Gnome Linux Disable / Turn Off Hardware Beep Sound For Terminal

by Vivek Gite on September 6, 2006 · 16 comments

This beep sound is annoying under Linux, how do I disable it forever under Debian / Fedora / RHEL / Red Hat / Ubuntu Linux?

There are diffrent methods to disable / turn of beep under Linux (turn off terminal beep). Use any one of the following method as per your requirements.

Ubuntu Linux / Gnome Terminal

a) Open Gnome terminal

b) Click on Settings > Preferences > Silence Terminal Bell

Alternatively, Click on General Tab -> General -> Un-Check Terminal bell option

If you are using xterm

Open ~/.xsession file (i.e. /home/you/.xession)
$ cd
$ vi .xession

Append the following line:
xset b off
Save and close the file.

If you are using bash shell

Open you ~/.inputrc file (i.e. /home/you/.inputrc file
$ cd
$ vi .inputrc

Append following line:
set bell-style none

Save and close the file.

If you just want to turn off beep for VIM text editor

Open vim config file ~/.vimrc (i.e. /home/you/.vimrc)
$ cd
$ Vi .vimrc

Append following line
set vb

Save and close the file.

If you are using Ubuntu Linux

a) Click on Applications > Accessories > Terminal
b) Now click on Edit Menu > Current Profile
c) Click on General Tab > General > Remove check box (Terminal bell)

You can also remove the driver, enter:
$ sudo modprobe -r pcspkr
Append the following line to your /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist so that beep remains off after the system reboot:
blacklist pcspkr

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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Red November 9, 2007

in KDE konsole: Settings> Bell > None
Thanks.

Reply

2 Siraj January 30, 2011

In RHEL 5.0 Gnome Terminal:

Edit > Current Profile > (General Tab) Uncheck Terminal Bell

Thanks :)

Reply

3 Martin November 15, 2007

Great tip. Saved me a lot of headaches hehe

Reply

4 Peter February 1, 2008

Thank you for this tip to turn off the terminal beep. I used your bash shell suggestion, which worked perfectly after reboot. Thanks again!

Reply

5 Bethany June 25, 2008

I HAVE A CONSTENT BEEPING HOW DO I TURN IT OFF

Reply

6 Mehdi July 22, 2008

thanks dude, it saved me and my Co-workers :)
Cheers mate
Mehdi

Reply

7 David October 6, 2008

Thanks.

No need to reboot though. Opening a new terminal is sufficient.

David.

Reply

8 ted December 24, 2008

you have some of the names wrong for files and what you do exactly but it got me on the right track. thanks.

Reply

9 nano May 17, 2009

simple, clear and very useful
thanks

Reply

10 AHAPXUCT June 17, 2009

realy THANKS !

Reply

11 Alex June 20, 2009

Great!!!

Reply

12 martyn July 4, 2009

Great man, with every distro install I need to switch of the beep ….
The last section is also applicable for Fedora 11

Reply

13 Lintz February 13, 2010

setterm -blength 0
should work system wide on most if not even all distro’s

Reply

14 Shrisha August 24, 2010

To disbale the annoying beep in the opensuse 11.3 gnome terminal, Select edit > profiles > edit (the default profile) and uncheck the ‘Terminal Bell’ in the General tab.

Reply

15 jagadish May 31, 2011

thanks! for bash it worked great after reboot!!!!

Reply

16 Ashwin August 5, 2011

Thanks a lot!

The ‘Thang!’ was extremely irritating on GNome shell. I’ve now gotten rid of it.

Thanks

Reply

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