Customizing Messenger to Work for You
| Setting Messenger Preferences | Changing Messenger’s Window Colors | Controlling Alerts and Sounds |
Controlling Alerts and Sounds in Yahoo! Messenger
Note: The alerts and sounds described here are seen and heard
while using the Yahoo! Messenger client only. For example, you can set
an alert to let you know when you receive an email message. This
alert occurs only if you’re signed into Messenger. If you’re signed
into Yahoo! Mail and not Messenger, the alert will not occur when
an email arrives in your Mail folder.
If you’re new to Messenger, take a look at the Introducing Yahoo! Messenger tutorial where you’ll
learn how to download, install, and launch the Messenger client.
As you use Messenger, you’ll most likely see alerts and hear sounds. For example, when a contact sends you an instant message or an email message, you might hear a sound, or when a contact signs into Messenger, you might hear a sound and see a small window telling you that the contact is online. We’ve included lots of alerts and sounds to let you know when things happen. You can control these through the Messenger Preferences window.
Here’s How
Open the Messenger Preferences window by selecting Preferences from the Messenger menu in the main Yahoo! Messenger window.
In the Preferences window, select the Alerts & Sounds category on the left.
On the right side of the Preferences window, check Enable alert sounds (it’s checked by default), then select an event from the Alert me when list.
The area below the event list updates to show the possible alerts and sounds that you can set for the selected event.
In the area below the list, check the alert options you would like Yahoo! Messenger to employ when the event occurs.
Tips:
Many events have alerts and sounds enabled by default. If you don’t want to be alerted to a particular event, select the event, and then uncheck each box in the Alert me by section.
To change a sound, click the Browse button
and select from the list of available
sounds. To hear the displayed sound, click the Play button 
. This is the sound you will hear when
the event occurs.Click the OK button.
You’ll see alerts and hear sounds for all the events you have enabled when the events occur.
What’s Next
Don’t like all the movement and noise? You can turn off all alerts by unchecking Enable alert sounds. If you want some alerts, but not all, keep Enable alert sounds checked, and then uncheck the alert options for specific events.
Words to Know
- Contact: a person with whom you interact; someone to whom you might want to send an email, instant message, or text message.
- Instant messaging: the ability to exchange messages in real time with other people over the Internet.