But Apple’s start-up sound wasn’t always so Zen. For a while, the sound of Apple was the sound of something going horribly wrong, a combination of notes that early-eighteenth-century music. Search for a 4-second mp3 file with a sound you wish to hear during a macOS startup. Use an online converter to turn mp3 into.aiff format and save this new file to your Desktop folder. You must rename the file into: AXEFIAudioVoiceOverBoot.aiff Make sure the name is correct. I have a Mac Mini (Late 2014) and it always DID have a startup sound (right after pressing the power button). Unfortunately that sound is gone since I updated to Big Sur. I checked System Preferences - Sound. But the checkbox for 'play sound on startup' is checked. I even tried unchecking and rechecking it. But to no avail. How to lower the volume of your Mac's startup chime. You can adjust the volume level of the sound you hear when your Mac starts up without affecting the volume of your external speakers or headphones.
When Apple refreshed the MacBook Pro lineup in 2016, it removed the Mac startup chime. And while it doesn’t hamper my Mac usage, I loved that chime and miss it. If you also miss that iconic Mac sound, you can get it back on your Mac, provided you are running the latest version of macOS - macOS Catalina. In this article, I am going to show you how you can turn on the startup sound on your Mac. It’s a simple Mac trick and will take you just seconds to perform.
Turn On Mac Startup Chime on macOS Catalina
When Apple removed the macOS startup sound, it also removed references to the startup chime from the NVRAM (Non-Volatile Random Access Memory) reset instructions. So, to turn it on, we have to modify a setting in Mac’s NVRAM. And we will use a simple Terminal command for that purpose. Don’t worry, the command will not affect any other setting on your macOS device. With that said, here are the steps,
1. Launch Terminal either by using Spotlight or going to Finder → Applications → Utilities and double-clicking on Terminal.
2. Copy and paste the following command in the Terminal window and hit enter/return.
sudo nvram StartupMute=%00
3. It will ask for your password. Enter the password and hit enter/return.
4. Restart your Mac, and the startup chime will play.
Mac Startup Sound Wav
5. If you want to remove the startup chime, repeat the same steps with the command given below.
sudo nvram StartupMute=%01
Get the Iconic Mac Startup Chime
I hope you are enjoying the iconic Mac startup chime on your computer. If you have any difficulty in following the tutorial, comment below and we will help you out.
Longtime Mac users will remember that the Mac used to “chime” when you powered it up. Apple removed the chime in 2016, but with macOS 10.15 Catalina, users could reinstate the chime through a command in the Terminal.
Mac Startup Sound 1984
The chime is back by default in macOS 11 Big Sur. In the short video clip below, you can hear what the chime sounds like on my (beat-up) 2014 MacBook Pro running the Big Sur beta.
If you mute the Mac’s audio before you shut down, the chime will not play the next time you boot the computer. If you want to turn off the chime, Apple has a setting in the Sound system preference you can adjust.
You can also turn off the chime in the Terminal. Here are the steps.
Launch the Terminal app. It is located in Applications > Utilities.
At the prompt, enter the following:
sudo nvram StartupMute=%01and then press Return.You may be asked for your user password. Type it in and then press Return.
You’re done.
If you later want to turn the chime on, use the same instructions above in the Terminal, but at the second step at the prompt type sudonvram StartupMute=%00 instead.
Mac Startup Sound Volume
Editor’s note: Updated on 10/1/20 with the Sound system preference setting. (Hat tip to @BlueJayPilot.)
Mac Startup Sound Effect
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Mac Startup Sound Turn Off
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