Where are the sound settings?
Sound is one of the few things almost every system treats as important enough for the first screen you see. We read the settings tree of all 43 systems in the catalogue and recorded where each one keeps it.
What each system calls it
33 of the 43 operating systems in our catalogue have this setting, and between them they use six different labels for it:
| Name on screen | Systems |
|---|---|
| Sound | 16 |
| Audio | 5 |
| Sounds | 4 |
| Sound & vibration | 2 |
| Sound and Vibration | 2 |
| Sound and vibration | 2 |
| Sounds & Haptics | 2 |
The most common is Sound, on 16 of the 33. If that is not the word on your screen, the table above is the rest of the vocabulary to try.
Some of those rows differ only in capitalisation — 7 spellings for six actual names. We have kept them apart because that is what is printed on the screen, and a settings search that matches case will tell them apart too.
Where it lives on each system
These are the shortest paths from the first settings screen on the newest release of each system. 32 of the 33 are within two taps; the rest sit deeper, and the table shows how much deeper.
| System | Path | Taps |
|---|---|---|
| Android 17 | Sound & vibration | 1 |
| CarPlay 27 | Sound | 1 |
| Firefox OS Firefox OS 2.5 | Sound | 1 |
| Huawei Watch HarmonyOS 5 | Sound and Vibration | 1 |
| HyperOS 4.0 | Sound and vibration | 1 |
| iOS 27.0 | Sounds & Haptics | 1 |
| iOS 6 6.1 | Sounds | 1 |
| iPadOS 27.0 | Sounds | 1 |
| KaiOS 3.0 | Sound | 1 |
| LG webOS webOS 26 | Sound | 1 |
| Mac OS 9 9.2 | Sound | 1 |
| Mac OS X 10.6 | Sound | 1 |
| macOS 27 Golden Gate | Sound | 1 |
| Meta Quest v81 | Sound | 1 |
| OxygenOS 16 | Sound and vibration | 1 |
| PlayStation 26.06 | Sound | 1 |
| Roku OS Roku OS 16 | Audio | 1 |
| Samsung Tizen TV Tizen 10 | Sound | 1 |
| Steam Deck SteamOS 3.8 | Sound | 1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | Sound | 1 |
| visionOS 27 | Sounds | 1 |
| watchOS 27 | Sounds & Haptics | 1 |
| Wear OS 7 | Sound & vibration | 1 |
| Windows 98 98 SE | Sounds | 1 |
| Zepp OS Zepp OS 6 | Sound and Vibration | 1 |
| BlackBerry OS 10 | Notifications › Sound | 2 |
| ChromeOS 151 | Device › Audio | 2 |
| Fire TV Vega OS | Display and Sounds › Audio | 2 |
| One UI 9 | Sounds and vibration › Sound | 2 |
| tvOS 27 | System › Audio | 2 |
| Windows 11 | System › Sound | 2 |
| Windows 7 SP1 | Hardware and Sound › Sound | 2 |
| Xbox 2608 | Devices & connections › Blu-ray › Audio | 3 |
Each system name above opens the real menu in the simulator, so you can walk the path before you touch your own device.
Why the names came out this way
The split between Sound and Audio is close to a split between consumer and professional framing. Phones and tablets say Sound, because what the user wants is for the thing to be quieter. Desktop and media systems are likelier to say Audio, because what the user wants is to pick an output device.
Apple’s Sounds & Haptics is the outlier that tells you the most: it is the only name that admits the phone answers you by vibrating as well as by chiming.
Find it on your own device
If your system is not in the table, or the label on your screen is different again, there are three ways through it:
- Search every system at once for a setting by name — it looks inside all 43 trees, not just the one you are holding.
- Open your own system in the settings simulator and click to the screen without changing anything real.
- Follow the step-by-step guide to managing notifications, or see where that setting lives on every system.
Related settings in the same part of the menu:
- Where are the voice assistant settings?
- Where is the vibration setting?
- Where is the ringtone setting?
All of it comes from the same catalogue: 43 systems, 135 versions, published as an open dataset.
Try it yourself, on the real menusOpen any of 43 operating systems in your browser and walk the Settings tree exactly as it appears on the device. No download, no account.Frequently asked questions
Where are the sound settings on most systems?
On 32 of the 33 systems that have it, within two taps of the first settings screen. The most common label is “Sound”, used by 16 of them. The table above gives the exact path for each system.
Why can I not find it by searching my settings?
Because settings search matches the label your system uses, and there are six different labels in use for this one setting. Searching for the word your previous device used is the single most common reason a setting appears to be missing.
How many systems have this setting at all?
33 of the 43 operating systems we catalogue. The rest either have no hardware for it or fold the behaviour into something else, which is why a feature that feels universal often is not.