# Muting Conversations

Source: https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/chat/muting-conversations

> Mute a busy direct message or group channel to stop its notifications, without leaving or hiding the conversation.

> **Enabling Chat**
>
> Chat is an optional feature. The Account Owner can turn it on from the [Optional Features](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/optional-features#chat) page.

If a conversation is busy and you'd rather not be interrupted by every message, you can mute it. Muting stops the notifications for that one conversation while leaving it in your chat list, so you can still read it whenever it suits you.

You can mute both direct messages and group channels, on the web app and the mobile app.

> **Muting only affects you**
>
> Muting is personal to your account. When you mute a conversation, only **your** notifications stop - everyone else in the conversation keeps receiving theirs as normal. Any member can mute any of their own conversations.

## Muting a Conversation

1. Open the direct message or group channel you would like to mute
2. Click the **Actions** menu in the conversation header
3. Select **Mute Channel**

## Unmuting a Conversation

To start receiving notifications again, follow the same steps - the menu item changes to **Unmute Channel** while a conversation is muted.

1. Open the muted direct message or group channel
2. Click the **Actions** menu in the conversation header
3. Select **Unmute Channel**

![The Actions menu open in a chat conversation header, listing Manage Channel, Export Conversation, Unmute Channel and Archive Conversation, with Pin for me and Pin for everyone under Pin. The menu reads Unmute Channel because this conversation is already muted.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/chat-mute-channel-action.png)

> **Nothing is muted for you by default**
>
> New conversations are never muted. Both direct messages and group channels arrive unmuted, whether you created them or were added to them, so muting is always something you choose to turn on.

## What Muting Does and Doesn't Do

Muting silences the notifications that interrupt you - it does not hide the conversation or its unread counts.

When a conversation is muted, you **stop** getting:

- **Mobile push notifications** for new messages in that conversation
- **Desktop pop-ups** for new messages
- **The notification sound** when a new message arrives

When a conversation is muted, you **still** see:

- The conversation in your chat list, with its full message history
- The **unread count** on that conversation in your chat list
- The unread totals on the **All**, **Direct** and **Groups** tabs
- The **Chat badge** in the top bar
- The unread count in your **browser tab title** and on the browser tab icon

> **Muting isn't the same as archiving**
>
> Muting keeps a conversation in your chat list and keeps counting its unread messages - it just stops the notifications. If you'd rather remove a conversation from your chat list entirely, and stop it counting towards your unread badge, see [Archiving Conversations](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/chat/archiving-conversations).

## Mentions Still Come Through

Muting a conversation doesn't cut you off from something that needs your attention. If someone **@mentions you** in a muted group channel, you'll still be notified - muting stops the notifications for ordinary messages, not for being mentioned directly.

In a muted **direct message**, a mention still shows an in-app notification while you have Astalty open, but it won't send a push notification.

For more on how mentions work, see [Messaging](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/chat/messaging).

## Spotting a Muted Conversation

On the web app, a muted conversation shows a small bell-with-a-line-through-it icon next to the timestamp in your chat list, so you can tell at a glance which conversations are silenced.

> **No muted icon in the app**
>
> The mobile app doesn't show a muted icon in the chat list. To check whether a conversation is muted in the app, open it and tap the channel actions - the option reads **Unmute** if the conversation is currently muted.

## Muting in the App

Muting works the same way in the Astalty mobile app, and it applies to the push notifications you receive on your phone.

1. Open the direct message or group channel
2. Tap the actions icon in the top right of the conversation
3. Tap **Mute**

To reverse it, follow the same steps and tap **Unmute**. A conversation you mute on the web is also muted in the app, and the other way around - your choice follows your account rather than the device you set it on.

> **Want to change your notifications more broadly?**
>
> Muting is per conversation. For how Chat notifications work overall - including allowing desktop pop-ups in your browser - see [Notifications](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/chat/notifications).