Unable to remove monitor as sound device on MacBook Air

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Level 1

10 points

Unable to remove monitor as sound device on MacBook Air

I have a new MacBook Air, running Sequoia 15.5. With my external monitor connected, I do not receive sound notifications from applications like Slack. If I disconnect my monitor, works fine.

I see the monitor as a sound device in Audio Midi Setup but cannot delete it. There is nothing in my /library/audio/hal folder either.

Monitor is a Samsung model. Tried Dell Monitor, same issue.

Any suggestions?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 15.5

Posted on Jul 29, 2025 12:22 PM

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Answer 1

rjpkfp Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 1, 2025 11:50 AM in response to rjpkfp

Thank you for trying to help me. I called Apple Support and they resolved it. There's a setting in Notifications to allow notifications when mirroring or sharing the display. This is OFF by default. Turned it on and all my notifications are working.

Thanks again for trying!

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Answer 2

Aug 1, 2025 07:02 AM in response to rjpkfp

If the system recognizes a connected audio output as a valid destination, it cannot be deleted from the list. As long as your MacBook Air Speakers are selected as the output in the pull-down from the Sound menu bar item or in System Settings > Sound, alerts should play over the internal speakers. This works for me even in clamshell mode.

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Answer 3

Aug 1, 2025 09:03 AM in response to rjpkfp

That is odd. Slack, in particular, has a long list of notifications settings in the app itself (including one, Use different settings for my mobile devices). Not sure if you've fiddled around in there, and/or if it's more than just Slack.

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Answer 4

rjpkfp Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 1, 2025 10:48 AM in response to neuroanatomist

I've looked at all of those settings. Nothing works. No notifications from Outlook either. Only solution is to disconnect my monitor - not a solution at all. I might by a VGA cable for the monitor and deal with whatever that causes.

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Answer 5

Aug 1, 2025 10:52 AM in response to rjpkfp

Random thought, but are the alert sounds going to the display? I've had my sound output set to my Thunderbolt-connected LG display on which I normally keep the volume off and not heard alerts until I turned up the volume using the controls on the display (the Mac controls do nothing).

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