Similar any operating system, Windows 10 is full of little sounds and jingles. They'll let you know if yous make an error, receive a notification, complete a download, or when any other number of events occur.

Many people never bother to change their sound scheme. However, information technology'south quite straightforward to do. Nosotros're going to show you how to customize the sounds on Windows 10, how to find new sounds themes and schemes, and how to meliorate the audio quality on your machine.

Customize Audio Using Windows 10 Sound Settings

Firstly, let'southward await at how you lot customize the audio using Windows x's sound settings.

Despite an increasing number of options migrating to the Settings app with every new release of the operating system, the card for customizing sounds is still part of the Control Panel.

You tin can access the menu in two means. Either caput to Settings > Organization > Sound > Related settings > Sound control panel or open the Control Panel and click on Audio.

Customizing Windows 10 sounds

Whichever method y'all employ, yous should stop upward with the same window on your screen. Once information technology's open, click on the Sound tab.

Windows 10 merely comes with two native sound schemes: Windows Default and No Sounds. When you download more than schemes and themes, they volition become bachelor in the Sound Scheme driblet-downwards menu.

You can change private sounds on a case-past-case footing for each programme on the computer by using the listing of events in the second drop-downwards menu. Choose a native sound from the list or click on Scan to select another sound file on your computer.

Customizing a sound in Windows 10

Once you've fabricated your desired tweaks, click on Save As and give your new audio scheme a name.

Practise note that sounds used within the Windows 10 operating system must exist in the WAV format. If you lot have a custom sound file saved as MP3, WMA, or something else, you need to convert information technology into WAV before you tin can utilize it.

Download Windows 10 Audio Themes and Schemes

If yous desire to create an entirely customized audio scheme in Windows 10, you will need to change each sound to the desired output manually.

Perchance a better fashion of customizing sounds on Windows 10 is to apply a theme. Many of the themes in the Windows 10 store too come with their own sounds. You don't fifty-fifty need to use the theme's wallpapers, colors, and mouse cursors if yous don't want to.

The easiest place to discover themes with custom sounds is in Microsoft's official repository. Navigate to the shop on your browser and select With custom sounds from the menu on the left-manus side of the screen.

At that place'south a big number to cull from; they encompass everything from popular games to tranquil environments. Download the theme and double-click on the file to unpack information technology.

In one case the theme is installed on your machine, the associated sound scheme will get bachelor in the Audio Schemes drop-down menu that we discussed previously. You lot can remove the visual parts of the theme in Settings > Personalization > Themes.

Some other sites offer audio schemes, but due to changes in the Windows 10 architecture, y'all will need to download the WAV files then alter each audio individually.

Save the new WAV files into C:\Windows\media, then click on Browse in the Sounds carte to cull the corresponding output. Save the scheme in one case you've finished.

How to Improve the Audio Quality on Windows 10

In that location'due south no point in having an crawly sound scheme if the audio itself resembles something recorded off the radio in the 1990s.

Luckily, there are a few ways you can customize and improve the sound quality on Windows.

Method 1: Use the Sound Blaster on Windows 10

If your speakers' driver supports it, Windows ten offers a native sound blaster. It's somewhat primitive simply will suffice for most people.

To use the tool, locate the speaker icon in the taskbar, right-click on it, and select Sounds. Next, select the Playback tab, observe your speakers, right-click on them, and choose Properties.

On the Backdrop window, get to the Enhancements tab and mark the checkbox next to Equalizer on the menu.

You can select the equalizer effects from the menu in the Sound Effects Properties section.

Setting an Equalizer in Windows 10

Some speakers also have a 3rd-party app installed on your system. If that'due south the case for your speakers, you might too be able to observe equalizer settings within information technology.

Method 2: Sound Booster for Windows 10

A sound booster lets you increase your speaker's volume above its maximum. Unless your speaker manufacturer has supplied y'all with proprietary software, you won't have access to one.

At that place are very few free options available. You could effort the Chrome extension Volume Booster, just it will just work for audio on the browser; it is not system-broad.

Arguably the all-time paid app is Lefasoft's Sound Booster. The app costs $19.95, for a single-user license.

Warning: Sound boosters should be used for audio that is too quiet when your system's audio is already at 100 percent volume. Setting the book too loftier could irreparably damage your speakers.

Method 3: Windows ten Audio Mixer

The Volume Mixer on Windows x has been through a few redesigns since the operating organization's launch in 2015.

Today, there are two separate ways to view the same information, each of which has a different layout.

To access the Volume Mixer, you tin right-click on the speaker icon in the taskbar and select Open up Volume Mixer:

Accessing the volume mixer in Windows 10

Alternatively, yous can get to Settings > Arrangement > Sound > Other Sound Options > App book and device preferences.

If you don't have whatsoever other apps running, you'll only see sliders for your speakers and the organization sounds. Still, whatsoever other apps playing sound will also evidence up; yous can edit their volume levels individually for specific apps every bit a pct of the master volume.

In the example below, you can see Netflix and Chrome are also playing sound, and thus they appear in Volume Mixer.

Windows 10's volume mixer

Other Windows 10 Sound Settings

In that location are a few other audio settings yous should know about. In Settings > Organization > Sound, you can choose your input and output speakers, test your microphone, and perform troubleshooting steps.

In Settings > Ease of Access > Sound you lot can enable mono output and choose to testify audio alerts visually.

Otherwise, you at present know how to customize the audio effects in Windows 10. And if you need some boosted inspiration, there are plenty of websites where you tin download premade Windows 10 sounds for free.

The half dozen Best Free Sites to Download Windows Sound Effects

Read Next

About The Writer

Dan Price (1604 Articles Published)

Dan joined MakeUseOf in 2014 and has been Partnerships Director since July 2020. Achieve out to him for inquires near sponsored content, affiliate agreements, promotions, and any other forms of partnership. You lot can too find him roaming the bear witness floor at CES in Las Vegas every twelvemonth, say hi if you lot're going. Prior to his writing career, he was a Financial Consultant.

More From Dan Price