How many times have we been caught off guard by an application that starts playing sounds out of nowhere? This is especially true with browser tabs, which now report audio activity with a small speaker icon. But we should also think about all those messengers with their pops, clicks, blips, and blings that seek our attention, yet cause distractions or ruin video conferences. If you want to know how to automatically mute background programs, the open-source tool Background Muter will be useful.
Video conferences have become a daily routine for many users, and with them comes the need to manage your computer's audio more closely. After all, the last thing we want is an alert exploding from our speakers in the middle of a call. Another possibility is when you're gaming, and an alert from some messenger ruins your music or dialogue.
Logically, we can't expect Windows to provide smart audio control, and manually muting each program becomes tedious in no time, so we need something else. That's where Background Muter comes in, an open-source tool that helps you automatically mute background programs, leaving the main process untouched.
How to mute background programs with Background Muter
Background Muter is a portable tool, but it depends on the version 6.0 or higher of the .NET Desktop Runtime (the program will offer a download link if you try to run it without it). Once started, you'll notice its interface is divided into three sections: the Control section, which includes a list of excluded processes; Mute Exception Changer for adding or removing processes from exceptions; and Settings, with options for dark mode, logging, and loading alongside Windows.
The Mute Exception Changer section is the one that interests us most here: the left column shows the processes detected by Background Muter, and on the right are those already configured as exceptions. Chrome, Media Player Classic Home Cinema, VLC Player, Firefox, and the WWAHost service are the factory exceptions, and you'll need to manually add processes from other programs and players (for example, Winamp).
In summary, Background Muter works very well for muting background programs, but you'll need to do a bit of tuning by assigning exceptions to avoid conflicts. Now, if you prefer to control the volume, EarTrumpet is an excellent software solution, or you can create a volume control for PC with Arduino if you prefer a physical option.
Download Background Muter: Click here
