Click the Audio button on the Readable Toolbar to open macOS Audio accessibility settings, or find them at System Settings → Accessibility → Audio.

Readable Toolbar for Mac showing the Audio Settings toolbar button

Background sounds

macOS includes a selection of built-in ambient background sounds — such as rain, ocean, stream, or white noise — that play while you work. These are designed to help with sound management, concentration, and focus, particularly useful while studying or working in a distracting environment.

macOS Audio settings showing the Background Sounds selector with sound options macOS Background Sounds panel showing available sound categories and download options macOS Audio settings showing the Background Sounds toggle and volume slider

Enabling background sounds

  1. Open System Settings → Accessibility → Audio.
  2. Enable Background Sounds.
  3. Choose a sound from the selector dropdown.
  4. Adjust the background sound volume using the slider — this is independent of your system volume.

Downloading additional sounds

Additional background sound categories are available to download. In the Background Sounds panel, click a sound category to preview it, then download additional options as needed.

Background sounds continue to play even when the system volume is lowered — they use a separate audio channel. The dedicated volume slider in Background Sounds settings lets you set a comfortable level that does not interfere with speech, video, or other audio.