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PyCaw Examples

PyCaw Tutorial: How To Examples in Python

PyCaw is a Python library that provides a high-level interface for manipulating audio devices on Windows. It allows you to control the volume, mute/unmute, and manage other audio settings programmatically. In this tutorial, we will cover various examples to demonstrate the usage of PyCaw.

Example 1: Get Default Audio Device​

To get the default audio device, you can use the pycaw.pycaw.CAudioUtilities class. Here's an example:

from pycaw.pycaw import CAudioUtilities

devices = CAudioUtilities.GetSpeakers()
default_device = devices.Activate(CAudioUtilities.GetSpeakersIID())

print(default_device.FriendlyName())

Expected Output:

The example code will print the friendly name of the default audio device.

Example 2: Get a List of All Audio Devices​

You can retrieve a list of all audio devices using the pypaw.pycaw.CAudioUtilities class. Here's an example:

from pycaw.pycaw import CAudioUtilities

devices = CAudioUtilities.GetSpeakers()
device_list = devices.GetAll()

for device in device_list:
    print(device.FriendlyName())

Expected Output:

The example code will print the friendly names of all the audio devices on your system.

Example 3: Get and Set Volume​

To get and set the volume level of an audio device, you can use the pypaw.pycaw.CAudioEndpointVolume class. Here's an example:

from pycaw.pycaw import AudioUtilities, ISimpleAudioVolume

def get_volume():
    devices = AudioUtilities.GetSpeakers()
    interface = devices.Activate(ISimpleAudioVolume._iid_, CLSCTX_ALL, None)
    volume = cast(interface, POINTER(ISimpleAudioVolume))
    return volume.GetMasterVolume()

def set_volume(volume_level):
    devices = AudioUtilities.GetSpeakers()
    interface = devices.Activate(ISimpleAudioVolume._iid_, CLSCTX_ALL, None)
    volume = cast(interface, POINTER(ISimpleAudioVolume))
    volume.SetMasterVolume(volume_level, None)

# Get the current volume level
current_volume = get_volume()
print("Current Volume:", current_volume)

# Set the volume level to 50%
set_volume(0.5)

Expected Output:

The example code will print the current volume level and set the volume to 50%.

Example 4: Mute and Unmute Audio​

To mute and unmute an audio device, you can use the pypaw.pycaw.CAudioEndpointVolume class. Here's an example:

from pycaw.pycaw import AudioUtilities, ISimpleAudioVolume

def mute():
    devices = AudioUtilities.GetSpeakers()
    interface = devices.Activate(ISimpleAudioVolume._iid_, CLSCTX_ALL, None)
    volume = cast(interface, POINTER(ISimpleAudioVolume))
    volume.SetMute(1, None)

def unmute():
    devices = AudioUtilities.GetSpeakers()
    interface = devices.Activate(ISimpleAudioVolume._iid_, CLSCTX_ALL, None)
    volume = cast(interface, POINTER(ISimpleAudioVolume))
    volume.SetMute(0, None)

# Mute the audio
mute()

# Unmute the audio
unmute()

Expected Output:

The example code will mute and then unmute the audio.

Example 5: Get and Set Audio Session Volume​

To get and set the volume level of an audio session, you can use the pypaw.pycaw.CAudioSessionControl2 class. Here's an example:

from pycaw.pycaw import AudioUtilities, ISimpleAudioVolume

def get_session_volume(session):
    interface = session.QueryInterface(ISimpleAudioVolume)
    return interface.GetMasterVolume()

def set_session_volume(session, volume_level):
    interface = session.QueryInterface(ISimpleAudioVolume)
    interface.SetMasterVolume(volume_level, None)

# Get the default audio device
devices = AudioUtilities.GetSpeakers()
default_device = devices.Activate(ISimpleAudioVolume._iid_, CLSCTX_ALL, None)

# Get the audio session for the default device
session_manager = default_device.QueryInterface(ISimpleAudioVolume)
sessions = session_manager.GetSessionEnumerator()

# Get the volume of the first session
session = sessions.GetSession(0)
session_volume = get_session_volume(session)
print("Session Volume:", session_volume)

# Set the volume of the first session to 50%
set_session_volume(session, 0.5)

Expected Output:

The example code will print the volume of the first audio session and set its volume to 50%.

