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DrYeet
User level: Level 1 (101 points)

Alarm ringing out of nowhere when I open my mac's lid?

On my mac I have an alarm ringing out of nowhere. It started when I opened the lid just now. There is no notification from the clock app so I can't stop it. I tried turning off my alarms one by one to see if it's one of them but the sound was still playing. I tried quitting the clock app but the sound is still playing. This issue has occurred a few times in the past and I want to settle it for good. If an alarm is ringing out of nowhere, how do I stop it?

Posted on Sep 15, 2026 10:03 PM

2 replies

WheelieNick
User level: Level 9 (74,110 points)

Sep 17, 2026 3:28 AM in response to DrYeet

To stop a ghost or hidden alarm sound immediately when the Clock app or notification fails to show up, force quit the Notification Center via Activity Monitor. 


Open Activity Monitor (press Cmd + Space, type "Activity Monitor", and hit Enter).

Type notification into the search bar in the top-right corner.

Select NotificationCenter from the list.

Click the Stop (X) button in the top toolbar.

Choose Force Quit. This restarts the notification process and kills the looping audio instantly.

DrYeet Author
User level: Level 1 (101 points)

Sep 21, 2026 12:18 AM in response to WheelieNick

Nice solution, thanks.

Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256357814