Enable or disable the new email sound in Windows Mail

By default, Windows Vista comes with a predefined "new mail sound": any email application that is configured to take advantage of this feature will play that particular sound file when new email messages are detected, and downloaded from server. This includes, among others, Microsoft Outlook and Windows Mail. But, regardless of your new mail sound setting, you can customize Windows Mail not to play the new mail sound, in which case it will remain silent even as new emails are downloaded on your computer.

Disable the new mail sound in Windows Mail

Disabling the new emails sound in Windows Mail is very easy:

Once inside Windows Mail, click on the Tools menu
Choose "Options"
Windows Mail will open its Options dialog
Make sure that the General tab is selected (it is by default)
Look under the second section, labeled "Send / Receive Messages"
The first checkbox in that group of settings reads a "Play sound when a new messages arrive"; this is the option that determines what Windows Mail will do when new emails arrive: if that checkbox is checked, it will play Windows' new mail sound - if not, it will remain silent, and just download new email messages without much fanfare.
To disable the new mail sound, uncheck that checkbox and click OK
You are now back inside Windows Mail, and the new setting takes effect immediately.
The next time a batch of new email messages are being downloaded from the server, you will not hear anything. This setting is persistent, and will be remembered next time you open Windows Mail.

You can configure the new mail sound to play a WAV audio file of your choice: learn how to customize the new mail sound in Windows Vista. For more tips and information on the operating system itself, please see our Windows Vista tutorial.

Enable the new mail sound in Windows Mail

Just follow the previous steps in reverse to re-enable the new mail sound:

Click on the Tools menu, and choose "Options"
Make sure that the General is selected
Check the "Play sound when of new messages arrive" checkbox
Click on the OK button to apply the change
You have just re-enabled to the new mail sound in Windows Mail! When the next group of new emails will be downloaded from the mail server, you will hear the familiar new mail sound Windows is a set to play for a new email messages.

You have learned how to enable or disable the new mail sound in Windows Mail!

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