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

How to Turn Up Volume on Google Home Mini

There are many ways for how to turn up volume on Google Home Mini speaker. These 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 Turn Up Volume on Google Home Mini Speaker

You can turn up the volume without using any apps, doing it this way, as follows.

1. Lay Out the Google Mini Such That the USB Power Cable is at Top (Twelve O’Clock)

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. Turn Up Volume by Tapping the Right Edge (Three O’Clock)

to turn up Google Mini volume. The next pic shows the spots of the touch pad zones. Find them in the same straight line formed by the four activity lights.

Tap the right edge of the speaker (three o’clock) to raise the volume by ten percent.

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

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





How to Turn Up Volume on Google Home Mini Speaker 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 command. Example commands follow.

    • Hey Google, turn up the volume.
    • Okay Google, raise volume.
    • Hay Google, increase volume.
    • 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 leave out the percent label, then the volume range runs between 0 and 10.

    • Okay Google, set volume 5. [Raises 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. [Increases volume to fifty percent, or half of full.]
    • Hey Google, volume full. [Sets speaker volume to maximum, 100 percent.]
    • Okay Google, volume half. [Increases volume to fifty percent, or half of full.]
    • Hey Google, volume minimum. [Sets the volume to zero percent, minimum, muted state.]




How to Turn Up Volume on Google Home Mini Speaker with the Google Home App

In the Google Home app, which must have Wi-Fi access to your Google Mini speaker, you can 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 hit the volume level you wish.

Note that you can’t turn up speaker volume unless it is actually streaming / playing something. That is, you won’t see the volume control in the Google Home app unless streaming when you look.

To turn up the volume from within the Google Home app, follow the procedure listed next.

1. Run the Google Home App

on your mobile device. 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 A.K.A. Hamburger Control

We pointed at this with the purple arrow in the last picture.

Touching the hamburger control 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 purple arrow in the last picture.

You then see the  Devices  screen, as shown in the picture.

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 purple arrow.

But this button does not show when not streaming. Thus, you won’t be able to turn up the volume like this, when the Google Mini is playing nothing. So, be sure to stream something to your Mini before setting volume this way.

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 it then brings up the volume control screen, as shown next.

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

6. Touch and Drag the Volume Slider to the Right

Drag the volume control right around the circle, until you hear the volume rise.

The slider control gives more granular control than the touch pads on the Google Mini itself. That is, you can raise the volume in much finer jumps. This is much finer than the ten-percent bumps you get when tapping the volume-up touch pad on the Google Mini.

Note that moving the volume slider up takes effect right away. No need to press any Submit buttons to force the higher volume setting into effect.





How to Turn Up Volume on Google Home Mini Speaker on Bluetooth Source Device

If using your Google Mini as a Bluetooth speaker, you can turn up its volume with the controls on the paired device. In this demo, we’re playing YouTube content on our iPad Air, and streaming to the Google Mini by way of a Bluetooth connection.

1. Pair your Google Mini as a Bluetooth Speaker

See our post   here,  that shows how to pair.

2. Begin Playing a Recording

Find recordings to play on an internet radio station, a song from Spotify, or an Audible book. In this demo, we streamed YouTube audio to our Google Mini, as shown next.

3. Use your Source Mobile Device’s Volume Control Buttons to Turn Up the Volume of the Bluetooth Speaker

Shown next.

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

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

Also note that the volume raising 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 turn up the speaker volume. How? By raising it in the casting app.

But also, again, we’re not covering here how to turn up volume for singular apps. So, we leave this detail as an exercise for the reader.

Other Posts About the Google Home Mini Smart Speaker

    1. Unlink Google Home from Pandora, How To
    2. Change WiFi on Google Home Mini, How To Steps
    3. How to Set Up Google Home Mini
    4. Google Home Mini Spotify Commands List
    5. Clearing Google Assistant Voice Recordings History Instructions

References for How to Turn Up Volume on Google Home Mini

    1. 4 Touch Controls for the Google Home Mini you Need to Know, from Cnet
    2. 3 Methods to Change Google Home Volume and How to Silence Google Home, from Gadget Guide Online
    3. Turn Up Google Home Volume, from Google Support

Revision History

    • 2020-05-10: Added the Other Posts About… section.
    • 2019-04-24: Shortened post URL and added tags.
    • 2018-05-04: First published.