pacmd
command-line tool for reconfiguring PulseAudio at runtime
TLDR
List sinks (outputs)
$ pacmd list-sinks
List sources (inputs)$ pacmd list-sources
Set default sink$ pacmd set-default-sink [sink_name]
Set sink volume$ pacmd set-sink-volume [sink_name] [65536]
Move stream to sink$ pacmd move-sink-input [index] [sink_name]
Interactive mode$ pacmd
SYNOPSIS
pacmd [command]
DESCRIPTION
pacmd is a command-line tool for reconfiguring PulseAudio at runtime. It provides full access to PulseAudio's internal configuration and state.
Running without arguments enters interactive mode with tab completion.
PARAMETERS
list-sinks
List output devices.list-sources
List input devices.list-sink-inputs
List playback streams.set-default-sink name
Set default output.set-sink-volume name vol
Set volume.move-sink-input idx sink
Move stream.exit
Exit interactive mode.
VOLUME SCALE
$ 0 = 0% (muted)
32768 = 50%
65536 = 100% (normal)
98304 = 150% (amplified)
32768 = 50%
65536 = 100% (normal)
98304 = 150% (amplified)
CAVEATS
PulseAudio specific. Use pactl for simpler operations. Changes may not persist across restarts. Consider PipeWire migration.
HISTORY
pacmd is part of PulseAudio, developed by Lennart Poettering starting in 2004 as a next-generation sound server.
SEE ALSO
pactl(1), pulseaudio(1), pavucontrol(1)