the ‘Mute Other Sounds’ option in Task Manager > ‘Startup’ (which you enabled in step 6 above).
F6:: ; Increment counter.
Loop, %Counter% { WinSet, AlwaysOnTop, Off, ahk_id %ThisHotkey% return, 1 ;
Conclusion:
Mute Other Sounds on Windows 10: Microsoft, in their infinite wisdom and cack-handedness (delete as appropriate) have decided to make it impossible without third party software to mute ALL sounds from ALL applications in Windows 10.
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