Annoying alert sounds

When the sound is on, my computer randomly "beeps" a few times and random intervals (sounds more like a thump I guess). Why is this happening? How do I shut sound off?

I've never experienced any alert sounds related to using an AirPort base station.
Be sure to try shutting down (powering off) the iMac, instead of just doing a restart.
Also, some sound settings are stored in PRAM, so try resetting PRAM if the problem recurs.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
As a test to narrow down the cause, create a new admin user account in System Preferences Accounts pane.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/8235.html
Log out and log in to the new account. Does the problem recur in the new account? If not, the cause is likely to be in your normal user account. If the problem does recur even in the new account, then the cause is likely to be related to the overall system (OS), or possibly hardware (but it would be very unusual if random alert sounds was hardware-related).

Similar Messages

Screen flashes instead of alert sound after 10.4.11 update

After updating to 10.4.11 about 2 weeks ago I noticed that my screen flashes whenever an alert sound should occur. It looks just like the "Flash screen when an alert sound occurs" option found in the Universal Access (Hearing) settings. I toggled the setting found there, but even when it's set to off, my flashing screen alert continues to occur. I know a friend of mine who experienced the exact same problem, but he hasn't found a solution to this (minor, but annoying) problem yet either. I also talked to a "genius" at the local Apple store. He hadn't heard about the problem and couldn't offer a solution either.
Is anybody else experiencing a flashing screen alert? How does one get rid of it? Thanks.

this solved it for me:
i checked my system alerts and found that the alert sound was set to some invalid legacy sound called AIM - probably left over from when i used AIM instead of iChat.
i set the alert sound back to one of the original Apple sounds and viola! No More Flashing Screen!!!

Alert sound every time I use the command key

Hi, I thought I'd try posting a new topic in case anyone's found the solution for this (I hope!).
Ever since updating to Snow Leopard, everyone in my office is getting an alert sound (in my case, "funk") whenever we do a shortcut using the "command" key, eg. "command-n", "command-s", "command-w", "command-q", etc.
It's very annoying, and no one can find a way to turn it off. We've simply had to turn our overall volume down to 0, but of course that doesn't work if you want to listen to music with headphones.
It was never an issue with previous versions of OS X, but as soon as we all upgraded every one of us had this issue. Has anyone else?
Thanks,
Kevin

Okay, so I came up with a workaround... not a solution to the root of the problem, but a workaround.
I made an AIFF file that's one second of silence, saved it as Silence.aiff and placed it in my System > Library > Sounds folder.
Then I went to the Sound System Preferences, and changed my main alert sound to "Silence".
The only problem with that is any time you would normally want to hear the alert sound you won't hear anything, for example when a dialog box pops up asking you if you want to save before quitting. But any other sounds are still just fine.

Start up alert sound

Hi,
I have a PB 12". The machine makes a alert sound when I start my machine. I would like to disable this sound since its a littel annoying when you open it in a quite office. Now I put the speaker to Mute before shutting down so that next time i dont hear that sound.
Could some body tell me how to disable the sound?
Thanks
PC

Amit, Apple can do a lot of things. OTOH, a lot of clever people can do things that Apple doesn't do even though they can. I haven't tried the PrefPane Matt mentioned, but it could work by using an undocumented part of OS X, which means Apple might not want to commit itself to supporting it publicly. Or, since startup volume is a function of a user's volume setting, could just be a script that changes the user's setting (storing the old one) before startup chimes, then changes it back to the stored volume afterwards--that's functional but a pretty hackish solution to consider "Apple official".

How can I remove a new, abnormal alert sound?

On my desktop Mac running OS 10.7.5, the computer alert sound spontaneouly changed to a new, very unpleasant "crunching" sound that is not listed in the Apple System Prefs>Sound>Select Alert Sound menu. Have tried resetting the alert sound using the Prefs menu, as well as several adware/malware removal programs, without benefit. Any thoughts on the hard drive location of the alert sounds in OS 10.7 (so that I might access them to see if there is an additional alert sound not represented on the standard alert sound menu that could be removed)? Any other thoughts on how I might address and rectify this annoying glitch? Thanks in advance to anyone reponding?

