Picture of the Google Home Mini smart speaker, factory default reset in progress, showing scanning bright white lights.

How to Set Volume on Google Home Mini

Shows How to Set Volume on Google Home Mini on this little but very smart speaker.  Here, we discuss all of them.

The methods you use depend on the app(s) you’re streaming from mainly.  But the speaker itself has two touch pads as well, for volume control on its left and right edges. Plus, you can set volume with the native Google Home app.  Finally, the Mini also sets loudness via voice commands.

Below, we show these basic ways, which you can do regardless of the app you’re streaming from.  But we do not delve into app-specific volume setting of the output device.  Why?  Because with so many apps that send audio, this post would quickly grow too big.  So, we’ll stick here with the basic volume setting methods here.

How to Set Volume on Google Home Mini: Step by Step

You can set the volume without using any apps, doing it as follows.

1. Position the speaker So That the USB Port is at the top (twelve o’clock)

See this orientation as shown next.

Picture of the Mini speaker, showing top view, with power cord at twelve o'clock.
The Mini speaker, showing top view, with power cord at twelve o’clock.

2. Set Volume by Tapping the Left and Right Edges of the Mini (nine o’clock and three o’clock)

This changes speaker volume.  The next picture shows the locations of these touch pad areas.  Find them in the same straight line formed by the four activity lights.

Tap the left edge of the speaker (nine o’clock) to lower the volume by ten percent.  Tap the right edge of the Mini Google speaker (three o’clock) to raise the volume by ten percent.

Picture of the Google Home Mini smart speaker, showing volume adjustment in progress. See the highlighted volume touch pads, in purple.
Google Home Mini smart speaker, showing volume adjustment in progress. See the highlighted volume touch pads, in purple.

If you need finer volume setting, use the Google Home app to set speaker volume, discussed below.

How to Set Volume on Google Home Mini: With Voice Commands

Google Home understands two scales for volume adjustment: 0-10 and 0-100 percent.  If you want to say a percent to set the volume, then add the word ‘percent’ to your request.  Example commands follow.

  • Hey Google, set volume 10 percent.
  • Hey Google, set volume 76 percent.
  • Okay Google, set volume 100 percent.

If you say the percent label, then 0 means lowest volume (muted) and 100 means max (full) volume.   But if you do not say the percent label, then the volume range is between 0 and 10.

  • Okay Google, set volume 5.  [Sets the volume to half, 50 percent of maximum.]
  • Hey Google, set volume 0.  [Sets the volume to minimum.]
  • Okay Google, set volume 10.  [Sets the volume to maximum, 100 percent]

There are also shortcut commands for minimum and maximum volume setting, as in:

  • Okay Google, mute.  [Sets the volume to zero percent, minimum, muted state.]
  • Hey Google, max.  [Sets speaker volume to maximum, 100 percent.]
  • Okay Google, set volume half.  [Sets volume to fifty percent, or half of full.]
  • Hey Google, volume full.  [Sets speaker volume to maximum, 100 percent.]
  • Okay Google, volume half.  [Sets volume to fifty percent, or half of full.]
  • Hey Google, volume minimum.  [Sets the volume to zero percent, minimum, muted state.]

How to Set Volume on Google Home Mini: With the Google Home App

In the Google Home app, which must have Wi-Fi access to your speaker, you can also set the speaker volume.  How?  By finding the speaker in the available Google devices list in the app.  Then, move the volume slider left and right, until you reach the volume level you wish.

Note that you can’t set speaker volume unless it is actually streaming / playing some media.  That is, you won’t see the volume control in the Google Home app unless streaming is in progress when you check for it.

To set the volume from within the Google Home app, follow the procedure given below.

1. Run the Google Home app

Find the app on your mobile device and tap its icon.

You should see its Home screen, as shown next.

Picture of the Home app on iOS, displaying its Home screen, with the hamburger menu control highlighted.
The Home app on iOS, showing its Home screen, with the hamburger menu control highlighted.

2. Tap the Main Menu ‘Hamburger’ Control

See an example of this pointed at by the pink arrow in the last picture.  This brings up the main menu, as shown next.

Picture of the Google Home app on iOS in 2017, displaying its hamburger menu, with the Devices Item highlighted.
Google Home app on iOS in 2017, displaying its hamburger menu, with the Devices Item highlighted.

3. Tap the Devices Menu Item

See this, pointed to by the pink arrow in the last picture.

You then get the Devices screen, as shown in the picture down in the next step.

4. On the Devices Screen, Scroll to Find your Currently Playing Google Home Mini Speaker

See this as shown next.

The speaker is currently streaming when you see a small speaker icon (volume setting link).  Find this  in the lower right edge of its device card, as pointed at by the pink arrow.

But this button does not show when not streaming, as discussed earlier. Thus, you won’t be able to sett volume via the Home app, when the Mini is playing nothing.  So, be sure to start your Mini playing before setting volume.

Picture of the Home app on iOS, displaying its Devices screen. This shows the smart speaker playing an iHeart radio station.
The Home app on iOS, showing its Devices screen. This has the smart speaker playing an iHeart radio station.

5. Tap the Speaker Volume Button

See the speaker volume button in the last picture.

Tapping the Volume button then brings up the volume control screen, as seen next.

Picture of the Home app on iOS, displaying its volume control screen for the Google Home Mini smart speaker.
The Home app on iOS, displaying its volume control screen for the Google Home Mini smart speaker.

6. Touch and Drag the Volume Slider Button

Drag this slider around the circle left and right, until you hear your desired volume.

The slider control gives a finer volume setting than the touch pads on the Google Mini itself.  That is, you can raise and lower the volume in much smaller increments.  This is much finer than the ten-percent bumps you get when tapping the touch pads on the Mini.

Note that moving the volume slider around takes effect immediately.  No need to press any Submit buttons to force the new loudness setting into effect.

How to Set Volume on Google Home Mini: On the Bluetooth Source Device

If using your Mini Google Home speaker as a Bluetooth speaker, you can set volume with the controls on the paired device.  In this demo, we’re playing YouTube content on our iPad Air, and streaming to the Mini Google via a Bluetooth connection that we set up prior.

1. Pair your Google Home Mini as a Bluetooth Speaker

See our post  here,  that demonstrates how to pair.

2. Begin Playing a Music Source

You could stream an internet radio station, a song from Spotify, or an Audible book, all viable audio sources.  In this demo, we streamed YouTube audio to our Mini as shown next.

3. Set the Volume with your Source Mobile Device’s Volume Control Buttons

See this as as shown next.

Picture of the YouTube app on iOS, as seen during adjusting the volume while playing a video.
YouTube app on iOS, as seen during adjusting the volume while playing a video.

Note the pink arrowed volume setter square with a speaker inside of it in the last picture.

Also note that the volume change you hear lags by a second or so.  Why?  Because of the latency (delay) of the commands going across the Bluetooth airwaves.

Finally, you can cast to the Google Home devices like the Mini  too.  Similar to Bluetooth, but done over Wi-Fi instead.  Yet like in this Bluetooth example, you can usually set the volume of the speaker.  How?  By adjusting it in the casting app.

But again, we’re not covering here how to set volume for individual apps. So, we leave this detail as a reader exercise.

Other Posts About the Google Home Mini

  1. Google Home Mini Spotify Commands List
  2. Clearing Google Assistant Voice Recordings History Instructions
  3. AC Power Adapter for Google Home Mini
  4. Google Home Mini Bluetooth Pairing Instructions
  5. How to Pause Google Home Mini

References for How to Set Volume on Google Home Mini

  1. Google Support Page at support.google.com
  2. Where to Buy the Google Home Mini