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IE's click sound: how do I turn that off?

Question:

Every time I change to another page in IE6 SP2, whether by using the back
and forward buttons, clicking on a link, or typing a URL, there's a sound that
plays. It sounds like a muffled explosion and it's annoying as hell. I checked
all the assigned sounds in the control panel and there's no entry for IE at
all, so there are none assigned to it through there. Where else can I look? I'd
like to get rid of it, but even substituting a simple beep would be a big
improvement.

Actually you were looking in the right place - Control Panel, Sounds - it's
just that it's totally not obvious which item you want to change.

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So everyone else can get there, we'll:

  • Open Control Panel

  • Open Sounds and Audio Devices

  • Click on the Sounds tab

  • In the Program events: list, scroll down to the section for
    Windows Explorer

"...imagine Homer Simpson saying "D'oh!" each time you
navigate."

So "magic item #1" is that Internet Explorer takes some of its settings from
Windows Explorer.

  • Scroll down to the Start Navigation setting within Windows
    Explorer

And "magic item #2" is that the setting that controls the sound you want is
called "Start Navigation"

Here's where we are at this point:

Sound Control Panel Dialog

You can now select different sounds for that setting, using the
Sounds: dropdown beneath the list. One of those settings is
"(none)" to turn is off completely. Alternately, you can use
the Browse button to assign just about any ".wav" file to be
played - imagine Homer Simpson saying "D'oh!" each time you navigate.

OK, maybe not.

Do this

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10 comments on “IE's click sound: how do I turn that off?”

  1. me too i turn it off just like this and i still get that little click, at this point when i go into sounds to turn it off, it’s already off. I’m confused.

    Reply
  2. I’m having the same trouble as the first two posters – I follow the instructions but when I go back into the Sounds applet, after clicking Apply and OK, it has reverted back to how it was, i.e. Windows doesn’t seem to save it, or something else is over-riding it. Any suggestions on how I can fix this? Thanks, Russell.

    Reply
  3. Thank you! Hopefully this puts an end to it. Such things drove me to FireFox long ago, but occasionally I do find myself in IE and now it will at least be bearable. Notice how there are no pleasant sounds in the entire list of Windows sounds?

    Reply
  4. well.i was running into the same “my sound is already off and i was still hearing the clicking noise” wall and so i went to opera prefs and i took the check off the enable program sounds and it seems to be working and …AAAAH!!!!! [removed]!!! ….NEVER MIND

    Reply
  5. I’m a little confused here, because the remedy given here is not effective, and yet the administrator just seems to have dropped off. If I remember this site, and I may not.. I will provide the correct remedy when I have it. Thank you.

    Reply
  6. Yes this does work, but I am using Vista (unfortunately for me) and the process is just a little bit different but once you know the sound to change is “start navigation” then you can locate it.

    Reply
  7. I find windows sounds infuriating – especially when I am recording something and want to navigate the computer.

    I have tried turning them off, but Windows XP – ‘works the way you want it to’ – doesn’t believe that I really want sound off and turns them back on again!

    My foolproof way is to go to Windows/media folder (you may have to unhide the contents) where you will find all those annoying sounds that have been bothering you. Delete the lot! If you are a bit wimpy, then create a new folder in ‘media’ and move all the sound files into it. In either case – the result is blessed silence and Windows cannot reinstate the damn things.

    Reply

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