The fastest way to silence Discord notifications

Open Discord and click your username in the bottom left corner, then select User Settings. Go to Notifications in the left menu. Under Notification Sounds, toggle off the switch next to Message, Ping, or whichever notification type you want to silence. The change takes effect when ready — you will not hear a sound the next time that type of notification arrives.

If you want to keep some sounds but not others, Discord lets you turn off notifications by category. You can silence direct messages while keeping server pings audible, or vice versa. You can also mute individual servers or channels without touching your global settings.

Key Takeaways

  • Notification sounds are controlled in User Settings under the Notifications tab, where you can toggle each sound type on or off individually.
  • You can silence notifications for direct messages, pings, and other events separately, so you keep only the sounds that matter to you.
  • Muting a specific server or channel overrides your global settings for just that space, useful if one server is noisy but others are not.
  • Turning off notification sounds does not delete messages or hide notifications from view — you will still see the unread badge and notification popup, just without audio.

Turning off sounds for specific notification types

Discord sends notifications for different events: when someone mentions you, when you receive a direct message, when someone replies to a thread you are in, and when a server has activity. Each one can have its own sound, and you can turn each one off separately.

In User Settings > Notifications, scroll down to Notification Sounds. You will see toggles for Message (direct messages), Ping (when someone mentions you), Deafen (when you mute yourself), and others depending on your account type. Click the toggle next to any notification type to turn its sound off. The toggle will turn gray when it is off.

This approach works best if you want to hear some notifications but not others. For example, you might want to hear pings so you do not miss direct conversation, but turn off message sounds so you are not interrupted by every single message in a busy server.

Muting sound in a single server or channel

If one server is particularly noisy but you want to keep notifications on elsewhere, you can mute that server without changing your global settings. Right-click the server name in your left sidebar and select Mute Server. A speaker icon with a line through it will appear next to the server name. You will not hear any sounds from that server, but you will still see the unread badge if someone mentions you directly.

You can also mute individual channels within a server. Right-click the channel name and select Mute Channel. This silences notifications from that channel only, while keeping notifications from other channels in the same server active.

To unmute, right-click the server or channel again and select Unmute. The speaker icon will disappear, and notifications will return to your normal settings.

The difference between muting and turning off sounds

Turning off notification sounds in settings means you will still see a notification popup and an unread badge on the channel or server, but you will not hear audio. Muting a server or channel goes further — you will not see a notification popup at all, though you will still see the unread badge if someone mentions you directly.

If you want to stay aware of messages without being interrupted by sound, turn off sounds in settings. If you want to ignore a space entirely until you check it yourself, mute the server or channel. You can combine both: mute a noisy server and also turn off sounds globally, so you get no interruptions from anywhere.

Notification settings on Windows versus Mac

The Discord app works the same way on Windows and Mac — the steps above explore to both. The only difference is that Mac users may also have system-level notification settings that affect Discord. If you have turned off Discord sounds in the app but still hear notifications, check your Mac's System Preferences > Notifications, find Discord in the list, and make sure Sound is turned off there as well.

Windows users can check Settings > System > Notifications & actions and scroll down to Discord. Make sure Show notifications is on (so you still see popups) but Play a sound is off. This gives you the same effect as the Discord app settings.

What happens to messages when you turn off sounds

Turning off notification sounds does not affect the messages themselves. They still arrive, they still appear in the channel, and you can still read them whenever you open Discord. The only thing that changes is that you will not hear audio when they arrive.

If you are worried about missing important messages, remember that you will still see the unread badge (a small number or dot) next to the channel or server name. This badge appears whether sounds are on or off, so you can check Discord on your own schedule and catch up on what you missed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will people know I turned off notification sounds?

No. Turning off sounds is a personal setting that only affects what you hear on your device. Other users cannot see whether you have notifications on or off, and Discord does not tell them when you read their messages.

Can I turn off sounds for direct messages but keep them for server pings?

Yes. In Notifications settings, toggle off Message to silence direct messages, but leave Ping toggled on. You can customize each notification type independently.

What if I mute a server but someone mentions me directly?

You will not hear a sound, but you will still see an unread badge next to the server name. When you open the server, you will see the mention normally. Direct mentions are treated as higher priority than general server activity.

Do I have to turn off sounds for every device separately?

Yes. Notification settings are stored per device, so if you use Discord on your phone and your computer, you need to change the settings on each one separately. Your account settings sync, but device-specific audio settings do not.

Can I set different notification sounds instead of turning them off?

Discord does not let you choose custom notification sounds or change which sound plays for which event. You can only turn sounds on or off. If you want different sounds for different notifications, you would need to use a third-party tool or bot, though this is not officially supported by Discord.