How to Mute All Apps at Once on Mac (and Unmute Them Perfectly)

Someone walks into the room. Your boss calls unexpectedly. A client shares their screen on a call and your music starts playing through their speakers. You need instant silence. Right now.

You hit the mute key. Everything goes quiet. Crisis averted.

Then the moment passes. You hit the mute key again. Everything comes back — but at the system volume level, which doesn't remember that Spotify was at 30%, Zoom was at 100%, and Slack was at 15%. Those individual levels? Gone. You have to re-adjust everything manually.

The system mute key: blunt instrument

The Mac's mute key (F10 or the speaker-slash key) mutes the system audio output. Every app goes silent simultaneously. Unmuting restores the system volume to where it was — but since macOS only has one volume slider, there are no per-app levels to remember or restore.

This is fine if you only use one app at a time. It's a problem if you have six apps carefully balanced at different levels and need to silence + restore them all.

A smarter mute: per-app mute all

SoundDial has a "Mute All" keyboard shortcut: Control + Option + M (⌃⌥M).

When you press it:

1. Every app is muted individually (each app's volume state is saved)
2. Instant silence — just like the mute key

When you press it again:

1. Every app is unmuted
2. Each app returns to exactly the volume it was at before you muted
3. Spotify goes back to 30%, Zoom to 100%, Slack to 15% — perfectly restored

The difference from the system mute key:

• System mute: mutes the output → unmute restores one system volume → per-app balance doesn't exist
• SoundDial mute all: mutes each app individually → unmute restores each app's individual volume → your balance is preserved

When this matters

• Screen sharing: You're sharing your screen and need to silence your Mac before the other person hears your music. ⌃⌥M → silence → do your thing → ⌃⌥M → music is back at exactly the right level.
• Unexpected interruption: Someone walks in, you need silence instantly. One shortcut, no mouse, no fumbling for the menu bar.
• Quick phone call: Your desk phone rings. Silence the Mac, take the call, unmute when done. Everything comes back.

Combined with the ⌃⌥S shortcut (toggle SoundDial's popover), you can manage all your audio entirely from the keyboard — open the mixer, adjust levels, close it, and mute/unmute everything without touching the mouse.

Available on the Mac App Store — €14.99 one-time purchase, no subscription, macOS 14.2+.