volctl is a lightweight per-application volume controller for Linux desktops. It combines a system tray control, mixer popup and on-screen display, keeping common volume adjustments available without opening a full audio configuration utility.
The mixer can control the main volume as well as individual applications. Each application can be identified by its name and icon, muted independently and monitored with a VU meter. Mouse-wheel support makes fast adjustments possible directly from the desktop.
The current implementation is written in Rust and supports both X11 and Wayland. Its tray integration uses the StatusNotifierItem mechanism, while the on-screen display can continue to provide useful feedback when a compatible tray host is unavailable.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Control the main system volume.
- Adjust individual application volumes.
- Mute applications independently.
- Display application names and icons.
- Per-application VU meters.
- Popup graphical mixer.
- Mouse-wheel volume control.
- On-screen volume display.
- StatusNotifierItem tray integration.
- Supports X11 and Wayland.
Website: github.com/buzz/volctl
Support:
Developer: buzz
License: GNU General Public License v3.0
volctl is written in Rust. Learn Rust with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Graphical Volume Mixers | |
|---|---|
| pwvucontrol | Pipewire volume control |
| KMix | Sound mixer |
| deej | Hardware volume mixer |
| Myxer | Lightweight, powerful volume mixer built with modern UI design |
| pavucontrol | Simple GTK based volume control tool |
| Mixxc | GTK4-based volume mixer |
| xfce4-mixer | Volume control application based on GStreamer |
| QasTools | Collection of Qt-based mixer and setup tools |
| pavucontrol-qt | Pulseaudio mixer in Qt |
| Mixer | No-frills volume mixer |
| wmsmixer | Hack to wmmixer |
| wmmixer | Mixer application designed for WindowMaker |
| Retrovol | Retro-looking volume setting program |
| hyprmixer | Volume mixer and media controller |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
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