Chorus has a global keyboard shortcut called Toggle Mute. Press it from any app, at any time, and it instantly silences your Mac's active output: the speakers or group you currently have selected, or your default output device if no group is active. Press it again and the volume comes straight back to where it was.
This is a different problem from muting one noisy app. Sometimes you know exactly which app is being loud and you want to quiet just that one, while everything else keeps playing. Other times you don't have time to work that out. Someone opens your office door mid-video, a Slack call is about to connect, or you just remembered a notification sound is set way too loud and you have half a second before it fires. In that moment you want everything gone, immediately, with a key you don't have to look for.
What Toggle Mute actually mutes
The hotkey acts on whatever your Mac is currently sending audio to. If you have a Chorus group active, say a pair of desk speakers or two paired displays, it mutes that group as a whole. If you don't have a group active, it mutes your Mac's default output device directly. Either way, the result is the same: every app that was making sound stops making sound, in one keypress, from wherever you are.
That is the key difference from muting a single app. This hotkey is not selective. It is the equivalent of the mute key on a Mac keyboard, except it is a shortcut you choose yourself, it works no matter which app has focus, and it can target a specific group of speakers rather than only ever the system default.
Setting it up
- Open Chorus's settings and go to the Shortcuts tab.
- Find the Toggle Mute row, near the top of the shortcuts list, above your groups, outputs and inputs.
- Click the field next to it and type the key combination you want, the same way you would record a shortcut in System Settings.
That's it. There's no separate toggle to enable, no restart required. The moment you record the key combination, it's live and works globally, from any app, immediately.
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Download for MacWhy it remembers your volume, not just the mute state
Toggle Mute doesn't pull your volume down to zero and leave it there. Chorus keeps track of the level you were actually at, mutes the output, and when you press the hotkey a second time it restores that exact level. You never end up hunting for the slider afterwards to work out where you'd left it. It behaves the way the mute key on a keyboard behaves, just bound to whatever key you choose and aware of which group you are actually listening through.
Where this earns its place
- Someone walks into the room. One key and whatever was playing goes silent, no scrambling for a Dock icon or a menu bar dropdown.
- A call is about to ring through your speakers. Mute before it connects, rather than fumbling with the volume once it's already started.
- You're about to share your screen. Kill your output first so nothing from your own speakers bleeds into whatever you're presenting.
- A loud notification is queued up and you know it. One press buys you the half-second you need, and pressing it again brings everything straight back.
None of these are about one specific app misbehaving, which is what makes this a different tool from muting an app individually. This hotkey exists for the moment you need everything quiet, right now, without stopping to work out what's actually making the noise.
If the problem you're solving is the opposite, one specific app being loud while you want everything else to keep playing, that's a per-app mute rather than an output mute. See how to mute one app without muting your whole Mac. And if what you actually want is a fast way to switch which speakers or headphones you're using rather than silence them, see keyboard shortcuts for switching audio devices.
For more on building a multi-step automation, see Apple's own Shortcuts user guide.
Frequently asked questions
Can I set a hotkey to mute my Mac's speakers?
Not through System Settings, no. macOS has physical mute keys on some keyboards and a Control Center toggle, but no way to bind your own key combination to a system-wide mute. Chorus adds a global Toggle Mute shortcut that works from any app.
What exactly does Chorus's Toggle Mute hotkey silence?
Whatever your Mac is currently sending sound to. If you have a Chorus group active, such as a pair of speakers or a paired display, the hotkey mutes that group. If no group is active, it mutes your default output device instead. Either way it is the whole output, every app at once, not one app on its own.
Does the mute hotkey turn my volume down or actually mute it?
It mutes. Chorus remembers the volume level you were at and restores exactly that level when you press the same hotkey again, rather than leaving you to find your place on the slider.
Does this work while I'm in a different app, like a game or a video call?
Yes. Chorus's Toggle Mute is a global shortcut, so it fires no matter which app is in front. You do not need to switch to Chorus, open a menu, or bring anything to the foreground first.
How is this different from muting one app in Chorus?
Muting one app leaves everything else audible, which is what you want when a single app is the problem. The Toggle Mute hotkey is the opposite case: it silences the entire output at once, which is what you want when you need total silence immediately, regardless of what is making the noise.
