How to change the volume on a Mac in small increments

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Posted:
in macOS edited March 2024

If you're tired of dealing with volume that is either too loud or too quiet, here's how to increase the volume level on a Mac by a quarter of what you normally can just by using a simple keyboard shortcut.

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How to precisely increase and decrease the volume on a Mac



Most of the time, controlling the volume on your Mac is as easy as pressing a single button to find your perfect listening volume. However, occasionally, the normal incremental increase is too much, and you'll be left wishing there was an in-between.

This is especially true if you wear headphones or use an external speaker, as these often have more notable jumps between steps.

Fortunately, you can increase and decrease the volume on your Mac by a quarter of what you normally would with a simple shortcut.

How to increase or decrease the volume on your Mac precisely

  1. On your Mac's keyboard, hold down Shift and Option

  2. To increase your volume, press the Volume Up button

  3. To decrease your volume, press the Volume Down button


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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    A delightfully straightforward and helpful article. I didn’t know about this option for changing the volume. thank you! :-)
    muthuk_vanalingamriverkoOferappleinsideruser
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  • Reply 2 of 6
    riverkoriverko Posts: 251member
    That’s really great. Also had no idea this works and i’ve been using macs for ages. Btw tested that it works for brightness too
    appleinsideruser
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  • Reply 3 of 6
    jasonfjjasonfj Posts: 570member
    I wonder why Apple couldn’t have made it a single modifier key. 
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  • Reply 4 of 6
    mattinozmattinoz Posts: 2,554member
    jasonfj said:
    I wonder why Apple couldn’t have made it a single modifier key. 
    because each modifier does its own thing( I've just discovered.)
    Shift makes noise when you change volume which is normally a silent operation, Option opens sound control panel. Also good to know

    ForumPostOfer
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  • Reply 5 of 6
    danoxdanox Posts: 3,516member
    Thank You......
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 6 of 6
    jony0jony0 Posts: 380member
    Great tip, it wasn't as big a concern for me than Brightness. So I tried it and it works for Brightness too, particularly useful going down from 1 dot to none which is way too dramatic. Thanks for the tip, even indirectly.
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