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On new Macbook Pro, Power Chime runs. Whenever I delete from core services it comes right back. It makes a sound when plugging in your power cord even when the volume is at 0%.

The solution I have now to disable this annoying sound is an AppleScript application that runs on login to kill the process via terminal. Is there a better way?

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  • 1
    What's your address? I'll send you something. LOL Oh wait, maybe I should send it to Tetsujin? :)
    – Monomeeth ♦
    May 5, 2017 at 7:24
  • unfortunately idont think his solution works.
    – user7875084
    May 5, 2017 at 16:22
  • Has anyone tried to just delete the power chime app in the system files folder?
    – Jake
    Feb 16, 2018 at 18:31
  • OP, you should accept the answer below: apple.stackexchange.com/a/309947/190701
    – guyarad
    Mar 28, 2018 at 3:11
  • @Jake sudo rm: /System/Library/CoreServices/PowerChime.app/Contents/MacOS/PowerChime: Operation not permitted
    – John Jiang
    Jan 5, 2019 at 16:33

7 Answers 7

Reset to default
91

The solution is to set ChimeOnNoHardware to true instead of setting ChimeOnAllHardware to false (note, No instead of All):

defaults write com.apple.PowerChime ChimeOnNoHardware -bool true
killall PowerChime
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    Thank you. This what worked for me on high sierra.
    – SFbay007
    Mar 20, 2018 at 3:46
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    I tried this command and got this message: "No matching processes belonging to you were found"
    – Disco Danny
    Nov 7, 2018 at 4:32
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    ran this once and it works mostly, but the chime still goes off with the lid closed and the laptop locked/sleeping.
    – worc
    Feb 13, 2019 at 17:54
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    Works on Mojave, but yes the chime still goes off w/the lid closed. Also, just from testing this ~5 times I feel like the USB-C cable or port is likely to break in short order. Port is too tight & the cable is as flimsy as they always are from Apple. RIP Magsafe...
    – mc01
    Apr 9, 2019 at 17:26
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    Ditto @mc01 -- on Mojave the chime still goes off when the lid is closed. Does anyone have an updated solution?
    – Philip
    Jul 26, 2019 at 12:50
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Here's another solution since the others provided don't seem to be working for you. You can create an empty AIFF file to replace the default chime. The chime audio is located here:

/System/Library/CoreServices/PowerChime.app/Contents/Resources/connect_power.aif

I created an empty AIFF file using Adobe Audition. With SIP disabled, I backed up the original chime and replaced it with my new audio file:

sudo mv /System/Library/CoreServices/PowerChime.app/Contents/Resources/connect_power.aif /System/Library/CoreServices/PowerChime.app/Contents/Resources/connect_power.aif_bak
sudo mv ~/Desktop/null.aif /System/Library/CoreServices/PowerChime.app/Contents/Resources/connect_power.aif

Be sure to fix the permissions on the file:

sudo chown root:wheel /System/Library/CoreServices/PowerChime.app/Contents/Resources/connect_power.aif
sudo chmod 644 /System/Library/CoreServices/PowerChime.app/Contents/Resources/connect_power.aif

No more audio when connecting your power source.

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    Thanks a million this worked like a charm! I copied the AIF to the desktop, opened the file, muted it and then saved it. Disabled SIP and replaced it (I didn't use Terminal I just dragged and dropped), then ran those two permissions line commands and BOOM! No more power chime.
    – Disco Danny
    Feb 3, 2018 at 1:56
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    This stopped working after updating to OS 10.13.6! I looked at the AIF file and it is silent, so I have NO IDEA how it found that horrible sound again! Now I'm back to square one.
    – Disco Danny
    Nov 7, 2018 at 4:30
  • Ditto @DiscoDanny.
    – Philip
    Jul 26, 2019 at 12:50
  • Doesn't work with lid closed on Mojave.
    – minipif
    Aug 1, 2019 at 3:19
2

I'm using this simple tool on all MacBooks after 2015 to quickly switch PowerChime

https://git.io/nochime — runs through curl without installation, performs the desired job, nothing to add here.