Thanks baltwo. I verified that the only alert sounds in my System/Library/Sounds are those that are standard with OS 10.7.5 and on the Alert Sounds list in System Preferences. I activated all of them in squence and none reproduced the crunching sound, which occurs invariably when moving a new item into the trash. Perhaps this additional observation is significant. Since emptying the Trash is a Finder (System) function, it has been my assumption that the problem is something related to the OS and not to an application or other add-on. Any other thoughts?

Buzz/alert sound every two minutes

Since installing Yosemite, my iMac has starting making and annoying buzzer/alert sound approximately every two minutes. I've captured a recording of it here.
Can anyone tell me what this is? It's driving me crazy! I've installed Sound Bunny which shows you all the applications that a making sound and it's not reporting any applications. I don't have any notifications and have closed all applications.
Thanks

do you happen to use airmail 2? I had the exact same problem and I went to settings -> general -> sounds and unchecked that box and that solved the problem.

Delayed system alert sounds

I have a little problem which is an annoyance more than anything else - though it could indicate a more serious problem.
The system alert sounds on my 17" PowerBook occur approximately two seconds after an alert winow appears. Sometimes I don't actually hear my prefered alert sound - I just hear the speaker make a very quite crackle.
When I shut down the alert sound which should accompany the Restart/Sleep/Cancel/Shutdown option is not heard until the desktop has disappeared and the progress wheel (not the beachball) is rotating.
Any clues, please?
TIA
Alf

Systems before X played system beeps perfectly. OS X seems to read all beeps off the hard drive. I have never been able to get OS X to play a beep without accessing the hard drive, which annoys me far beyond this tiny little issue might deserve. I understand why systems should move away from direct calls to the hardware, but this is certainly a downgrade in the human interface, when what took microseconds in OS 6-9 now takes deciseconds. I've noticed that the cache holds the system beep a bit better in 10.4, so that there's a minimal delay, but still not as good as my old macs. The more able computers get, the harder it is for them to do the simple things. The corollary is that system programmers focus on new features instead of improving performance, or it's easier to write new code than to shorten old code.

Spell Check Causing Alert Sound

Ok. I have an Imac. When I am in mail and type a word incorrect I get an alert sound. I do not get the red dashed line. I have looked all over Preferences. What am I missing? This is annoying. If I do a manual spell check of a document then it still does not underline misspelled words. I tested it in Textedit as well. No red line under the words. Please help!!!
Thanks
Thom

An update. I did the 10.6.8 combo update and that seemed to fix it.
Thanks
Thom

Random Alert Sound on 2012 iMac OSX 10.8.5?

Hi, I recently erased and restored my iMac (late 2012, 27") and am currently running OSX 10.8.5.   At incredibly random times (every few minutes), my iMac will make an alert sound that is sort of like a "ker-plunk" noise. It is somewhat similar to the skype message notification sound, but it's definitely not from skype, and it's not exactly that same sound.
I can't figure out where it's coming from, as I'm not alerted anywhere else on the Mac.   I don't have mail set up on the mac so it's not an alert from that.
I'm at a loss, and this is super annoying.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hi,
The System Preferences > Sound > Sound Effects tab can list all the System Sounds and any sounds you have in your User's Sound Folder.
As you can see those in your Users Folder (~/Library/Sounds) are listed as Custom where as the System Sounds are listed and Built-in.
I have a door opening and a door closing sound that I think came from the AIM for Mac applications that sound a bit ker-plunky. (listed as Buddy On and Buddy Off).
If the Sound is not from these sources then I will describe and example method that you can apply to other apps (most likely the ones that are open)
Go to the Applications folder in the Finder.
Highlight Messages.
Right Click and select "Show Package Contents"
Open the Contents folder that then appears in the window.
Open the Resources Folder.
At this point I have the Finder's View Menu > Show View Options showing the Kind column
I click the Kind header and the .aiff files that the app uses are moved to the top of the list.
I have also used the Finder's View Menu to Customise the Toolbar and have the Quick Look button showing
Highlight a sound and use the Quick Look button.
It opens a Slide but also plays the sound without adding and using iTunes to play them
(Alternatively you can right click and Open With and use Quicktime).
7:31 pm      Friday; October 4, 2013
 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.4)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and an iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Really Annoying Alert !!!!!

