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Is there a way of allowing a selected application (that is trying to output sound), to only be able to output when no other applications are outputting sound?

Usecase scenario

Some people listen to ambient music while on the computer (e.g. while surfing or coding). When watching or listening to something else, there is therefore a need to turn off the ambient music, turn on the media that is to be consumed, and when done, turn the ambient music back on.

It would be great to be able to select an application in the Windows 10 Volume Mixer, let's say, and only allow that application to output when no other applications are active. This would remove the need to turn the ambient music player on and off, repeatedly. Is this possible?

I'd be open to using a broad number of tools (Powershell, WSL, .NET, Python, VB-Audio software, other third party applications etc).

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The most you can do in Windows is disallow applications taking exclusive control of the audio device, then use the Volume Mixer to mute the applications you don't want to hear.

To disable applications taking exclusive control of the audio device :

  • Open PC Settings > System > Sound
  • At the bottom of the page, click "App Volume And Device Preferences"
  • Click on the Playback tab
  • Select your sound device
  • Click on Properties
  • Go to the Advanced tab
  • Uncheck the options of "Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device" and "Give exclusive mode applications priority"
  • Click OK

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  • Why do you need to disable Exclusive Mode? Couldn't you just mute/unmute applications no matter the Exclusive Mode settings? Also, if I'd understood you correctly, this would still require one to manually mute/unmute every time (with the difference being that this done through the Volume Mixer instead of going to each application's play/pause/mute button)?
    – Lucubrator
    Commented Nov 2, 2018 at 11:27
  • Disabling Exclusive Mode is because otherwise other players might give an error and terminate if they cannot access the sound device. This solution gives unique control through the Volume Mixer instead of passing through the playing applications. This might be easier, depending on your personal preferences.
    – harrymc
    Commented Nov 2, 2018 at 11:36

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