How to Change Event Sounds and Sound Scheme in Windows 10
A sound theme is a set of sounds applied to events in Windows and apps.
You can have Windows play a sound when certain events occur on your PC. (An event can be an action that you perform, such as empting the Recycle Bin, or an action that Windows performs, such as notifying you when you receive new e‑mail.) Windows comes with several sound schemes (a collection of related sounds) for common events. Additionally, some desktop themes have their own sound schemes. You can also save changes you made to your sound theme as a new sound scheme.
This tutorial will show you how to change sounds and sound schemes that are played for events in Windows 10 for your user account.
For a Windows 11 version of this tutorial, see:
Change System Sounds in Windows 11
- Option One: To Change, Save, or Delete Sound Scheme
- Option Two: To Change Sounds in Advanced Sound Settings
- Option Three: To Change Sounds in Registry Editor
1. Do step 2 (Control Panel) or step 3 (Settings) below for how you would like to open Sound settings.
2. Open the Control Panel (icons view), click/tap on the Sound icon, and go to step 4 below.
3. Open Settings, and click/tap on the Personalization icon.
A) Click/tap on Themes on the left side, click/tap on Sounds on the right side. (see screenshot below)
B) Close Settings, and go to step 4 below.
4. Click/tap on the Sounds tab, and do step 5, step 6, or step 7 below for what you would like to do with your sound scheme.
A) Select a scheme you want in the Sound Scheme drop down menu, and click/tap on OK to apply. (see screenshot below)
This will allow you to save changes you made to your current sound theme in Option Two or Option Three as a scheme to make it easier to select between saved schemes in step 5 above.
A) When you have finished making changes to your sounds using Option Two or Option Three in this tutorial, click/tap on Save as. (see screenshot below)
B) Type a name (ex: MySounds1) you want for the sound scheme, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)
C) If a scheme with that name already exists, then click/tap on either Yes to replace the existing scheme, No to type in a new name, or Cancel.
D) When finished, click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below step 6A)
A) Select a saved scheme (ex: MySounds1) you want to delete in the Sound Scheme drop down menu, and click/tap on Delete. (see screenshot below)
B) Click/tap on Yes to confirm. (see screenshot below)
C) When finished, click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below step 7A)
1. Do step 2 (Control Panel) or step 3 (Settings) below for how you would like to open Sound settings.
2. Open the Control Panel (icons view), click/tap on the Sound icon, and go to step 4 below.
3. Open Settings, and click/tap on the Personalization icon.
A) Click/tap on Themes on the left side, click/tap on Sounds on the right side. (see screenshot below)
B) Close Settings, and go to step 4 below.
4. Click/tap on the Sounds tab. Under Program Events, select an event that you want to change the sound of. (see screenshots below)
5. In the Sounds drop down menu, select a sound you want to apply to the event. (see screenshot below)
If the sound you want is not listed in the drop down menu, then click/tap on Browse, navigate to and select the .wav file you want, and click/tap on Open.
6. Click/tap on Test to preview the sound to make sure it is what you want. (see screenshot below)
7. Repeat step 4 above if you would like to change the sound for any other event.
8. When finished, click/tap on Apply to apply your changes. (see screenshot below step 6)
9. If you like, you can save your changes as a new sound scheme.
1. Type regedit in the search box (Windows+S) on your Start menu or taskbar, and press Enter to open Registry Editor.
2. In Registry Editor, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below)
3. In the left pane, expand open the .Default (Windows sounds), Explorer (File Explorer sounds), and/or sapisvr (Windows Speech Recognition sounds) keys. (see screenshot above)
4. In the left pane under the .Default, Explorer, or sapisvr key, click/tap on the subkey (ex: "Notification.Mail" under ".Default") for the event you want to change the sound of. (see screenshot above)
5. In the left pane under the selected sound event (ex: "Notification.Mail"), select the .Current subkey, and double click/tap on (Default) in the right pane. (see screenshot below)
6. Type in the full path of the unblocked .wav file you want to be applied to the event, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)
7. Repeat step 4 above if you would like to change the sound for any other event.
8. When finished, you can close Registry Editor if you like.
That's it,
Shawn Brink
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