How to change Teams ringtone on Mac

TL;DR: Teams custom notification sounds are currently only available on Windows and web — not on Mac. On macOS, Teams uses its built-in sounds or falls back to the system alert sound. If Teams sounds keep reverting to the macOS default, it may be a Notification Center cache issue that requires a restart.

If you've been looking for the custom sound picker in Teams on Mac, you won't find it. Microsoft currently limits custom notification sounds to Windows and the web client. Mac users are stuck with the default Teams sounds — unless you use a workaround. This page is part of our Teams notification sounds on Mac series.

What you can change on Mac

Teams on Mac gives you limited sound control:

Sounds on or off — You can toggle "Play sounds with notifications" in Teams settings.
Per-channel muting — Right-click a channel or chat to mute its notifications.
Notification categories — You can set chat, meeting, and other notification types to different delivery methods (banner, feed, or off).

What you can't change on Mac

Custom notification sounds — The ability to pick a specific .wav or .mp3 file for notifications is only available on Windows and web.
Per-person sounds — Teams doesn't let you assign different sounds to different contacts on any platform.
Per-channel sounds — You can't give different channels different notification tones natively.

The sound-revert issue

Some Mac users report that Teams notification sounds randomly revert to the macOS default alert sound (the system "Glass" or "Ping" tone). This happens because macOS Notification Center sometimes loses the association between Teams and its custom sound. The typical fixes:

Quit and reopen Teams.
If that doesn't work, log out of macOS and log back in (this resets the Notification Center cache).
In persistent cases, removing Teams from System Settings → Notifications, restarting, and then reopening Teams forces macOS to re-register Teams' notification sounds.

Why the Mac limitation exists

macOS Notification Center handles sound playback for all apps, and it has stricter rules than Windows about which sounds apps can play. Microsoft has added custom sounds on platforms where the OS gives them more control. Whether this comes to Mac in the future is unknown — Microsoft hasn't announced plans.

The workaround: Chirpy

Chirpy is built specifically to solve this problem. It's a native macOS menu bar app that watches Teams notifications and plays your chosen sound based on rules you set. Assign a unique sound to a person, a channel, a keyword, or a combination. It works alongside Teams without modifying it — no admin permissions needed, no browser extensions, no plugins. This is the closest thing to custom Teams sounds on Mac.

Frequently asked questions

Will Microsoft add custom sounds to Teams on Mac?

Microsoft hasn't announced plans to bring custom notification sounds to Teams on Mac. The feature is currently limited to Windows and web due to macOS Notification Center restrictions.

Can I use macOS system alert sounds for Teams?

Teams uses its own built-in notification sounds, not the macOS alert sound picker. However, if Teams' sound association breaks (a known cache issue), it may fall back to the macOS default alert sound.

Does Chirpy replace Teams notification sounds?

Chirpy plays additional custom sounds alongside Teams notifications based on rules you define. You can optionally mute Teams' built-in sound and let Chirpy handle all audio, giving you per-contact and per-channel control.

Download Chirpy for Mac