OS X : Disable Mac Startup Sound
Contributed by risherz 
Tagged: Apple Mac Every time you turn on your mac it makes a boot up chime, which has been with OS X since OS 9. Want to stop that “annoying” sound that your mac makes during boot up? Here are a couple of ways to help you do just that.
The first option is to manually stop the sound that your Mac makes simply by pressing the mute key every time you wish to shutdown or restart your mac. Then once your computer restarts, increase the sound back to normal. This way you only have to temporarily mute the sound when you find it to be distracting (for places like the library or a room filled with “mac haters”). The only downside to this is that you’ll have to preplan the “silent start-up” and do it every time if you hate the start up chime.
The second solution is a much more automated one. First get the Startup Sound PrefPane from Arcana labs. After you download it, install it. Then go to Preferences > Startup Sound and check the Mute checkbox. Make sure turn on start up volume control is checked as well.
It might not start muting the startup sound the very first time to restart the computer, so I recommend doing a restart after you mute it just to make sure.
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petitefute said on November 18, 2008
Thank you so much you are a life saver, as I live in my Unis silent library that noise is the embarrassing bane of my life, and thankfully it’s gone.
jeff5267 said on February 22, 2009
Thank you for creating this PrefPane… The start up chime was driving me nuts… Once I installed it and did a restart the sound was no longer there… Keep up the good work your doing…
Anonymous said on August 28, 2009
Aaaaaack, it’s not working for me and this stupid sound is driving me nuts!
I installed the Prepane and went to preferences and went to startup sound but it won’t let me in…I can’t click the lock to make changes.
What can I do? Please help.
Andreas said on October 27, 2009
I wished more people in the library I am in would have read this article. This stupid startup sound makes me become a mac hater more and more… Apple is so proud of the useability of its products and you cant even turn this fucking sound off without downloading a special program? In stupid WIndows it takes me 20 seconds.
jaba said on December 10, 2009
after installing it, how do you access preferences?
Anonymous said on January 2, 2010
If you don’t know how to access your System Preferences, you probably shouldn’t be allowed to install things like this app (or any other app for that matter).
Anonymous said on January 2, 2010
For one, those mac users in your library are clearly showing off or trying to be annoying. I’ve used a mac my whole life and when it comes to portables, I NEVER turn mine off. Macbooks/Powerbooks etc. go to sleep nicely with just the close of the lid, and it eliminates the hassle of having to wait for the computer to do a full reboot.
I have an iMac and I just NEEDed to disable the startup sound because I often forget to turn the volume off upon shutdown. I have to say… Automator is CRAP when it comes to scripting a g’damn simple script — why is it not possible to do something as simple as turning down volume upon shutdown??? Automator to me has been completely useless — even more useless than AppleScript before it during the Classic OS times.
Speaking of Classic OS 9… where is the shutdown/startup items folder in OS X?? (answer: there is none. At least not any like the old OS 9 had… the Starup Items in the User pref pane doesn’t count as it launches all those AFTER boot, not upon boot.)
Timmer said on January 7, 2010
Does anyone know if there are problems using this v. 10.6.2?
1 said on April 25, 2010
Another very easy way to silence the startup sound, especially if the computer is off, and was previously used by someone else so you don’t know what the volume level was when they shut down last…
Plug a pair of headphones into the headphone jack before you turn on the computer.
A pair of iPod earbuds would work fine, or any other kind.
Edward said on April 30, 2010
This is an useful application. but I can’t understand why this is basic sound settings.
Anonymous said on May 15, 2010
“I’ve used a mac my whole life and when it comes to portables, I NEVER turn mine off. Macbooks/Powerbooks etc. go to sleep nicely with just the close of the lid, and it eliminates the hassle of having to wait for the computer to do a full reboot.”
Because you know how to use a computer. The trait is sadly far from universal.
Avery St. Clair said on May 31, 2010
Have you done that, or are you just talking? It doesn’t work on my Mac, where we keep headphones plugged in always. Neither does muting the volume work. The startup BONG happens regardless.
Sziminsky said on July 12, 2010
Thank you – I just set up my Imac yesterday – my first Apple product. It is hooked into a sound system, which is turned off. My roommate sleeps nearby and it was a real SURPRISE to hear the internal speakers make that start-up noise. So far – so very good with the new I-Mac – thanks again for your solution.
suparups said on July 26, 2010
Thanks for this….loving to wake up to a silent Mac :)
Anonymous said on July 31, 2010
You are welcome. Thanks for visiting tech-recipes.
