Quick Tip: Increase/Decrease Your Mac’s Volume With More Precision
Sometimes you need more precise adjustments to your Mac’s volume. The volume up/down buttons on the mac have 16 settings, but if you’re in a quiet room sometimes even the first full setting is too loud.
I often listen to music in the office, but need to hear if someone says something to me. It’s just background music for me while I code or read email, so I want it to be really quiet.
If you need more precise control of your volume, simply hold down Shift+Option and then volume up or down. You will have a total of 64 volume levels (4 levels for each square), giving you the ability to get the volume perfect for your own needs.
Also, if you hold down just the Shift key while changing the volume, it silences the volume change “click” sound.
Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.
Oh, thank you so much ! I’ve been looking for something like this for months !
Handy tip, that. Thanks!
Nice. A true nugget.
Thanks … nice tip
Really nice & cool, thanks.
Is this a Leopard only tip, because unless I’m being really dense (always a possibility) I can’t get it to work on Tiger.
Wolfie, I don’t have anything other than Leopard to test on. It’s quite possible it only works on Leopard. Anyone else have Tiger they can test this on?
The Shift + Option is not working on Tiger (for me) – but hiding the “tick” sound with Shift works for me on Tiger.
Thanx for the great tip, you just solved a nagging problem for me.
Nice tip! Super handy. I’m totally going to be using this.
One microtip here: In the Sound preference pane I have the “Play feedback when volume is changed” box unchecked. Holding down just the Shift key while adjusting the volume, it reverses the effect, producing the sound.