The Windows Volume Mixer, but for Mac (2026)
You switched to a Mac, went to turn down one noisy app, and the Volume Mixer was just gone. There is one slider now, and it drags everything with it. Here is why that happens, and the closest thing you can actually get.
Does the Mac have a volume mixer like Windows?
Short answer: no. Not built in.
macOS ships with a single system volume control. Menu bar, keyboard keys, Control Center: they all move the same one slider, and that slider moves every app at once. There is no per-app mixer hiding in System Settings. You are not missing a checkbox. It genuinely is not there.
This is one of the loudest complaints from people coming over from Windows, and it has been for years. One thread on the Apple Community asking for a per-app volume mixer has 466 "Me Too" votes and counting. The gap is real, it is well known, and Apple has not filled it.
So you are listening to one thing. Six other apps didn't get the memo. On Windows you would have fixed that in two seconds. On a Mac, you need a little help.
What you actually had on Windows
Two things, really.
First, the built-in Volume Mixer. Right-click the speaker icon in the taskbar, hit Volume Mixer, and you get a slider for every app currently making sound. Turn Chrome down, leave Discord up, mute that one tab. Done. No install, no extra app.
Second, EarTrumpet. A free, much-loved Windows app that puts an even nicer version of that mixer right in the system tray, with cleaner controls and quick device switching. Plenty of Windows users treat it as a default.
Between those two, per-app volume on Windows is a solved problem. Then you move to a Mac and start from zero.
| Per-app volume | Windows | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Built-in mixer | Yes (taskbar Volume Mixer) | No |
| Free upgrade app | Yes (EarTrumpet) | No EarTrumpet exists |
| How you get it | It is just there | Install a third-party app |
How to get a volume mixer on a Mac
You have options. Here they are honestly, the close-fit one first.
Levels: the closest Windows-mixer experience ($9.99)
Levels is the one that feels most like the thing you lost. It lives in the menu bar. Click it and you get a slider and a mute button for every app making sound right now: Chrome, Discord, Spotify, your game. Drag the noisy one down. Mute the other one. That is the whole idea, and it is exactly what the Windows mixer did.
A few things Windows' mixer never had:
- A focus hotkey. Press ⌘⌥M and every app except the one in front goes silent. Jump into a game or a call, hit the key, everything else shuts up. (To be clear, that is Levels doing it. macOS Focus modes only silence notifications, not app audio.)
- Saveable profiles. Set your "working" mix once, save it, reload it whenever. A different one for gaming. A different one for calls.
- No driver. Levels uses Apple's built-in Core Audio process taps. No virtual audio driver, no kernel extension, nothing rummaging around in your system. It runs on-device, no account, no telemetry, and the download is signed and notarized.
It is $9.99 one-time, with a free 14-day trial. macOS 15 or later, Apple silicon. To be upfront about scope: Levels does per-app volume and mute, plus the focus hotkey and profiles. It does not do EQ or audio routing. If all you wanted was the Windows Volume Mixer back, that is the point.
The other options, fairly
- Background Music (free). Open source, and it does per-app volume. The catch: it installs a virtual audio driver to do it, and Apple silicon support is rough. If you want zero install and zero driver, this is not that.
- eqMac (free, with paid Pro). Genuinely good free system EQ. But the per-app Volume Mixer feature sits behind paid Pro, so the part you came here for is not the free part.
- SoundSource (around $49). The powerful premium pick. Per-app volume, EQ, and audio routing, all polished. If you want the deluxe audio control panel and the price is fine, it is excellent. It is also five times the cost of Levels and far more than a Windows-mixer replacement needs to be. (More on that in our SoundSource alternative piece.)
- Sound Control (around $15 to $25). Actively maintained, not discontinued, does per-app volume and more. A reasonable middle option worth a look.
If you just want the simple per-app sliders and mute that Windows handed you for free, the short version is: Levels is the closest fit, and it is the cheapest of the no-driver paid options. For the wider how-and-why, see our guide on how to control app volume on a Mac.
The Windows mixer, in your Mac menu bar.
Levels puts a slider and a mute on every app, right where you would expect it, plus a focus hotkey Windows never had. No driver, no subscription. $9.99 once, free 14-day trial.
Looking for EarTrumpet for Mac?
Let's be clear, because the search results are not: there is no EarTrumpet for Mac. It is a Windows-only app. There is no official Mac build, no port, no "it works if you sideload it." It does not exist on macOS.
What you are really after is the feeling of EarTrumpet: tidy per-app sliders and mute, sitting in the menu bar, no fuss, no driver. On a Mac that comes from a third-party app, and the one closest in spirit is Levels. Same job, same place (the menu bar), plus the focus hotkey EarTrumpet never had.
FAQ
Does macOS have a volume mixer like Windows?
No. macOS has one system volume slider that moves every app at once. There is no built-in per-app volume mixer like the one you right-click from the Windows taskbar. The gap is real and long-requested: one Apple Community thread asking for it has 466 "Me Too" votes. To get per-app sliders on a Mac you need a third-party app such as Levels.
Is there an EarTrumpet for Mac?
No. EarTrumpet is Windows-only and there is no Mac version, official or otherwise. The closest equivalent in spirit (simple per-app sliders and mute that live in the menu bar, with no audio driver to install) is Levels, a $9.99 one-time app for macOS.
How do I set different volumes for different apps on a Mac?
macOS cannot do it on its own. Install a per-app volume app like Levels, open it from the menu bar, and you get a separate slider and mute button for every app making sound: Chrome, Discord, Spotify, a game, and so on. Set each one where you want it. Levels can also save those setups as profiles you reload later.
Is there a free volume mixer for Mac?
There are free options, but each has a catch. Background Music is free but installs a virtual audio driver, and its Apple silicon support is rough. eqMac is free for system EQ, but its per-app Volume Mixer is a paid Pro feature. Levels is not free, but it is $9.99 one-time with a 14-day trial, installs no driver, and is built specifically to be the Windows-style per-app mixer.
Does Levels need a driver or a kernel extension?
No. Levels uses Apple's built-in Core Audio process taps, so there is no virtual audio driver and no kernel extension to install. It runs on-device with no account and no telemetry, and the download is signed and notarized. It requires macOS 15 or later on Apple silicon.
The honest bottom line
You came to a Mac and lost a feature Windows gave you for free. That is annoying, and you are allowed to be annoyed. macOS has no built-in mixer, and EarTrumpet was never coming. So the real question is just which third-party app gets you closest to what you had.
If you want the deluxe audio suite, SoundSource is great. If you want free and can stomach a driver, try Background Music. If you want the simple thing (per-app sliders and mute in your menu bar, no driver, plus a focus hotkey Windows never had) that is Levels, for $9.99 one-time. Start the free 14-day trial, set Chrome and Discord and Spotify exactly where you want them, and see if it feels like home again. When it does, it is $9.99, once.