Sound volume level changes by itself on macbook pro m1

If it's not happening on other programs such as OBS/QuickTime/VLC, but it's happening online when you are on a browser, it's the browser.

For Chrome: --> new tab --> type "chrome://flags" --> disable "webRTCs" and "...wideEchoCancellation-->relaunch

For Brave: same process except for type "brave://flags"

For Edge: same process except for type "edge://flags"

These are all chromium-based browsers, I do not use Safari.

I don't understand why chromium browsers decided to have these experimental features turned on as defaults. I hope this helps.

Hey Zahradawood25,

Thanks for that additional information. Because of the nature of this, it could be an issue with settings or software interfering on the Mac. We'd recommend setting up a new user account on the Mac for testing purposes, as this can help isolate if this is the cause of the issue. The steps to do this are under "add account" here: Change Users & Groups settings on Mac - Apple Support. If it doesn't happen in the test user account, it will let us know that issue could be caused by a third-party program or certain settings on the main user account. 

Keep us updated!

very similar problem. volume control on mac is very inconsistent from having no effect up or down to jumping to max volume when trying to adjust down. i have traced it to blutooth. if i direct connect a headset to my mac mini everything works fine. if i use same headset on blutooth i get the problems. tested with a speaker that i can use either way and again fails on blutooth. VLC and similar uses....volume control from within program works fine (blutooth connected) but the mac volume control does not (blutooth connected) NOTE: this only happened after recent macos updates.

So, the situation resolved itself when I updated Chrome. It doesn’t update automatically.

Solution for me!

Hi, Zahradawood25

I had the same issue, my headset was plugged in. (I even quit 3rd party apps but it didn't work) Then I moved the headset away which solved the issue. I tried this while I am reading this whole discussion. And right now it is not a problem for me.

I cannot find any problem on the headset. What is more annoying is that this headset of mine is not one of those normal cheap ones (like $1), but a 30-dollar gaming KAKUSIGA headset. Additionally, I am using an adapter wire, which was not included with the headset, to unify microphone and speaker wires to plug them into one single port on my Macbook Pro 15.

[Edit]

I tried restarting the device, which helped me. There is no this kind of problem now.

Any solution yet?

Do you have an external keyboard connected to your MacBook Pro?

Not certain yet but in my case it seems the culprit for the phantom volume changes may have been the volume dial on the edge of my external keyboard.

For me, this seems related to bluetooth audio devices. Whenever I have a non-apple bluetooth audio device hooked up it happens. It doesn't happen with airpods or homepods etc, but a logitech bluetooth speaker and a sonos it does.

I don't have a way to fix this, but I do have this workaround for the big volume increases that might be of use to others. Whenever I listen to something - say a YouTube video - I always put the volume bar on the actual YouTube video right down to around 10%, and then put the volume on my MacBook up to full, and this combination leads to a normal volume. That way if whatever it is goes wrong, it can't turn up the volume further on my MacBook because it's already on full, and whatever it is that goes wrong is affecting the MacBook volume and not the YouTube volume bar, so that stays the same.

Not an ultimate solution to whatever is going wrong, and this doesn't prevent it from sometimes going really quiet, but it does prevent the worst effect, which is listening to something and then suddenly having the volume go insanely loud.

Hey Zahradawood25,

We'd recommend reviewing this article for options on adjusting volume on your Mac: Turn your Mac volume up or down - Apple Support

1. "To change the volume on your Mac, click the Sound control  in the menu bar or Control Center, then drag the slider to adjust the volume (or use the Control Strip).
2. If the Sound control isn’t in the menu bar, choose Apple menu  > System Settings, then click Control Center  in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.) Click the pop-up menu next to Sound on the right, then choose whether to show Sound in the menu bar all the time or only when it’s active."

If that doesn't help, you may want to provide additional information about the situation.

When you say voice volume, are you referring to volume coming from a specific app? If so, which app?

Thanks!

I have a similar problem on the 2018 Mac Mini. Yesterday, all my audio troubles seemed so far away. Now it seems they are here to stay.

My audio typically comes from the speakers on my display, which is the old Apple Thunderbolt Display and for speakers in a display, it actually sounds quite good. Have had this setup for 5 years. No problems.

Now, nothing I've tried--adjustments in System Settings, keyboard, etc. seem to improve the audio and I can barely hear it. Literally, yesterday it was fine. Today, not so much.

This is driving me mad. I have volume at a comfortable level and then something like a video in a webpage etc will play and it will jump my volume way up and blast me. I can't see anywhere to solve this.

This isn't a minor issue, I'm on the verge of dumping this mac over it. I get blasted at high volume so often I'm abouve to punch this thing. Why is this so hard to solve, why is it happening in the first place, why we apple let any part of the system just crank the volume like this? maddening.

Please help me with this sir….even I’m having same prblm with my macbook air 2017…started this prblm 2 weeks before..im using chrome from last 4 years but never faced such issue PLEASE HELP! I have also reset my sound by option+command+P+R but after sometime again it starts

Can you guide me with this step if u r sure that chrome is affecting in automatic reducing my system volume…im facing this issue from last 2 weeks….I have also reset my sound by option+command+P+R but after sometime again it starts

I'm having this same issue. I added a test user account and the issue still occurs. Any other ideas?