How to turn sound devices on and off in Linux
Linux has gotten a lot easier to use, and Linux desktops are way better than they once were. Still, despite all the progress Linux has made, new users still have issues doing basic things like turning their sound devices on and off.
If you’re new to Linux and unsure how to turn your audio devices on and off, we’ve got you covered! So follow along and learn how to turn on and off your sound devices.
Gnome
You’re probably using the Gnome desktop if you’re on Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSUSE, etc. To change your sound device on the Gnome desktop, do the following. First, press the Win key on the keyboard. When you press this button, the Gnome Shell activities overview will appear.
Click on the search “box” in the overview and type in “Sound.” Then, look through the search results for “Change sound levels, inputs, outputs, and alert sounds.” Finally, launch it to access the Gnome sound settings.
Inside the Gnome “Sound” area, locate the “Output Device” dropdown menu. Click on it to reveal all available output options. Then, choose the new output device you wish to use in Gnome.
KDE
KDE, like Gnome, has a robust sound management tool built into it. To change the sound settings on the KDE desktop, start by right-clicking on the speaker icon in the panel. Once you’ve right-clicked on the icon, select the “Configure Audio Devices” option.
Once you’ve selected “Configure Audio Devices,” you’ll be able to configure your audio devices. To change your playback device, find the audio device you wish to turn off, find the “Profile” dropdown menu and set it to off.
After turning off the device you wish to disable, find the device you want to enable, find the “Profile” dropdown menu, and set it to an active sound profile.
XFCE 4
Sadly, the XFCE 4 desktop environment doesn’t have a built-in sound device management tool. If you want to manage your sound devices on the XFCE 4 desktop in Linux, follow the Pavucontrol instructions. It is a powerful tool that will aid you in managing your sound devices on the XFCE desktop environment.
Mate
The Mate desktop environment is lightweight, and due to this, the developers haven’t included a built-in audio device manager. So instead, if you wish to manage your sound devices on the Mate desktop on your Linux PC, you’ll need to follow the Pavucontrol instructions.
LXQt
The LXQt desktop environment relies on KDE Plasma tools and settings. However, it doesn’t use the KDE Plasma sound device tool. If you’d like to manage your sound devices on the LXQt desktop, please follow the Pavucontrol instructions.
Budgie
If you’re a Budgie user, you’ll be able to do the following to manage your sound devices. First, click on the volume icon in the Budgie panel. After selecting this icon, click on the Settings button to open up the Budgie sound configuration area.
With the Budgie sound settings open, locate the “Output Device” section. Then, click on the dropdown menu next to the device you wish to turn off and set it to “Off.”
Once you’ve turned off the device you wish to disable, find the device you want to enable. Then, locate the dropdown menu next to it turn it on (by selecting a profile) in the dropdown menu next to the device.
Pavucontrol
Pavucontrol is a desktop independent sound management tool, and it can be used on any Linux desktop environment. However, the app must be installed first. To install Pavucontrol on your Linux PC, open up a terminal window on the Linux desktop.
Unsure about how to open up a terminal window on the Linux desktop? Press Ctrl + Alt + T on the keyboard. Alternatively, you’ll be able to launch a terminal by searching for “Terminal” in the app menu.
With the terminal window open, use the installation instructions below to get the Pavucontrol app working on your computer.
Ubuntu
sudo apt install pavucontrol
Debian
sudo apt-get install pavucontrol
Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S pavucontrol
Fedora
sudo dnf install pavucontrol
OpenSUSE
sudo zypper install pavucontrol
With the Pavucontrol app installed, open it by searching for it in the app menu. Once it is open, find the “Configuration” tab and click on it with the mouse to access the device profile area.
Inside the “Configuration” area, you’ll see all available sound devices in Pavucontrol. Find the dropdown menu next to the device you wish to disable and set it to “Off.” Finally, find the device you want to enable, and change it from “Off” to an active profile.
Once the device is enabled, Pavucontrol will automatically use the device for all input/outputs on your Linux desktop. To customize input/output further, click on the “Output Devices” and “Input Devices” tabs in Pavucontrol.
This is not a solution. The device will enable itself again after boot or returning from suspension.