With the end of Windows 7 and the migration to Windows 10, users are looking for ways to make the experience of this new operating system as familiar as possible. This often involves getting rid of the modern elements that Microsoft added in Windows 10 to simplify its use and make it a user-friendly environment similar to that found in Windows 7. Re-enabling Windows startup sound is one way to achieve that, as this feature is disabled by default in Windows 10 – for unknown reasons. But fortunately, it’s easy to re-enable the startup sound from the settings, let me tell you the steps below.
What you need to know initially is that Microsoft has removed some of the sound effects that you can configure in Windows 10. As part of the transition process that the company is now imposing from Control Panel to Settings app, some settings are gradually being migrated to the modern app. But this is happening gradually with each new major update to Windows 10, as there are still other settings in Control Panel as of the time of this writing, and Microsoft has not announced anything regarding the exact date of completely replacing the old Control Panel with the new Settings app.
In any case, in order to activate the Windows startup sound, you still need to resort to the classic Control Panel, as it is the home of sound settings so far.
Therefore, all you need to do first is open the Settings app in Windows 10 either through the Start menu or by pressing the (Win) + (H) keys simultaneously on the keyboard, then go to the System section and select Sound from the left sidebar menu, then scroll down the page and click on “Sound Control Panel” as shown in the image above. You can also use another method to access sound settings in Windows 10 by pressing the (Win) + (R) keys together on the keyboard to open the Run window and then type the command “control mmsys.cpl sounds” and press Enter.
In the Sound window that appears, go to the “Sounds” tab and then check the box next to the option called “Play Windows Startup sound” and then click OK to save the changes. From now on, whenever you start your computer or laptop, you will hear the familiar Windows startup sound; the same sound that was in Windows 7.
Unfortunately, Microsoft does not provide an easy way to change the Windows 10 startup sound, and while there are many ways to do so, most users may just stick with the default sound without any additional modifications. But if it’s important to you, you can download the WinAero Tweaker tool on your device, as it has an option to change the startup sound to any other sound of your choice.
It’s worth noting that the method outlined here also works in the 1909 version of Windows 10 (November 2019 update). It is likely that the option to enable the Windows startup sound will be moved to the Settings app at some point in the future, especially since it does not require any other customization options. In other words, expect a simple option to appear in the “Sounds” section in the “Settings” app later, allowing new users to activate the feature a little faster.
