Adjust Volume On Surface Tablet

Ways to adjust the sound volume on your Surface tablet:

Keeping with my recent speaker theme, see post Surface.

I know that the you’ve all heard about the improvements to the sound on the Surface with each new version of the device released. And I know that you’ve by now figured out where your volume control button is – on the left, top side of the device – but did you know that there are several different ways to adjust your device volume?

Yep, there are.

But why would I want to? – you ask.

Well, there may be times when your volume button is not working or you are in a home office setup and the button is difficult to reach (or just too far away), or you are trying to adjust volume on your Surface tablet remotely during a presentation.

Take this example, for instance: Recently a friend of mine was doing a presentation and, in the middle of it, accidentally turned on the Microsoft Narrator on his Surface. The darn thing kept talking loudly to him, while everyone in the room stared. He was fumbling around trying to turn it on\off but couldn’t remember how to to do it ( by the way, Windows Key + Volume Up does the trick, see my post on Microsoft Narrator). So, he couldn’t get it to shut up while his audience was looking at him. If he had known how to mute the sound quickly, he would not have been so embarrassed.

So, you can adjust volume on your Surface in the following ways:

The volume control button on the left side of Surface
The Settings charm
Desktop volume settings
Surface Cover or other keyboard
Audio Accessories, like those wireless speakers I told you about
Some apps

Adjust Volume On Surface Tablet: Volume Control Button

You can obviously press the Volume Control Button, up or down, adjust the volume. With this button you can also take screen shots and even hard boot your device. You can also turn the Narrator on and off.

Adjust Volume On Surface Tablet: Settings Charm

Adjust Volume On Surface Tablet Charms menu

Press Windows Key + C or Swipe in from the right edge of the screen,
Tap or click Settings.
Tap or click the speaker icon and adjust the slider down or up.
Tap the small speaker icon (at top of volume slider) to mute.

Adjust Volume On Surface Tablet: Desktop settings

From the Start screen, tap Desktop
Tap the speaker icon on the task bar (lower right corner).
Adjust the volume control down or up.

Adjust Volume On Surface Tablet: Keyboard

If your Surface Type Cover or other keyboard has volume keys, you can press the volume-down, volume-up, or mute keys. Noticed that the Surface Pro 3 keyboard only has a volume mute key with no up/down keys. Other wireless keyboards will vary based on manufacture but many have volume controls.

In my home office, I use the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 with my docking station and it has nice volume control buttons.

Adjust Volume On Surface Tablet: Audio accessories

Adjust the volume on the headset, external speakers, or your phone (or other audio accessory). You may even be able to adjust the sound in the software included with the accessory. For example my external speakers have their own volume control and I can turn it on or off and control the volume level.