Example 6: Get and Set Audio Session Mute​

To get and set the mute state of an audio session, you can use the pypaw.pycaw.CAudioSessionControl2 class. Here's an example:

from pycaw.pycaw import AudioUtilities, ISimpleAudioVolume

def get_session_mute(session):
    interface = session.QueryInterface(ISimpleAudioVolume)
    return interface.GetMute()

def set_session_mute(session, mute_state):
    interface = session.QueryInterface(ISimpleAudioVolume)
    interface.SetMute(mute_state, None)

# Get the default audio device
devices = AudioUtilities.GetSpeakers()
default_device = devices.Activate(ISimpleAudioVolume._iid_, CLSCTX_ALL, None)

# Get the audio session for the default device
session_manager = default_device.QueryInterface(ISimpleAudioVolume)
sessions = session_manager.GetSessionEnumerator()

# Get the mute state of the first session
session = sessions.GetSession(0)
session_mute = get_session_mute(session)
print("Session Mute:", session_mute)

# Set the mute state of the first session to True
set_session_mute(session, True)

Expected Output:

The example code will print the mute state of the first audio session and set its mute state to True.

Example 7: Get Audio Session Information​

To get information about an audio session, such as its process ID and display name, you can use the pypaw.pycaw.CAudioSessionControl class. Here's an example:

from pycaw.pycaw import AudioUtilities, ISimpleAudioVolume

def get_session_info(session):
    interface = session.QueryInterface(ISimpleAudioVolume)
    return {
        "Process ID": session.GetProcessId(),
        "Display Name": session.GetDisplayName(),
        "Volume": interface.GetMasterVolume(),
        "Mute": interface.GetMute()
    }

# Get the default audio device
devices = AudioUtilities.GetSpeakers()
default_device = devices.Activate(ISimpleAudioVolume._iid_, CLSCTX_ALL, None)

# Get the audio session for the default device
session_manager = default_device.QueryInterface(ISimpleAudioVolume)
sessions = session_manager.GetSessionEnumerator()

# Get information about the first session
session = sessions.GetSession(0)
session_info = get_session_info(session)
print("Session Information:")
for key, value in session_info.items():
    print(key + ":", value)

Expected Output:

The example code will print information about the first audio session, including its process ID, display name, volume, and mute state.

Example 8: Enumerate Audio Sessions​

To enumerate all the audio sessions on the default audio device, you can use the pypaw.pycaw.CAudioSessionEnumerator class. Here's an example:

from pycaw.pycaw import AudioUtilities, ISimpleAudioVolume

# Get the default audio device
devices = AudioUtilities.GetSpeakers()
default_device = devices.Activate(ISimpleAudioVolume._iid_, CLSCTX_ALL, None)

# Get the audio session for the default device
session_manager = default_device.QueryInterface(ISimpleAudioVolume)
sessions = session_manager.GetSessionEnumerator()

# Enumerate all the sessions
for i in range(sessions.GetCount()):
    session = sessions.GetSession(i)
    print("Session", i + 1, "Process ID:", session.GetProcessId())

Expected Output:

The example code will print the process ID of each audio session on the default audio device.

Example 9: Set Volume for a Specific Audio Session​

To set the volume level for a specific audio session, you can use the pypaw.pycaw.CAudioSessionControl class. Here's an example:

from pycaw.pycaw import AudioUtilities, ISimpleAudioVolume

def set_session_volume(session, volume_level):
    interface = session.QueryInterface(ISimpleAudioVolume)
    interface.SetMasterVolume(volume_level, None)

# Get the default audio device
devices = AudioUtilities.GetSpeakers()
default_device = devices.Activate(ISimpleAudioVolume._iid_, CLSCTX_ALL, None)

# Get the audio session for the default device
session_manager = default_device.QueryInterface(ISimpleAudioVolume)
sessions = session_manager.GetSessionEnumerator()

# Set the volume of the first session to 50%
session = sessions.GetSession(0)
set_session_volume(session, 0.5)

Expected Output:

The example code will set the volume of the first audio session on the default audio device to 50%.

Example 10: Get and Set Default Audio Device​

To get and set the default audio device, you can use the pypaw.pycaw.CAudioUtilities class. Here's an example:

from pycaw.pycaw import AudioUtilities

def get_default_device():
    devices = AudioUtilities.GetSpeakers()
    return devices.GetDefault()

def set_default_device(device):
    devices = AudioUtilities.GetSpeakers()
    devices.SetDefault(device)

# Get the current default audio device
current_device = get_default_device()
print("Current Default Device:", current_device.FriendlyName())

# Set the default audio device to a different one
new_device = devices.GetAll()[1]  # Assuming there are at least two devices
set_default_device(new_device)

Expected Output:

The example code will print the friendly name of the current default audio device and then set the default audio device to a different one.

In this tutorial, we covered various examples to demonstrate the usage of PyCaw for manipulating audio devices on Windows. You can now control the volume, mute/unmute, and manage other audio settings programmatically using Python.