How to Mute a Channel in Slack (2026 Guide)
Slack’s default notification volume is loud. The fastest fix isn’t tuning every preference, it’s selectively muting the channels, threads, and keywords that don’t need your attention. Muting keeps you in the channel for context and search but stops the pings, which is almost always what you actually want.
Here’s how to mute everything Slack lets you mute in 2026.
1. Mute a Channel on Desktop and Web
Two paths, sidebar right-click is the fastest.
From the sidebar:
- Right-click the channel in the left sidebar (or click the three-dot icon on hover).
- Select Mute channel.
The channel name turns gray, no badge appears for new messages, and you stop getting notifications. The channel stays in your sidebar.
From inside the channel:
- Open the channel.
- Click the channel name at the top.
- Click the Notifications tab in the details pane.
- Toggle Mute channel on.
You can also fine-tune notifications here without going full mute:
- Use my default notification preferences: workspace default.
- All new messages: get pinged for everything (the loud option).
- Highlights only:
@mentions, keywords, and DMs only. - Nothing: silent unless you @-mention yourself, basically the same as muted.
2. Mute a Channel on Mobile
- Long-press the channel name in the Home tab sidebar.
- Tap Mute channel.
Or from inside the channel:
- Tap the channel name at the top.
- Tap Notifications.
- Toggle Mute channel.
Mobile and desktop sync, muting on one mutes everywhere.
3. Mute a Specific Thread
Sometimes a single thread runs hot, fifty replies in an hour, even though you don’t care about the topic. You can mute that one thread without touching the channel.
- Open the thread (click the reply count or the thread bubble).
- Click the More actions three-dot menu in the top right of the thread pane.
- Select Turn off notifications for replies.
New replies still post; you just stop getting badge counts and push notifications for them. To re-enable, repeat and select Get notifications for replies.
You can also turn this off proactively on a thread you started: when you’re in the thread, the same menu has the toggle.
4. Mute Keywords (My Keywords)
By default, Slack notifies you for @mentions and any DM. If you want to add keywords (your project name, your old handle, your product name) you can. But Slack doesn’t have a built-in mute-keywords feature, there’s no way to suppress mentions for words you don’t want to see. The closest workaround:
Add keywords (notify on these):
- Click your profile picture > Preferences > Notifications.
- Scroll to My keywords.
- Type comma-separated keywords. Anything someone says containing those words pings you.
To reduce noise from a specific keyword, the practical move is: mute the channels where it shows up most, or use Notification preferences > Highlights only for those channels so you only get pinged on direct mentions.
5. Mute a DM
DMs follow the same notification rules. To mute a DM:
- Open the DM (or group DM).
- Click the person’s name (or the group title) at the top.
- Click the Notifications tab.
- Toggle Mute conversation on.
Group DMs benefit the most from this, they often turn into ad-hoc channels with no project guardrails. Muting keeps the conversation history without the constant interruption.
6. Mute vs. Leave vs. Notification Preferences
These three are easy to confuse.
| Option | What stays | What stops | When to use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mute | Channel in sidebar, search, history | Notifications, badges | Channel useful for reference, you don’t need real-time |
| Leave | Search history (public channels) | Sidebar entry, notifications, ability to post | Channel no longer relevant to you |
| Notification preferences (Highlights only) | Channel in sidebar | Notifications for non-mentions | You want to know if you’re @-mentioned, nothing else |
| Highlights only + mute | Same as muted but mentions still ping | Everything except direct @-mentions to you | Default for any channel you “should” be in |
The quiet power move: mute plus Notification preferences = Highlights only. Slack still pings you when someone @-mentions you specifically, but otherwise the channel is silent.
7. Workspace-Wide Notification Preferences
If muting individual channels feels like Whac-A-Mole, the underlying issue is usually your workspace defaults.
- Click your profile picture > Preferences > Notifications.
- Set Notify me about to:
- All new messages (loud)
- Direct messages, mentions & keywords (recommended for most)
- Nothing (very quiet)
- Configure Notification schedule for work-hours-only pings.
- Set Mobile devices notifications separately if you want desktop louder than phone.
- Customize Sound & appearance.
Once you set defaults to “Direct messages, mentions & keywords,” most channel-by-channel muting becomes optional.
Quick Reference
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Mute channel | Right-click channel > Mute, or channel name > Notifications > Mute |
| Mute thread | Thread > three-dot menu > Turn off notifications for replies |
| Mute DM | DM name > Notifications > Mute conversation |
| Add notification keywords | Preferences > Notifications > My keywords |
| Per-channel notification level | Channel name > Notifications |
| Workspace defaults | Preferences > Notifications |
Which Method Should You Use?
- Channel is reference, not real-time? Mute it. Keeps history, kills pings.
- Don’t care about the topic at all? Leave it. Less clutter than muting.
- Single thread spiraling? Turn off thread replies. Doesn’t affect the channel.
- Whole workspace too loud? Fix the defaults in Preferences > Notifications, then layer mutes on top.
Get Out of Reactive Slack Mode for Good
Muting fixes the symptom. The real problem is that Slack treats every notification as equally important. Carly is an AI assistant that connects to 200+ apps including Slack and handles the repetitive work, surfacing what actually needs your response, drafting replies, and keeping context flowing across your tools so you can stay out of the firehose.
More on Slack: How to set status in Slack · How to archive a channel in Slack · How to schedule a message in Slack · How to connect Slack to an AI agent
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