How to Mute a Tab in Chrome, Edge, Safari and Firefox in 2 Seconds

It can be so annoying when you are working online and browsing the web and videos or audio start to play in the background. Sometimes, it takes a while to even find which tab is the culprit behind the unwanted noise.

This article will cover how to mute a tab on the three most popular browsers. We’ll also show you how to stop certain websites from being able to automatically play audio while you browse the web.

Read on to learn how to mute tabs in Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Firefox.

How to Mute Tabs in Chrome

Chrome is the go-to browser for most users, and Chrome tab muting is a simple process. Here’s how to mute individual tabs in Chrome:

1. Hover your mouse cursor over the tab that’s producing the sound you want to stop.
2. Right-click on it, and it will open a dropdown menu.
3. Click on the Mute Site button. This will mute that specific tab.

Note: To unmute the tab, follow the same steps and click on Unmute Site.

Mute Websites Permanently on Chrome

If you’re looking to mute a site from playing audio on a group of tabs in Chrome, or to permanently mute websites, follow the steps below:

1. Click on the three-dot icon towards the top-right side of the screen. This brings up a dropdown menu.
2. Click on the Settings button. This will open a new tab with the settings page of the browser.
3. Click on Privacy and Security on the left side.
4. Click on Site Settings. Here, you will be able to see all the recently opened websites.
5. Click on the arrow icon beside the website you wish to mute.
6. Scroll down to Sound and select Mute.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 until all sites you want to mute are marked as Mute.

Keyboard Shortcuts to Mute Tabs in Google Chrome

Here’s how to how to mute specific tabs in Chrome with keyboard shortcuts:

• Mute/Unmute current tab: Alt + Shift + M
• Mute all except the current one: Alt + Shift + N
• Mute/Unmute all tabs: Alt + Shift + Comma

Related Reading: How to Reopen Closed Tabs

How to Mute Microsoft Edge Tabs

Muting tabs on Microsoft Edge follows almost exactly the same steps we used for Google Chrome. This is mainly because Edge and Chromium are based on Chromium coding.

To mute a specific tab, you can do one of three things.

• Right-click on the particular tab and click on Mute tab in the dropdown menu.
• Click on the speaker icon when a sound is playing to mute and unmute it.
• Use the Ctrl+ M shortcut to mute and unmute a tab.

Mute Sites on Microsoft Edge

If you’re looking to prevent certain sites from ever playing audio automatically, follow the below steps:

1. Click on the three-dot icon towards the top-right side of the screen
2. There, click on the Settings button.
3. Click on Cookies and site permissions on the left side.
4. Scroll down to find the Media autoplay option. Click on the arrow towards the right side of the option to open it.
5. Click on Add and enter the URL or the site you wish to add to the list.
6. Click on Add, and the site will be added to the list.

How to Mute a Specific Tab in Firefox

The firefox mute tab follows the same process as Microsoft Edge.

To mute a tab on Firefox, you can

• Click on the speaker icon on the tab itself, and that specific tab will be muted.
• Right-click the specific tab and then click on Mute Tab.
• Use the Firefox mute tab keyboard shortcut of Ctrl+M while the tab is open.

Mute All Sites in Firefox

If You want to mute a site from playing audio on all tabs in Firefox, follow the steps below:

1. Click the three-bars icon towards the right side of the screen and then click on Options or Preferences in the dropdown menu that shows up.
2. Here, click Privacy and Security on the left side of the screen.
3. Scroll down to find the Permissions section. There, click on the Settings button beside Autoplay.
4. Next to the Default for All Websites option, click on Block Audio in the dropdown menu that shows up.
5. Click on Save Changes to save the changes.

How to Mute a Tab in Safari

Safari works similarly to Chrome and the others. You simply have to click on the blue speaker button on a tab that’s playing audio to mute it.

The only difference with Safri is that it also has a shortcut to mute all tabs by clicking the speaker button on a tab that is not playing audio.

Can You Mute a Tab in Chrome for Mobile?

Most mobile browsers automatically pause videos or audio files when switching to a different tab or a window. This conserves the battery power of your device which means you won’t find a dedicated way of muting the tabs on your mobile browsers. The audio will be muted automatically when the specific tab goes out of focus.

However, Chrome has the feature that allows you to add the website to the mute list, where the audio will not play automatically when browsing through the web. Here are the steps to do this:

1. Click on the three-dots icon towards the top-right side of the screen.
2. Click on the Settings button.
3. Scroll down to find the Site Settings option. Click on it.
4. Go down and click on the Sound option.
5. Here, you can click on the radio button to allow or block sites from playing sounds.
6. If you wish to add an exception to the rule, click Add Site Exception and enter the URL.
7. Click on Add to add that site to the list.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Mute a Website?

You can instantly mute a website, or you can fully stop that website from playing sound. Most browsers allow you to click on the speaker icon to mute the sound on a single tab quickly. Sound may still play on other tabs of the same website.

To mute one site across all tabs, you can head into the settings and go to the Privacy and Security options (or similar, depending on your browser). Click on Site Settings and then head over to Additional Content Settings. There, go into Sound and choose the website you wish to mute or unmute.

How Do I Mute a Tab but Not a Website Permanently?

To how to turn off the volume on a tab but not the whole website, follow these instructions on how to mute one tab:

• Right-click on the tab and then click on Mute tab.
• If your browser supports it, you could also click on the tab’s speaker icon, which will mute the site.
• You can follow the same steps to unmute the tab.

Can I Mute a Specific Website?

To mute a specific website across all tabs and windows of the browser:

1. Go to the browser’s settings and head over to the Privacy and Security options.
2. Click on Site Settings and then head over to Additional Content Settings.
3. Go into Sound and then choose the website you wish to mute, and it will be muted across all instances of the browser.

Note that the menu names may vary depending on your browser.

Wrapping Up

Now that you know how to mute a tab in the popular browsers, you can browse peacefully. Let us know in the comments if you have any questions.

Related:

• How to Group Tabs in Chrome [Desktop & Mobile]
• How to Reopen Closed Tabs in Chrome, Safari, and Other Browsers
• Safari vs Chrome: Which One Should You Use?
• How to Export Chrome Bookmarks in 6 Simple Steps
• How to Block a Website on Chrome (4 Simple Methods)
• 9 Best Alternative Browsers to Try Instead of Chrome