How do I change the annoying “brrngg” Windows notification sound?

I hate the default Windows notification sound. Every time I complete a find-and-replace command in Word, every time I’m asked if I really want to replace an existing file, it goes “brrngg“. Today, it broke me. I had to find a way to get rid of it forever. So here’s how to change the Windows notification sound. You’re welcome.

First, type “sound” into your Windows search bar. Press Enter and the Sound dialog box, part of the Windows Control panel, will appear. It looks like this:

Click on the Sounds tab and you’ll see that the very first option is called Asterisk. Click on this and then click the drop-down arrow next to “Windows Background”. 

As you can see from the screenshot below, there is a long list of potential sounds to choose. I prefer “ding” or “tada”, but you can test each one using – you guessed it – the helpful Test button. 

Remember to press Apply when you’ve found a sound you’re happy with.

Note that you can even upload your own sounds should you wish, but that goes beyond the remit of this tutorial.

Get rid of more Windows notifications sounds

So far, we’ve got rid of the Asterisk sound, which is used surprisingly often in Windows. I recommend you keep going through the list of Program Events and replace as you see fit. For example, System Notification also plays the annoying “brrngg” noise by default. It’s either called “Windows Notify System Generic” or “Windows Background” in the listings.

I should also point out that this is a worthwhile exercise even if the default noises don’t bother you. Sometimes it’s useful to know what Windows is trying to tell you, so a noise you’ve chosen for the Critical Battery Alarm, say, will be more revealing than, you guessed it, brrngg.

I also recommend that you save the sound scheme. By default, Windows lists it as “Windows Default (modified)”, but if you flick back to Windows Default (as may happen during an update) then all your changes will be lost.

So, press “Save As…” and give your new sound scheme a name. Done.

READ THIS NEXT: How do I improve Windows 10 laptops’ battery life?