Mute a Channel or Chat in Slack and Teams Without Leaving It
Some channels are useful once a week and noisy fifty times a day. Leaving feels drastic and staying feels loud. Muting can reduce notifications without leaving, but mentions, sidebar badges and followed replies need a separate check. It is not a guarantee that nobody can interrupt you. This guide covers how muting works in Slack and Microsoft Teams, according to their help pages, plus when to hide or leave instead.
Miles Crawford
Muting in Slack
Slack lets you mute specific channels and direct messages so you stop getting notifications for those conversations. On desktop, open the channel, click the Notifications icon at the top and select Mute and hide. On mobile, open the channel, tap the channel name and select Mute channel.
For a direct message on desktop, open the DM and click the Notifications icon. Slack says a DM with one person is muted automatically at that point, while a DM with more than one person offers Mute and hide. Muting a DM does not affect messages from the same people in other conversations, and Slackbot cannot be muted. On mobile, open the DM, tap the name or names, then Settings & Details and the Mute toggle.
If you only need quiet for a while, Slack offers a temporary mute on desktop. Open the channel, click the Notifications icon, hover over More options and choose to mute for one hour or until tomorrow.
What still reaches you in Slack
Muted conversations are usually hidden from your sidebar, but Slack still surfaces two things. Numbered badges appear next to a muted conversation if you are mentioned or receive a DM, and at the top of your sidebar Threads turns bold if someone replies to a message you sent in a muted conversation. Muting quiets the channel; it does not make you unreachable.
Muting in Teams
Teams documents a Mute control for chats and separate notification settings for channels. Point at the chat in your chat list, select More options and choose Mute. Microsoft says you are still included in the conversation, but you stop getting its notifications except for @mentions. A muted chat moves into the Muted section at the bottom of the chat list unless it is already in a custom section. The Muted section is on by default. They still show bold text for unread messages, but they do not add to your badge count. To undo it, select More options on the chat and choose Unmute.
For a channel, Teams uses notification settings instead of a mute button. Select More options next to the channel name and choose Channel notifications. From there you can turn notifications for all new messages or posts off, depending on the channel layout, or use Activity feed and banner or Activity feed only. In Threads-layout channels, Include thread replies and Follow all new threads are separate choices. Follow all new threads adds replies to Followed threads; it does not notify you in the Activity feed. For reply notifications across channels, go to Settings and more, Settings, then Notifications and activity.
Check the control, then the exception
Our decision aid keeps two questions separate: what changed in this conversation, and how an urgent request will reach you. A quieter sidebar does not prove that every notification stopped.
| Situation | Use | Check afterward |
|---|---|---|
| A low-priority Slack channel | Mute and hide, or a temporary desktop mute | Expect mention badges and bold Threads for replies to your messages; set a time to review the channel. |
| A noisy Teams chat you still need | Mute in the chat's More options | @mentions can still notify you. A custom-section chat need not move into Muted. |
| A Teams channel with too many replies | Channel notifications and the relevant reply settings | Distinguish Activity feed and banners from Followed threads. Record the setting you changed so you can undo it. |
Fictional note: "I'm checking the social channel on Fridays rather than watching it all day. For a same-day work request, message me directly with the deadline. For incidents, use our agreed on-call route." This is a suggested agreement, not a promise that a particular app setting delivers urgent messages.
Mute, hide or leave
These are three different moves, and picking the right one saves awkwardness later:
- Mute when the conversation is useful sometimes. You stay in it. Check the exceptions: Slack can still show numbered mention or DM badges and bold Threads; Teams chat mute still allows @mention notifications.
- Hide a Teams chat when you want it out of the list but not out of reach. The chat and its history stay hidden until someone posts a new message, and you can bring it back through search.
- Leave when you genuinely do not need the channel. Do not assume leaving is available for every conversation or that it is socially invisible. If you still need access, try the documented notification controls first.
One habit worth borrowing: mute the channel and keep an eye on it during a weekly catch-up. Our focus time guide covers the wider version of this, and if people need to reach you in a muted channel, a quick word about how you use channel mentions sets the expectation.
What to be careful about
- Different menus do not prove different scope. Use the documented route for your device, then check the conversation and notification behavior. Do not assume a setting applies only on that device.
- You can miss time-sensitive messages. A muted incident channel is a risk. Mute social and low-priority channels; keep alert channels loud.
- Hiding is not deleting. A hidden Teams chat comes back when anyone posts to it, and its history is still searchable.
- Tell people how to reach you. For a low-priority conversation, agree how urgent requests should reach you. Slack sidebar badges and Teams @mention notifications are not a substitute for an agreed incident or emergency route.
Sources
Checked October 29, 2026. The steps and behaviors follow each product's own help articles. The routine and cautions are our suggestions.