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Give every app its own notification sound

macOS plays one alert sound for everything. These guides show how to give the apps you care about their own sound - and a colored, labeled flash - so you know which one notified you without stopping to look.

Give Slack its own sound and a purple flash - and a louder one just for DMs and mentions.

Give Discord its own sound and color, and hear a distinct alert only when a server actually pings you.

Give Gmail its own sound and color - even when it notifies you through Chrome or Safari - and a distinct alert for the senders that matter.

Give Outlook its own sound and color, and a louder alert for the people and subjects you can't miss.

Microsoft Teams

Give Teams its own sound and color, and hear a distinct alert only when someone actually @mentions or calls you.

Give Messages its own sound and flash - and a distinct alert for the one person whose texts you can’t miss.

Give WhatsApp its own sound and color on your Mac - and tell a busy group apart from a message meant just for you.

Give Apple Mail its own sound and color - and a louder alert for a VIP sender or a subject you’re watching for.

Give Zoom its own sound and a bright flash - so “your meeting is starting” actually reaches you across the room.

Give Calendar its own sound and flash - so an event reminder is something you notice before the meeting, not after.

Give Telegram its own sound and color on your Mac - and keep a busy channel from sounding like a message from a friend.

Give Notion its own sound and color - and hear it the moment someone @-mentions you or replies to a comment.

Give Signal its own sound and color - even when its notifications hide who and what, so you still know it’s Signal.

Give Chrome web notifications a sound and color - and tell one site apart from the dozen others that all say “Google Chrome.”

Give Reminders its own sound and flash - so a “buy milk” nudge and a “call the doctor before 5” nudge don’t sound the same.

Give PagerDuty an alert you can’t miss - its own loud sound, above 100%, and a full-screen flash for a real incident.

Give Messenger its own sound and color - and a distinct alert when it's a message from a specific person, not another group chat.

Give Google Chat its own sound and color - even when it notifies you through Chrome - and a louder alert just for DMs and mentions.

Give GitHub its own sound and color - and a distinct alert just for review requests, @mentions, and failed checks, not the whole firehose.

Give Fantastical its own sound and a full-screen flash for meeting alerts - loud enough to cut through a call, or a gentle band for the rest.

Give the Spark email app its own sound and color - distinct from Mail and every other app - and a louder alert for the senders that matter.

Give Todoist its own sound and color - so a due task or reminder is a nudge you notice, not another anonymous chime.

Give Asana its own sound and color - and a distinct alert only for tasks assigned to you and @mentions, not every project update.

Project management

Give Trello its own sound and color - and a gentle, labeled flash when a card you're on is due or someone @mentions you, apart from the board's activity.

Project management

Give Linear its own sound and color - and a distinct alert only for issues assigned to you, @mentions, and triage, not every subscribed update.

Give Things its own sound and color - so a reminder or a deadline is a nudge you actually notice, not one more anonymous chime.

Give Google Meet its own sound and an unmissable flash - so a meeting that's starting cuts through whatever you're doing, even though it runs in your browser.

Give X its own sound and color - and a distinct alert only for DMs and @mentions, not every like and repost.

Give Jira its own sound and color - and a distinct alert only for issues assigned to you and @mentions, not every update on the board.

Project management

Give GitLab its own sound and color - and a distinct alert only for a review you're asked for, an @mention, or a pipeline that just failed.

Give Instagram its own sound and color - and a distinct alert only for a direct message from someone, not every like, follow, or comment.

Give Zendesk its own sound and color - and a distinct alert only for a ticket assigned to you or a customer's reply, not every update in the queue.

Give Webex its own sound and color - a full-screen flash and a louder-than-100% alert so an incoming call or a meeting about to start actually cuts through.

Give Twitch its own sound and color - and a distinct alert when a channel you follow goes live, not every whisper or chat mention.

Google Calendar

Give Google Calendar its own sound and color - and a full-screen flash for an event that's starting, so you join on time instead of two minutes late.

Give ClickUp its own sound and color - and a distinct alert only when a task is assigned to you, @mentions you, or comes due, not for every update in the Space.

Project management

Give YouTube its own sound and color - a gentle edge flash when a channel you care about uploads or goes live, without every comment and reply chiming in.

Give Shopify orders their own cha-ching on your Mac - clip the exact sound you want, flash the screen when an order lands, and stop watching the admin all day.

Give Intercom its own sound and color - and a distinct alert when a conversation is assigned to you or a customer replies, because live chat is measured in minutes.

Give Front its own sound and color - and a distinct alert only when a conversation is assigned to you or a teammate @mentions you, not for the whole shared inbox.

Give monday.com its own sound and color - and a distinct alert only when an item is assigned to you or an update @mentions you, not for every board you follow.

Project management

Give Basecamp its own sound and color - and a distinct alert for a Ping or a to-do assigned to you, so it stands out from Campfire chatter and message-board posts.

Project management

Give WeChat its own sound and color - and a louder alert for the people who matter, so family or a client doesn't sound like every group chat you're in.

Turn a HomeKit doorbell or sensor into an alert you can't miss - a loud sound you chose and a full-screen flash for the Home app's notification, even with headphones on.

Hear a cha-ching on your Mac when a Stripe payment lands - clip the sound you want and flash the screen for the payment email, instead of refreshing the Dashboard.

Give Spike its own sound and color - and a louder alert for the sender or thread you're actually waiting on, layered on top of Spike's Priority Inbox.

Focus & Do Not Disturb

Add TrillMark to a macOS Focus and it goes quiet with you. Per-app sounds and flashes pause while that Focus is on, and the menu-bar icon turns into a moon so you can see it.