Keyboard Shortcut to Control Volume Globally in Windows 7, Vista, XP

Unless we have a multimedia keyboard, we have to access the volume icon on the tray whenever we want to decrease, increase or mute the volume. Your music player program has probably been equipped with some keyboard shortcut support that allows users to control volume locally, but after you close the player, the only fast way available to control the volume in Windows is by accessing the volume tray icon.

To control volume globally with keyboard shortcut keys, download 3RVX and, optionally, remove the original volume icon from the tray to avoid confusion between the two. After installation, a new skinnable volume icon is added to tray. Right-click it, select “Settings” and open the “Hotkey Setup” tab. You can view, delete, modify and add hotkeys within.

The default keyboard shortcut keys to control volume:

• Win + MouseWheelDown = decrease volume
• Win + MouseWheelUp = increase volume
• Win + MouseMiddle = mute volume

When you press a hotkey to raise or lower the volume, a skinnable stylish volume bar appears on the screen. You can change the skin from the “Settings” menu–open the “skin chooser” tab. The volume icon skin also changes accordingly when you change the on-screen volume skin. Note that you can also customize the location of where the on-screen volume should be displayed.

3RVX is a freeware that works with Windows 7, Vista and XP.