Microsoft is replacing Windows 10’s Volume Mixer | Tech Industry

In brief: Most Windows users know that the quickest and easiest way to alter the volume of individual programs and apps is to open the volume mixer, which is accessed by clicking the taskbar’s speaker icon. But it seems that this legacy option might be removed in future versions of Windows 10.

With the Volume Mixer, users can, for example, turn down the volume of any open browsers while making apps such as Spotify louder. It’s an easy-to-use and helpful feature within Windows 10, but it appears to be on the way out.

As spotted by users of the latest build (18272) available to Windows Insiders on the Fast Ring, Microsoft has updated the Volume Mixer. Right-clicking on the taskbar’s speaker icon still brings up a menu containing the ‘Open Volume Mixer’ option, but selecting it now opens the App Volume and Device Preferences page in Settings.

The volume preferences page has been available in Settings for a while, but Microsoft is now directing users toward it when they attempt to access the old Volume Mixer. Users can still manually set the sound levels for each open app, as well as change the sound inputs and outputs for individual applications—one program’s sound could be output through your headphones, while another could come through your speakers.

The Volume Mixer can still be accessed in this Windows build, though it involves using the Control Panel or by searching for SndVol.exe in Cortana. With this latest change, it seems that Microsoft could eventually do away with the old feature altogether.

While the App Volume and Device Preferences page offers more options than the Volume Mixer, many users aren’t happy about the move. What do you think?