Rebeccamedina0 said on August 6, 2010
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Gring0 said on August 10, 2010
You mean you have to download a separate programme just to disable the sound? That kind of disdain for users is what I expect from Microsoft.
Guest said on August 14, 2010
Nope. That does not work at all. The sound simply routes out through the speakers whether or not you have heaphones jacked in, which is all-the-more annoying.
Newkid said on August 14, 2010
I agree. I am a recent Mac convert. For years I have been watching friends and colleagues sing praises about the Mac and I have been secretly wishing I could ditch my XP/Vista. Now that I have a MacBookPro, I am beginning to realise it’s not all super-magical after-all. I mean I love it, I’m not going back to Windows for a loooong time, but some of the features missing on a Mac seem silly for a usability-guru like Apple.
Alex said on September 30, 2010
The program worked for my MacBook Pro but isn’t working for my iMac. It’s driving me nuts in the morning; I don’t want to disturb the person sleeping next door and we have pretty thin walls.
Honestly, this should be something that is a regular Mac setting.
JOANNEYJ said on November 8, 2010
THANK YOU SO MUCH. MY PROBLEM SOLVED. NO MORE START UP SOUND. YEAH !!
Kebyars10 said on November 17, 2010
What a jerk. After using PCs for 20 years I finally decided to try a Mac. I have had it over a year and still seemingly easy things to figure out are just done in such a screwed way only to be different and snotty. I usually figure it out because I have a brain but theanimaster, that was just uncalled for and things like that is just what give mac users there snooty vibe. Lay off, you were in the perfect position to be polite and helpful and you really blew it. You came on here to help, why did you turn so cruel. Was so uncalled for. You should apologize.
Anonymous said on November 17, 2010
That technique ~used~ to work at some point (with older systems) but doesn’t with the newer OS X’s. Hence the need for this nifty control panel.
Anonymous said on November 17, 2010
My heart bleeds for you.
But that was an honest reply. I wasn’t trying to be a prick, that’s just your own assumption of me, which I am perfectly at ease with. Everyone is entitled to their own assumptions.
After 20 years on the PC, I hope you’re prepared to deal with several more years of the Internet. There are much nastier replies waiting out there. Some of them may include profanities.
Paul du Long said on November 27, 2010
Fantastic!
Meuequals1 said on January 22, 2011
I have just recently started playing with a G4 mac after 25+ yrs on PCs. I find that the O/S 10.4.1.1 is very similar to BeOS and maybe thats why I like it.
I was intrigued by the deafening chorus of Mac users re how good Macs were and never a problem was seen or heard of. What a load of crock! After playing with this Mac and then reading around the Mac forums I realised that this Mac hype was a total load of Bull excrement! Macs have just as many probs as PCs.
I use Vista, Suse 11.3 64 bit, Haiku and now Mac 10.4.1.1.
withabeat said on February 14, 2011
>>I wasn’t trying to be a prick
nooneinparticular said on February 26, 2011
You never turn your mac off? Strange, because my MBP sucks the battery even in sleep mode. It will also use about 15% of the battery in about 10-12 minutes of normal use. You either bring your mac to destinations that are 10 minutes away, or you’re able to constantly recharge it.
Auste said on April 5, 2011
Withabeat – you are right – some of these guys are pricks. You ask a silly question and get an a-hole reply…
khairuddin said on May 5, 2011
that’s NICE ! really simple
Puro Box said on May 12, 2011
I’m also using mac for the first time and I agree totally with you. Some mac fans are like brain-washed religious dudes who don’t see evil in their god (Steve Jobs). For them, steve jobs is so perfect that they think he will never, never make a mistake like this stupid annoying sound. (it sounds even if the earphones are plugged in !). There are many things that I just don’t like about MAC OSX, the main reason I bought an iMac is because its great hardware and system stability. Currently I’m using Parallels with Windows 7 on my iMac. So I use OSX and Win7 at the same time with Coherence. It is just amazing. I’m getting the best of both worlds.
Anonymous said on June 21, 2011
am lookin for an app which can play different sound on app startup !?
this app is great but i need one for app
any idea ?
thanks
Sebastien
Jan said on August 5, 2011
does not work with lion
felix said on November 4, 2011
Does not work on Tiger