➡️ The Shortcut Skinny

• 🤫 Microsoft has revealed users will soon have the option to mute the Xbox’s startup sound

• 🙉 The console’s boot animation can often catch you off guard, as it’s comically loud

• 🔜 The option to disable the startup sound is currently being tested by Xbox Insiders in the Alpha ring

Has this ever happened to you? You boot up your Xbox Series X, and suddenly your ears are blown off by the console’s stupidly loud boot sound. Dogs start barking, car alarms go off, and babies cry in unison. All because you forgot to turn your TV or speaker’s volume down after watching a film on Netflix the night before.

This is an all too common occurrence for anyone who uses their Xbox Series X|S or Xbox One in Energy Saver Mode, which is highly recommended during the cost of living crisis. The console’s boot animation is lovely, don’t get me wrong, but the accompanying sound is completely unnecessary, especially as the Xbox’s console light clearly shows the console has been turned on.

Here’s the Xbox startup sound below. Turn your headphones up to max volume for the full effect. (Actually, don’t do that.)

Thankfully, Xbox users will soon be able to disable the ground-shaking sound that has a nasty habit of reverberating through your house late at night, as Microsoft is now testing an option to mute it.

Xbox Insiders in the Alpha ring can navigate to ‘Settings’ > ‘General’ > ‘Volume & audio output’ > ‘Additional options’ and disable it from there.

The new Alpha update will also let select users see the new Xbox Dashboard, which promises to make finding your favorite games and apps easier than before.

A new Xbox Series X update is out now, which brings a slew of changes, but we’ll have to wait a little longer before our ears are free of the notoriously loud Xbox boot sound.