# How to Get an Hourly Chime on Mac

Updated: November 12, 2026

Dato: Price: $18, one-time purchase. Platforms: macOS. Get it from: [App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1470584107), [Setapp](https://go.setapp.com/stp181?refAppID=571&utm_medium=vendor_program&utm_content=button). Free trial: [download](https://sindresorhus.com/dato#trial). Requires macOS 26 or later. Free older versions for macOS 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10.15, and 10.14: [download](https://sindresorhus.com/dato#older-versions).

URL: https://sindresorhus.com/guides/hourly-chime-mac

In the “Extras” settings of [Dato](https://sindresorhus.com/dato), turn on “Hourly chime”. Dato then plays a sound at each full hour, in the hours of the day that you choose. Without an app, macOS can say the time with a voice: turn on “Announce the time” in the clock options of System Settings.

## With Dato

1. Open the settings of [Dato](https://sindresorhus.com/dato), and click “Extras”.
1. Turn on “Hourly chime”. The first time, its settings open. Later, click “Customize…” to open them.
1. Choose the sound in “Sound”, and set how loud it is with the slider below it. The volume is relative to the volume of the Mac.
1. In “Time range”, choose the hours in which the chime plays. At first, it is from 9:00 to 22:00, so it is silent at night.

The chime plays on the hour, by the clock of the Mac.

The “Set Hourly Chime State” action of Dato in the Shortcuts app turns the chime on or off, like from an automation.

## Without an app

macOS can say the time with a voice:

1. Open “System Settings › Menu Bar”.
1. Go to “Menu Bar Controls”, and click “Clock Options”.
1. Turn on “Announce the time”, and choose when in “Interval”: on the hour, on the half hour, or on the quarter hour.
1. Choose a voice in “Voice”.

[Apple’s instructions.](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mchlb3236e90/mac) This is free, and it tells you the time without a look at the screen. It is a voice, not a chime. Dato is for a short sound that does not speak, only in the hours that you choose.