How to change Google Calendar's notification sound on Mac
Google Calendar has no notification-sound settings of its own on macOS. To silence it, turn off “Play sound for notifications” for Google Calendar in System Settings → Notifications. To give it a different sound, or a different sound per channel, person, or keyword, you need a rule-based app such as Chirpy, which reads macOS notifications locally and plays the sound you assigned.
How do I mute Google Calendar notifications on a Mac?
macOS lets you silence any app's sound without disabling its notifications. The full visual walkthrough lives on the universal macOS method page. The short version:
- Open System Settings → Notifications on your Mac.
- Scroll to Google Calendar in the application list and click it.
- Turn off “Play sound for notifications”.
- Google Calendar keeps showing banners and badges, with no audio.
How Chirpy fills the gap
Chirpy reads the notification title and matches it against your rules. That means you can do things Google Calendar can't on its own: different sounds per channel, per person, per keyword, per server. Three quick examples:
- Boss mentions only: a distinct chime when their name appears in any Google Calendar notification.
- Urgent channel: a louder sound when the notification contains
#urgentor#critical. - Silence everything else: a rule that matches all other Google Calendar notifications with no sound. Banners still appear, your day stays quiet.
Frequently asked questions
Can I change Google Calendar's notification sound on Mac?
Not inside Google Calendar, which exposes no notification-sound settings of its own. macOS offers a single system alert sound shared by every app. To give Google Calendar its own sound you need a third-party tool such as Chirpy, which matches macOS notifications against rules you write and plays the sound you chose.
How do I mute Google Calendar notifications on Mac without turning them off?
Open System Settings → Notifications, click Google Calendar in the list, and turn off “Play sound for notifications”. Google Calendar keeps showing banners and badges, so you stop hearing it without losing it.
Can I set a different sound for specific Google Calendar notifications?
Not with macOS or Google Calendar alone, because neither can read the content of a notification and act on it. Chirpy matches the notification text against rules you write, using a name, a channel, a keyword, or a combination with AND/OR, then plays the sound you assigned to that rule.
Does muting Google Calendar in System Settings also hide its banners?
No. “Play sound for notifications” only controls audio. Banners, the Notification Center list, and Dock badges are separate toggles on the same screen.
Want sounds that actually mean something?
Chirpy adds rule-based custom sounds on top of macOS notifications. One sound for Google Calendar mentions, another for your calendar, silence for the rest. It is a native menu bar app. $19.99 as a one-time purchase, requires macOS 13 or later, and runs entirely on your Mac.