The finder alert sound when copying a file to (in my case) a USB pen drive that appears as an external disk, is to me an incredibly ANNOYING sound, I cant even describe it.
I JUST WANT TO GET RID OF IT!!!! I cant find it in the System Library Sound folder, it is not one of the sound selections in Dock>System Preferences>Sound, is there any program available to change/remove finder sounds? It seems System Pref>Sound>Sound Effects only changes the basic alert sound.
HELP
PS I know I can turn off ALL sounds, but I just want to get rid of this one.

Hello Richard:
Read this knowledge base article and see if it helps.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/8526.html
Barry
Message was edited by: Barry Hemphill (to add article!)

How do you change notification alert sound? calendar? reminders?

in mountain lion i want to change the alert sound for calendar and reminders in the side panel. its a very loud monotone beep. and very annoying. scares the pants off me when the volume is up. I want to change it for something diferent.
thx

Individually, I understand, no. But the link below gives you some guidance on possible ways to make small changes.
Can the alert sound in Mountain Lion's notification center be customized? - Ask Different

Alerts sounds are not working after upgrading to iOS 7.1.2

Hi,
I've noticed that all the alerts sounds are not working anymore after upgrading my iPhone 4S to iOS 7.1.2
I’ve reviewed similar posts regarding the same issue; and it seems this is a common issue in iPhone 4S when upgrade to iOS 7.1.2.
Apple, please Advise if there anything I can do to resolve the issue especially that my work deepens on the push emails and alerts that requires prompt response.

I got this issue resolved.
It caused due to some dirt in the charger slot; such dirt caused the phone to assume as if it is connected to a car kit and that is why it does not produce any sound except the Ringer and the Alarm.
It has been fixed by cleaning the charger slot by toothbrush! with some
drops of a cleaner.
Do not do it by yourself, as it might be a risk; rather, let it to be done by an expert.

I am trying to record a from my Macbook Air and an annoying loud sound, like a burp, will suddenly erupt from the MacBook, necessitating I start again. Any ideas on how I may stop this, or what it is??

I am trying to record a meditation from my Macbook Air and an annoying loud sound, like a burp, will suddenly erupt from the MacBook, necessitating I start again. Any ideas on how I may stop this, or what it is??

Click on the blue Internet Recovery in nbar's post. That is a link to what computers can run Internet Recovery.
Do a backup, preferable 2 separate ones on 2 drives. Boot to the Recovery Volume (command - R on a restart or hold down the option/alt key during a restart and select Recovery Volume). Run Disk Utility Verify/Repair and Repair Permissions until you get no errors. Reformat the drive using Disk Utility/Erase Mac OS Extended (Journaled), then click the Option button and select GUID. Then re-install the OS.
OS X Recovery
OS X Recovery (2)
When you reboot, use Setup Assistant to restore your data.

When my phone is locked, and I get a text message, it isn't making any sounds. When the phone is in use and I get a text, it makes the alert sound.

When I get a text while the phone is locked it doesn't make the designated alert sound, but it does if the phone is unlocked and in use.

I think you have the 'do not disturb' function enabled. If there is a moon icon in the top right of the home screen that will be the problem. Go to settings, do not disturb, and make sure manual slider is off. I had the same problem and took me a day to figure out.
Good luck

Since i have updated my iphone everytime i open an app it comes up with a message 'connect to itunes to use push notifications, may include alerts, sounds and icon badges, i have backed up my phone on itunes and restored phone but its still doing it, :(

since i have updated my iphone everytime i open an app it comes up with a message 'connect to itunes to use push notifications, may include alerts, sounds and icon badges, i have backed up my phone on itunes and restored phone but its still doing it can anyone help?
Em

Return the iPhone and get your money back. It has been
hacked/modified/jailbroken and likely cannot be made
operative.

Annoying alert sounds

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