Disable Windows 11 Startup Sound using these three methods

You can disable Windows 11 Startup Sound using a number of methods available in the newest OS. This post will review them in detail, including the classic Sound applet, Group Policy, and two different registry tweaks.

As you may remember, Microsoft has removed the startup sound in Windows 8+, and here is why. But Windows 11 is a different story.

In Windows 11, Microsoft has added a nice startup sound which plays when the OS is starting.

Windows 11 Startup sound https://t.co/Jt0VBveraM pic.twitter.com/Dw0qHffNwZ

— Winaero (@winaero) June 15, 2021

If you not to hear it, you can still disable it using on the methods reviewed below.

This post will show you how to enable or disable playing the Windows startup sound in Windows 11. Note that this change affects all user accounts.

How to Disable Windows 11 Startup Sound

1. Open the Settings app with the Win + I keyboard shortcut.
2. Navigate to Personalization > Themes.
3. Click on the Sounds item on the right.
4. In the Sounds tab, uncheck the Play Windows Startup sound option.
5. Click on Apply and OK.

Done!

You can restore the Startup sound at any moment later by reversing the above steps and placing the check mark next to the 'Play Windows Startup sound' box.

Alternatively, you can enable or disable the sound that Windows 11 plays on startup in the Registry.

Turn on or off the Windows 11 Startup sound in the Registry

The Startup sound option is located under the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\BootAnimation. To turn it on or off, you need to modify here the DisableStartupSound 32-bit DWORD value.  Set it to one of the following numbers.

• 1 - enable the sound
• 2 - disable the sound

Note: The DisableStartupSound should be of the 32-bit DWORD value type even on the 64-bit Windows 11.

If you are not happy to modify the Registry manually, you can use my ready-to-use REG files.

Download REG files

1. Click on this link to get the ZIP archive with files.
2. Extract both REG files to your desktop folder.
3. Click on the file Disable Windows 11 startup sound.reg to merge it and turn of the feature.
4. The other file, Enable Windows 11 startup sound.reg re-enables the sound.

You are done.

Finally, you can disable it in Group Policy. Windows 11 comes with a special policy option that allows you to force disable or force enable the sound for all users. Let's review this method.

Enable or Disable Startup Sound in Windows 11 with Group Policy

1. Press the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog, and enter gpedit.msc into the Run box.
2. In the Local Group Policy Editor app, browse the left pane to Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Logon​.
3. Double click the Turn off Windows Startup sound option on the right.
4. Select Enabled to activate the policy and turn off the sound for all users.
5. If you set it to Disabled, it will force enable the sound for all users.
6. Finally, Not configured will allow the user to configure the sound using method #1. This is the default option.

Done.

Note: By setting the policy to either Enabled or Disabled, you will prevent users from changing the option using the Sound dialog. The Play Windows Startup sound checkbox will be grayed out, so users won't be able to change it.

However, certain Windows 11 editions may not include the 'gpedit.msc' tool. so for that case, we can configure the reviewed policy directly in the Registry. Here's how it can be done.

Enable or disable the Startup Sound with a Group Policy registry tweak

1. Download this ZIP file.
2. Extract its contents to any folder location of your choice.
3. Click on the file 'Group Policy enable startup sound for all users.reg' to apply the restriction and force enable the sound for all users.
4. The file 'Group Policy disable startup sound for all users.reg' will make the startup silent, again for all users.
5. Finally, the undo file is 'Group Policy - user choice for the startup sound.reg'.

If you are curious, here how does it work.

The Registry tweak files you have downloaded modify the DisableStartupSound 32-bit DWORD value under the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System which is corresponding to the GUI option in the gpedit app. Set it as follows.

• <delete DisableStartupSound> = Default user choice
• 0 = Force enable
• 1 = Force disable

That's it.

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