Control Individual App Volume on Mac — Step-by-Step Guide

Can You Change the Volume of One App on Mac?

macOS does not provide per-app volume control in its system settings. The volume slider in the menu bar and the keyboard volume keys affect every application equally. To control one app's volume independently, you need a third-party tool that intercepts audio at the application level before it reaches the system output.

This limitation has existed since the first version of Mac OS X. Apple has never added a per-app volume interface to macOS, even though Windows has included one since 2007 and Linux desktop environments have offered it for over a decade. The only built-in option is to adjust volume within individual apps that happen to include their own volume slider, but many apps (system notifications, some games, Electron apps) have no such control.

The practical impact is constant friction. You are on a Zoom call and your browser starts auto-playing a video at full volume. Your only options are to mute the entire system (which mutes Zoom), frantically find and close the browser tab, or scramble for the tab's mute button. A per-app volume control tool eliminates this problem entirely by giving you an independent slider for every running app.

How Do You Install Per-App Volume Control on Mac?

Download and install LitLink, a lightweight virtual audio driver for macOS. The free version handles system audio passthrough and mic mixing. Upgrading to LitLink Pro for $29 unlocks per-app volume sliders that let you control each application's volume independently from a single centralized interface.

Download LitLink free from litpads.app/litlink, Apple-signed and notarized
Run the installer double-click the .pkg file, follow the prompts, takes under 30 seconds
Open the LitLink app search Spotlight for "LitLink" or find it in your Applications folder
Upgrade to LitLink Pro in-app purchase, $29 one-time, unlocks per-app controls
Open the mixer panel every running app with audio appears with its own volume slider

LitLink requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later and works on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs. The installer is under 300 KB. It does not add login items, background daemons, or kernel extensions. The virtual audio driver uses Apple's modern DriverKit framework, which runs in user space for security and stability.

How Do You Lower One App's Volume While Keeping Others the Same?

Open the LitLink mixer panel, find the app you want to adjust, and drag its volume slider to the desired level. The change applies immediately and affects only that app. Every other application continues playing at its current volume. You do not need to touch the system volume or open any settings in the target app itself.

A common scenario: Spotify is too loud during a video call. Open the LitLink mixer from the menu bar, drag the Spotify slider down to 25%, and your call audio stays exactly where it was. The adjustment is proportional to the system volume, so if you later raise the system volume with your keyboard, Spotify stays at one quarter of the other apps' level.

Volume levels in LitLink persist across app restarts. If you set Chrome to 60% and close it, the next time Chrome opens and plays audio, it starts at 60% again. This eliminates the need to readjust volumes every session. You set your preferred levels once and LitLink remembers them.

How Do You Mute a Single App Without Muting Everything?

Click the mute toggle next to any app in the LitLink mixer panel. That app goes silent immediately while everything else keeps playing. Click the toggle again to restore its volume to the previous level. Per-app mute is faster and more reliable than searching for a mute button inside each individual application.

Per-app mute is particularly useful for managing interruptions. A coworker sends a Slack message with an audio attachment that starts playing. You click the Slack mute toggle in LitLink, and the sound stops. Your music, your video call, and your browser audio continue uninterrupted. When you are ready to listen, you unmute Slack and play the attachment on your terms.

The mute state is independent of the app's own audio controls. If an app has an internal volume slider or mute button, LitLink's mute overrides it at the system level. This means even apps that do not provide their own mute option (many games, some Electron apps, system alert sounds) can be silenced individually through LitLink.

Which Apps Can You Control the Volume For?

LitLink Pro controls volume for every application that uses macOS Core Audio for playback, which includes browsers, music players, video conferencing tools, games, media editors, and system sounds. Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Spotify, Discord, Zoom, Teams, Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro, Steam games, and every other mainstream Mac app all work.

The driver operates below the application layer, so it does not matter what technology the app is built with. Native Swift apps, Electron apps (Discord, Slack, VS Code), Java apps, and apps running under Rosetta 2 on Apple Silicon all produce audio through Core Audio and all appear in the LitLink mixer panel.

System sounds also appear as a controllable entry. Notification chimes, error alerts, and Siri responses can each be adjusted or muted independently from your other audio. Users who work in quiet environments or record podcasts often mute system sounds permanently in LitLink while keeping their audio production apps at full volume. Tools like SoundSource offer similar functionality, but LitLink Pro combines volume control with audio routing in a single lightweight driver.

How Do You Set Up Per-App Volume for a Zoom Call?

Open the LitLink mixer before your Zoom call. Set Zoom to 100% so you hear every participant clearly. Lower Spotify or your music app to 15 to 20% for light background music. Mute system sounds and notifications entirely. This creates a call-optimized mix that you can adjust in real time without leaving the Zoom window.

The menu bar mixer is designed for exactly this workflow. You click the LitLink icon, drag two or three sliders, and go back to your call. The entire adjustment takes under five seconds. During the call, if someone shares a loud video, you can pull down the Zoom slider temporarily without muting yourself or affecting your background music.

Persistent volume levels mean you do not need to set up this mix before every call. Once you have Zoom at 100%, Spotify at 20%, and notifications muted, those settings carry over to every future session. The LitLink feature set includes keyboard shortcuts for quick volume adjustments, so power users can bump a slider up or down without even clicking the menu bar icon.

How Does Per-App Volume Control Differ from Per-App Audio Routing?

Per-app volume control adjusts how loud each app sounds through your current output device. Per-app audio routing changes which output device each app sends audio to. LitLink Pro provides both: you can set Spotify to 30% volume and route it to your desk speakers, while Discord stays at 100% on your headphones.

Volume control and output routing are complementary features that address different problems. Volume control is for balancing levels (Spotify is too loud relative to Zoom). Output routing is for separating destinations (Spotify goes to speakers, Zoom goes to headset). Most users start with volume control because it solves the more immediate daily frustration.

Both features work simultaneously in LitLink Pro. You can set volume levels and output devices for every running app, and all settings persist across reboots. There is no need for separate tools or complex Audio MIDI Setup configurations. LitLink Pro consolidates everything into a single interface that lives in your menu bar.

Marcel Iseli

Indie Developer · DJ · Producer

Marcel Iseli is an indie developer, DJ, and music producer with over 20 years behind the decks and in the studio. Rooted in hip hop culture, he collects drum machines, samplers, and vintage audio gear. LitPads grew out of that obsession: decades of triggering samples on hardware led him to build the software equivalent he always wanted.