Volume Keys

Volume Keys is a Windows application that can be used by those who don't have multimedia keyboards and wish to easily control the system volume using hotkeys. It's a small-sized tool that can be quickly installed and doesn't have any software dependencies. After setup, it gets integrated into the systray where it silently runs.

It also brings up the configuration panel to show the hotkeys defined for volume up (F9), volume down (F8) and mute (F10). A volume indicator is shown on the upper-left corner of the screen every time you make volume adjustments using this app, even if you're working in fullscreen programs.

If you prefer using these functional keys for something else, you can change the default keyboard shortcuts from the options panel, which can be opened from the right-click menu of the systray icon. Worth noting is that you can set a combination of up to four keys for each command.

By default, the tool automatically runs every time you turn on the computer and starts minimized to the systray. However, you can disable both these options as well as pick the on-screen display color and adjust the volume step when increasing and decreasing it, or deactivate the on-screen indicator.

If the volume was previously muted, you can allow or prevent the application for unmuting it when increasing or decreasing it, depending on your preference. The interface theme can be modified too, along with the interface language and audio output device. You can also deactivate Volume Keys from the systray instead of shutting it down.

The application worked smoothly on Windows 10 in our tests, running on a low amount of system resources. It had a good response time to volume adjustment commands.

Taking everything into account, Volume Keys proves to be a practical software solution for users who don't have a multimedia keyboard and welcome the idea of configuring keys or key combinations to effortlessly control the system volume.