Shhh: How to Mute Tabs in Chrome

Yahoo Tech
Updated

Using a little-known trick in Google Chrome, you can quickly quiet a noisy background browser tab without leaving the current page.

To do so, just follow the steps outlined in the video above to enable Chrome’s (fairly well-hidden) Tab Audio Muting setting. Once that’s done, the little icon you normally see on a tab indicating that audio is playing will transform into a handy mute button.

(Note: The Tab Audio Mute setting is one of Chrome’s many experimental features. Read Google’s disclaimer at the top of the “chrome://flags” page in Chrome for more information.)

This tip works on all versions of the Chrome Internet browser: Windows, Chrome OS, and Mac.

Even if you don’t use Chrome, you may be getting similar functionality in your browser soon: The next version of Safari (packaged with OS X El Capitan) will offer a Mute Tab audio button, and there is even some indication that Microsoft is adding the same kind of feature to its new Edge Web browser (which will be built into the upcoming Windows 10 PC operating system).

In the meantime: Happy muting to all our Chromies out there!

Email me at danbean@yahoo-inc.com. Follow me on Twitter at danielwbean.

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