Windows 11 will introduce a new and improved audio mixer that will allow users to adjust the volume and select the audio source directly from the taskbar. The updated unit mixer was officially introduced as part of the new prebuild 25309 available to testers on the Windows 11 Insider Dev channel.

At launch, the updated mixer will be located in the Quick Settings panel on the Windows taskbar and can be accessed by clicking the volume icon. Microsoft has also added a new Windows keyboard shortcut (Win+Ctrl+V) to open Mixer directly. The mixer allows users to quickly switch between audio outputs (headphones, speakers, etc.), as well as adjust the volume of programs and switch between surround sound technologies such as Windows Sonic and Dolby Atmos.

Even before Microsoft’s official confirmation, this feature was discovered in a test build of Windows 11. There is no exact information about the general release date of the Windows 11 audio mixer yet.