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    Running a script directly from the internet (without verifying it's content first) has some risks though. Would recommend to at least install it locally and run it from there.
    – nohillside ♦
    Jul 16, 2021 at 13:54
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    @nohillside good point, I agree that local installation option for the precautious would be nice to have. Though anyway, it's open-source and easily readable. The exact address that is curled is also easy to check: git.io/powerchime.
    – Art Ginzburg
    Jul 16, 2021 at 14:11
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In case anyone wants my AppleScript I'm using to stop this:

tell application "System Events"
    delay 3
    set ProcessList to name of every process
    if "PowerChime" is in ProcessList then
        set ThePID to unix id of process "PowerChime"
        do shell script "kill -KILL " & ThePID
    end if
end tell

But really looking for another way. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

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1

None of the previous solutions worked for me. Here's how I permanently disabled the chime on a 2017 MacBook Pro running Catalina (10.15.6):

Disable System Integrity Protection (SIP)

  1. Shut down your computer.
  2. Hold down Command-R and press the power button. Keep holding them down until the Apple logo appears.
  3. Wait for OS X to boot into the OS X Utilities window.
  4. Choose Utilities > Terminal.
  5. Enter csrutil disable.
  6. Enter reboot (or otherwise reboot the computer).

[Source]

Delete the sound file

Upon rebooting, open a terminal, and do the following:

  1. Enter csrutil status to ensure you have disabled SIP. You should see:
System Integrity Protection status: disabled.
  1. Enter sudo rm /System/Library/CoreServices/PowerChime.app/Contents/Resources/connect_power.aif
  2. If prompted, confirm the operation.
  3. If you get an error that includes Read-only file system, enter sudo mount -uw /. This remounts the file system as read-write. Go back to step 2.

Reenable SIP

  1. Shut down your computer.
  2. Hold down Command-R and press the power button. Keep holding them down until the Apple logo appears.
  3. Wait for OS X to boot into the OS X Utilities window.
  4. Choose Utilities > Terminal.
  5. Enter csrutil enable.
  6. Enter reboot (or otherwise reboot the computer).
  7. After rebooting, verify that SIP is reenabled with the terminal command csrutil status.
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    I appreciate this and tried it after seeing a similar suggestion posted elsewhere, but, to my amazement, the damn thing still chimed even though I thought I had deleted the sound of the chime (including following the disable-delete-reenable scheme). Touché, Apple...
    – Philip
    Aug 15, 2020 at 23:48
  • @Philip Have you checked if /System/Library/CoreServices/PowerChime.app/Contents/Resources/connect_power.aif still exists?
    – Ellen Spertus
    Aug 16, 2020 at 17:52
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    I'm in the same boat as Philip - did the whole dance: ~$ afplay /System/Library/CoreServices/PowerChime.app/Contents/Resources/connect_power.aif Error: AudioFileOpen failed ('wht?') It still chimes. v10.15.6 (19G2021) / MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)
    – tjmcewan
    Sep 14, 2020 at 12:35
  • @tjmcewan That's weird. How about ls /System/Library/CoreServices/PowerChime.app/Contents/Resources/connect_power.aif?
    – Ellen Spertus
    Sep 15, 2020 at 17:57
  • Yah, sorry I wasn't clear, that file no longer exists. Looks like that file is no longer the source of the sound. The sound even plays when the machine is off & before I've unlocked the Filevault encryption.
    – tjmcewan
    Sep 17, 2020 at 11:50
0

Tested on MacBook Air - MacOS High Sierra

Open Terminal and 

sudo nvram SystemAudioVolume=%00

You’ll be asked to enter your password.

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    What does it do? Turn off all sound on a laptop? We do not want all to be OFF
    – Joe
    Jan 14, 2020 at 16:32
0

On Mojave you can do the following:

ps -eaf | grep Chime
  502 17070     1   0 10:48AM ??         0:00.24 /System/Library/CoreServices/PowerChime.app/Contents/MacOS/PowerChime
  502 17740 16102   0 10:50AM ttys002    0:00.00 grep --color=auto --exclude-dir=.bzr --exclude-dir=CVS --exclude-dir=.git --exclude-dir=.hg --exclude-dir=.svn --exclude-dir=.idea --exclude-dir=.tox Chime

Find the pid of the powerchime app in this case is 17070

then do a:

kill -9 17070

It'll start back up at startup but def kills the process while you're working.

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