Launched this week
CapslockMute
The fastest way to mute yourself on video calls
139 followers
The fastest way to mute yourself on video calls
139 followers
A Mac utility to remap Caps Lock to the mute shortcut for Zoom, Teams, and Tandem. Because CapsLock is a large key and at your finger tips, it's much faster than clicking a button or pressing a combination of keys. It truly makes muting/unmuting muscle memory.
Product Hunt
I had this idea when I was building @Tandem (a virtual office for remote teams) and saw how awkward it can be when someone can't mute themselves. We built the ability to mute a teammate, but I thought it would be even better if mute/unmute could become muscle memory...so I remapped caps lock to mute via @Karabiner .
It quickly became one of my favorite hacks - I think it's because Caps Lock is a large key, so it's much quicker to press than a combination of keys. Yay Fitts' Law!
When I got a new laptop and my Karabiner setup broke, I missed it so much I built a dedicated app - now others can use it!
I added a meeting app selector so you can change the keyboard shortcut to work with other meeting software.
I find myself using it all the time!
- About to sneeze? -> Hit caps lock to mute.
- Want to dictate a note via @Aqua Voice while on a call? -> Hit caps lock to mute
- Child throwing a tantrum? -> Hit caps lock to mute
- Loud car horns near your house? -> Hit caps lock to mute
Remapping mute to caps lock is more satisfying than:
- backing into a parking space
- changing your keyboard layout to Dvorak
- customizing launcher shortcuts in @Raycast
It's absolutely crazy that laptops are still shipped with a Caps Lock key and not a mute toggle, given how much time most of us spend on video calls. If anybody knows a way to remap the LED to your mute state, that would be even better, but as far as I can tell, it's not possible on MacOS.
@rajiv_ayyangar That's a cool app, Rajiv! I'll give it a shot in my next Google Meet.
Right now, though, my setup uses a mic with a physical button that mutes me silently without any on-screen indicator. I just press to mute and unmute when I need to speak.
I recall Gabe (or someone else on Product Hunt) was building a Mac app to do exactly that; hide the mute status. Was that you, @gabe?
Product Hunt
@gabe @rohanrecommends what do you mean by "hide the mute status"? I think it's actually important that other people see you're muted. It signals something useful in a collaborative meeting.
A physical button definitely seems like the way to go, but since most people can't be bothered to buy and set up a physical button, my hope is that Caps Lock provides a lot of the same benefits!
@gabe @rajiv_ayyangar The Caps Lock one-click mute feature is amazing!
I got a physical mute button because it was tough to quickly find the Google Meet tab, especially while screen-sharing with too many tabs open, and then mute/unmute myself.
In some meetings, when I muted myself, others thought I was passively listening or checking out. The visual indicator that I'm still engaged, without actually speaking, was perfect! It's great for scenarios like podcasts too: I stay muted until it's my turn to speak.
Living in Mumbai means constant traffic noise outside (unless I travel to my studio for every call), you never know when a honk will blast. This setup suppresses background noise without signaling that I'm muted, so people know I'm 100% present.
I recently discovered @Krisp as an excellent background remover for those who prefer not to mute constantly when not speaking. I only unmute when I'm actually talking.
There
@rajiv_ayyangar It reminded me of when I built it for Noor: https://x.com/morajabi/status/1739291208512340363?s=20
And it is possible to light up the LED, if you need it I can find the code and send it over on Twitter DMs.
Product Hunt
@morajabi LOVE that you built this - would love the code for the LED 🙏
minimalist phone: creating folders
The real struggle happens when you forget that you muted yourself and talk for one minute muted :D 😅
Product Hunt
@busmark_w_nika That's such a real thing. In Tandem, we popped up a notification telling you you're muted, but users don't always see that. Also, sometimes the person is intentionally muted and talking to somebody off camera, and the notification is unnecessary or even annoying. It's a hard UX problem, certainly!
Product Hunt
LOVE THIS! Congrats on the launch :)
I actually built something similar a while back but never launched it (I was trying to get too fancy with it). I love your approach of making it software specific vs trying to tackle it all at once.
@rajiv_ayyangar can you share a bit more on what you mean about remapping the LED to your mute state? Do you mean the caps lock LED light?
Product Hunt
@gabe Super interesting. I didn't want to do mute at the system level because then it's not reflected in the video chat app, and other people can't see if you're muted or not. It can lead to some awkward situations, but there are certainly advantages to doing it at the system level.
As for menu bar vs keyboard shortcuts, menu bar always felt way too slow for me. Although it is a lot faster than hunting for a button. If you think about it, since you can "slam" your mouse into the top of the screen, the effective menu bar size is a lot larger than the pixels would suggest... Still, if you calculate out Fitt's Law, I think the Capslock key is significantly faster and easier.
What I mean by the LED is it would be awesome if green meant your mic is hot and no light meant you're on mute, but it's really difficult to map the LED to anything but the Caps Lock state. MacOS makes this, as far as I can tell, impossible.
Product Hunt
@rajiv_ayyangar Yeah, I totally feel the Keyboard shortcut. (the one I built has that too) but I reeallly dig the BIG button approach.
Like the caps lock is right there and not often utilized.
How often are you typing when muted/during calls? I wonder if you could tie the caps lock state with the mute state for a bandaid solution on the LED status.
Product Hunt Wrapped 2025
Finally a real job for Caps Lock. I always miss the Zoom mute combo when the dog barks. Big key = easy. Going to try this. If you ever hack the LED to match mute state, that’d be perfect.
@alexcloudstar Same here. Keyboard shortcuts sound nice, but in real calls I always forget them. One key is much easier to trust
Product Hunt
@alexcloudstar yeah I'm going to get some help from Mo who also commented on this thread!
Hey, my coworkers are going to be jealous because I can finally mute without looking down or fumbling with a keyboard shortcut.
Product Hunt
@jonathan_prime they should totally be jealous. You've ascended to a new plane of virtual meeting existence 😂
Product Hunt
@programator Would love to know your thoughts after using it for the first time. Which meeting software do you usually use?
@rajiv_ayyangar I primarily use Meet on Firefox. I just installed CapslockMute and it didn't quite work, but I also didn't see Meet mentioned much on the product description. I will give it a shot on Zoom, I am even a worse unmuter on that app lmao.
Triforce Todos
Honestly shocked laptops still don’t ship like this by default. We spend more time on calls than typing in ALL CAPS anyway. This just makes sense. @rajiv_ayyangar
Product Hunt
@abod_rehman paging tim cook.... :) Yeah I agree.