How to change notification sound on desktop

Two sound systems, one Mac

When you hear a notification on macOS, the sound comes from one of two places: the app itself (like Slack) or the macOS system alert sound. Understanding the difference helps you control what you hear. For Slack-specific options, see our hub on custom Slack notification sounds.

Change Slack’s notification sound

1. Open Slack on your Mac.
2. Click your profile photo in the top-right.
3. Select Preferences.
4. Go to Sound & appearance.
5. Under Notification sound, select a new sound from the dropdown.
6. Click the play button to preview, then close Preferences.

Available sounds include Ding, Boing, Drop, Hummus, Plink, Woah, and others. The selected sound applies to all channel and DM notifications.

Change the macOS system alert sound

Apps that don’t bundle their own sounds (Calendar reminders, Mail, third-party apps) use the macOS system alert sound.

1. Open System Settings (Apple menu → System Settings).
2. Click Sound.
3. Under Alert sound, click different sounds to preview them.
4. Select the one you want. It takes effect immediately.
5. Adjust the Alert volume slider separately from the main volume if needed.

How Slack and macOS sounds interact

Slack plays its own notification sounds and ignores the macOS system alert sound. Changing the macOS alert sound has no effect on Slack. They’re completely independent. However, if Slack’s notification sound is set to “None,” macOS may still show a silent banner—no sound from either system.

Per-channel sounds with Chirpy

Both Slack and macOS limit you to one sound per app or notification type. Chirpy bridges that gap for Slack on macOS. It intercepts Slack notifications and plays a sound based on rules you define—per channel, per person, or per keyword. You can use macOS system sounds or drop in your own .aiff or .wav files.

If you’ve ever wished #deploys sounded different from #random, Chirpy is the missing piece. Try Chirpy free.