Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Turning Off a Startup Sound.

Turning Off a Startup Sound

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 4, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Oliver is bothered by the sound that is played every time Word is started. He wants to turn the sound off, but is unclear on how to do this.

Believe it or not, the startup sound is not controlled from within Word, but from Windows itself. You need to start the Control Panel and then double-click the Sound applet (on some versions of Windows the applet may have a similar name, such as Sounds and Audio Devices). The control you want is on the Sounds tab of the resulting dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Sounds tab of the Sound applet.

Using the scrollable Program list, find the Open Program event. Click once on it, and then change the Sounds drop-down list to None. When you click on OK, your change is saved and you should not hear a sound when you next start Word—or any other Windows program, for that matter.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (440) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Turning Off a Startup Sound.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Changing Hyperlink Display Text

A hyperlink consists, at a minimum, of display text and a target address. Word provides multiple ways you can make ...

Discover More

Appending to a Non-Excel Text File

Does your macro need to add information to the end of a text file? This is called appending and is done using the ...

Discover More

Using a Single-Column Heading in a Multi-Column Layout

Want different numbers of columns all on the same page? Word makes it easy to use, for instance, a heading that uses a ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2021 or Microsoft 365. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word Step by Step today!

More WordTips (menu)

Editing a Toolbar Button Image

You already know that Word allows you to customize the tools on your toolbars. You may not have known that it also allows ...

Discover More

Automatically Saving Changes to Defaults

Have you ever started a new document only to find that the settings in Word seem to be different than what you expected? ...

Discover More

Getting Audible Feedback

You can add a bit of sound to your editing tasks by turning on Word's sound capabilities. This tip shows where this ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is two minus 0?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.