Is your Skype lowering the volume of other sounds on Windows 10 PC? Learn how to stop Skype from lowering the volume on Windows 10 computers or laptops.
If you use Skype frequently then you may have faced Skype lowering volume of other applications error on your Windows 10 system. You may have had your audio levels completely normal one moment but the minute you start a Skype call, the audio levels go down by up to 80%.
This is extremely annoying and frustrating, especially if you are a gamer that uses Skype or other VoIP applications to communicate with your squad online and you may wish to know how to stop Skype from lowering the volume on Windows 10 which is possible and fairly easy to do.
In today’s guide, let’s answer your question, how to stop skype from lowering the volume of everything else on Windows 10? And why is skype lowering the volume of other apps? So, without further ado, lets jump right in.
Why Skype Reduces the Volume of Other Applications on Windows 10?
Voice over internet protocol or VoIP as we know it has seen a great rise in popularity in recent times. Microsoft wanted to cash in on this boom and wished to ensure that the process of making and receiving phone calls on Windows becomes as seamless as possible.
To ensure you have a smooth experience, Microsoft, in its infinite wisdom, added this feature that automatically adjusts the volume of other media when it detects that a phone call is being made. This is a great feature for people who frequently make calls from a Windows machine, yes, all 3 of you. I see you.
So, even though we the users never asked Windows to lower the volume, due to this new feature being implemented and enabled by default whenever anyone places a VoIP call using skype or any other VoIP application, Windows automatically reduces all the volumes by 50% to 80% depending on what settings has been chosen (80% is the default).
This can become a huge issue if you use any VoIP platform for communication while gaming such as Discord or Google Hangouts. It becomes an even larger issue when Windows, in all its wisdom reduces the volume on things even when the game has a voice channel built-in which makes gaming even more difficult. I am sure you want a way to stop skype from lowering the volume and I have one for you.
How to Stop Skype from Lowering the Volume on Windows 10
The apparent “feature” that lowers the volume of other channels when it detects a VoIP call can thankfully be turned off to get rid of the annoying Skype lowering volume of other applications error. Follow these steps and learn how to stop Skype from lowering the volume of other sounds on Windows 10 systems:
Step (1): First of all, click on the Windows 10 Start button and then search for the Control Panel. Now from the search result, open it.
Step (2): On the Control Panel window, if you are in Category view, click on the Hardware and Sound option. (But in case, if you are in Icons view then click on the Sound option).
Step (3): In the Hardware and Sound window, click on the Sound option.
Step (4): Now on the Sound dialog box, go to the Communication tab. There you will see four different options under the “When Windows detects communications activity” section:
- Mute all other sounds
- Reduce the volume of other sounds by 80%
- Reduce the volume of other sounds by 50%
- Do nothing
Step (5): In order to stop Skype from lowering the volume on Windows 10, simply select the Do nothing option.
Step (6): Finally, click on the Apply and then OK button to save the changes. That’s it!
This will now stop Skype from lowering the volume of other sounds on Windows 10 computers. If you are among the handful of people who actually find this apparent feature useful but want to lower the intensity of it then you can select the Reduce the volume of other sounds by 50% option. By default, the feature is set to reduce all other voices by 80%.
Conclusions
You will finally be able to get rid of this nefarious issue and fix the skype muting other sounds windows 10 issue once and for all to enjoy your gaming sessions without interruptions.
We hope we answered your question, how to stop skype from lowering the volume of everything else on Windows 10. You will now be able to stop skype from lowering the volume by following the method above. If you have any more questions for us then you know where to find us.