How to Turn Ringer Off on MacBook – 4 Easy Methods [2024]

Apple is known for its tightly knit device ecosystem, where it can sometimes be easy to overlook the seamless functionality between its devices. This as an example, includes the ability to take calls and messages from your iPhone on your Mac. However, you might not always want this, or you may find it annoying at times.

In such cases, you do have the option to simply turn off the ringer on your Mac, and this guide will go into detail to explain the steps to do just that.

What is Ringer on MacBook?

The term “Ringer” is generally used when referring to Apple devices, although its meaning and functionality aren’t specifically limited to a single device or product. Essentially, it is a switch or toggle that plays a sound or vibration to alert you of any incoming calls or notifications.

In simple terms, if the ringer is on, it will play a sound when you receive a call, notification, or message, and will remain silent when turned off. In the latter scenario, all notifications will be delivered silently.

READ MORE: Troubleshoot iPhone Alarm Issues: How to Fix a Silent Alarm Issue ➜

↪ Continuity in Apple Devices

In the Apple ecosystem, if you sign in with the same Apple ID on all your devices, you have the option to use Continuity features, which include but are not limited to wirelessly sending documents, files, images, and more to a nearby Apple device.

Continuity extends your workflow by allowing you to share your screen, universally control another device (such as using your MacBook trackpad to control an iPad), or even unlock a Mac with your Apple Watch.

In the same way, you also have the option to recieve or make calls from your MacBook using the same network as your iPhone. When this happens any call that you recieve on your iPhone will ring on your Mac, thus the term ringer is used for Mac devices here. Keep in mind that a Mac doesn’t have a dedicated ringer of its own and the term in generally limited to iPhone and iPad devices.

READ MORE: iPhone Continuity Camera Not Working? Try these Fixes ➜

How to Turn Ringer off on MacBook?

The procedures below will outline multiple ways to silence calls, messages and other notifications separately and collectively on your MacBook. These will be segregated into:

1. Call Notifications
2. Messages
3. All Notifications and Audio

1. Silencing Call Notifications

To silence the ringer on your MacBook for calls routed through Continuity (from your iPhone), you’ll need to focus on FaceTime settings, since all such call notifications come through the FaceTime app.

Method 1: Silencing FaceTime Notifications on Mac

Silencing notifications for FaceTime will prevent your MacBook from ringing or alerting you of incoming calls forwarded from your iPhone. Here’s how you can do that:

1. Open System Settings. (Click on Apple menu  > System Settings)

   

2. Click on Notifications and find “FaceTime.”

   

3. Click on FaceTime and toggle off “Allow Notifications.”

   

4. All notifications from FaceTime will be silenced.

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Method 2: Disable Call Routing to Mac from iPhone

Since disabling all FaceTime notifications on Mac will stop any sorts of alerts from the app, you can turn off Continuity features for calls solely via the iPhone itself. Here’s how you can do that:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Scroll down and tap on “Phone.”
3. Tap on “Calls on Other Devices.”
4. From here, turn the toggle off for any devices you don’t want your calls routed to.

2. Turning off Message Notifications

Turning off the ringer on your MacBook for your Messages will silence any incoming messages either using cellular connectivity or iMessage.

Method 1: Silencing “Messages” App Notifications on Mac

To block notifications for any incoming texts on your Mac, you’ll need to turn off notifications for the Messages app. Here’s how you can do that:

1. Open System Settings. (Click on Apple menu  > System Settings)

   

2. Click on Notifications and find “Messages.”

   

3. Click on Messages and toggle off “Allow Notifications.”

   

4. All notifications from Messages will be silenced.

READ MORE: How to Turn Off iMessage Notifications on Mac ➜

Method 2: Signing into a Different Apple ID

To silence all sorts of notifications from your Mac without explicitly turning off notifications for any app, you can simply choose to use a different Apple ID, if you have one. However, this isn’t recommended as your data, such as contacts, photos, and notes, won’t be automatically synced between devices with different Apple IDs.

Not only that, but any purchases that you make on one of your Apple IDs won’t be reflected on the other. Apple’s ecosystem is designed to work seamlessly with a single account, and disrupting this can disturb your normal day-to-day workflow.

If you still wish to use separate accounts on different devices, Apple has a detailed guide that lays down the methodology for doing so.

READ MORE: How to Create Your Apple ID without Credit Card ➜

3. Silencing All Notifications (Calls, Messages & Audio)

If you want to completely mute all audio coming out of your MacBook and silence all sorts of notifications entirely, you will need to mute the audio on your device. Here’s how you can do it:

1. Open the Control Center.
2. Look for Sound section underneath the Display (Brightness) slider.
3. Turn the volume slider all the way to the left.

On older MacBook Pros with a Touch Bar, you can simply tap the Mute button to silence all audio and notifications.

Conclusion

Within the Apple ecosystem, Continuity allows you to switch seamlessly between your devices. Part of this is making or receiving calls from your iPhone on your MacBook. This feature is handled by FaceTime, and so, if you want to disable the ringer on your MacBook, simply disable notifications for FaceTime, or disable any sorts of call forwarding from your iPhone to other devices.