MAC
How to make a Mac flash the screen for alerts
In short
Open System Settings, click Accessibility, then Audio, and switch on Flash the screen when an alert sound occurs. The screen then flashes when you receive an alert, so you notice it with the sound off or without hearing it.
Alert sounds on a Mac play more quietly when you lower your Mac volume, and some people can't hear their alerts at all. A flash of the whole screen is a visible signal for the same moment, so you see it instead.
The screenshots show System Settings on macOS Tahoe 26.
3 of 3 steps show a real screenshot from our MacBook Pro.
Steps
- 1
Open System Settings
Click the Apple menu in the top left corner of the screen and choose System Settings.
- 2
Click Accessibility, then Audio
Accessibility is in the sidebar. Audio is the first row of the Hearing group on the right.
- 3
Switch on Flash the screen when an alert sound occurs
It is the first switch on the page. In the picture it is off.
If you do not see this option
- Audio is not under Hearing Apple lists it in the Hearing section of Accessibility. Scroll down the Accessibility page to find that group. Source: Accessibility features for hearing on Mac
If this does not work
- You also miss spoken words Apple suggests Live Captions, in the same Hearing section, for a transcription of audio.
- You want a sign when someone says your name Apple says Name Recognition in Accessibility can notify you when your name is called.
- The flash comes too rarely? The flash is tied to an alert sound. If a Focus is on, many notifications are silenced, so there is no sound and nothing to flash for. Apple says a Focus can pause and silence all notifications or allow only certain ones, so check which Focus is active and which apps it allows.
- Alerts come through the wrong speaker? Sound settings has a Play sound effects through menu. Apple says it lets you choose a sound output device to play sound effects. Pick the device you use.
- You hear alerts too faintly as well? Apple says alert volume is relative to the output volume of the Mac. If the main volume is low, alerts also play quietly. Raise Alert volume in Sound settings, or the main volume.
Good to know
The switch below it, Play stereo audio as mono, makes your Mac play stereo audio tracks as mono audio in the left and right speakers or headphones: how to play stereo sound as mono on a Mac.
Don't worry, nothing else changes when the flash is on. Sounds play as before and notifications look the same. To stop it, go back to Accessibility, Audio and switch it off.
If you would like to hear alerts better rather than see them, Apple's Headphone Accommodations, on the same Audio page, amplifies soft sounds and works with AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3. To choose a different alert or set its loudness, see how to change the alert sound and its volume on a Mac.
About this guide
- Device
- Mac
- Shown on
- macOS Tahoe 26 (MacBook Pro)
- App
- System Settings
- Path
- System Settings › Accessibility › Audio
- Real screenshots
- 3 of 3 steps
- Checked
- October 2026
- Sources
- 4 official, linked below
Sources
Links checked October 2026. Menus and features can change with updates.Did this guide work for you?
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