Where to find the mute button in Teams

Open Microsoft Teams and look at the top of the window. Click your profile picture in the upper right corner, then select Settings. From there, go to Notifications in the left sidebar. This is the main control panel for all Teams alerts — it's where you turn notifications on, off, or set them to specific times.

If you want to mute a single conversation right now without changing your overall settings, you can also right-click any chat or channel name in your sidebar and select Mute. This silences that one thread without touching your other notifications.

Key Takeaways

  • You can mute individual chats and channels by right-clicking them in your sidebar, which silences just that conversation without affecting others.
  • The Settings > Notifications panel lets you control when Teams sends alerts — by time of day, by notification type, or by turning them off entirely.
  • Do Not Disturb mode silences all notifications but still lets you send and receive messages; people can see you are unavailable.
  • You can set different notification rules for chats, channels, and meeting invites so urgent messages still reach you while routine ones stay quiet.
  • Muting a channel or chat does not delete messages — you can still read them whenever you open Teams.

Muting individual chats and channels

Right-click any chat name or channel name in your left sidebar. A menu appears with the option Mute. Click it. That conversation will no longer send you notifications, but the messages are still there — you just won't hear a sound or see a badge when new ones arrive.

To unmute the same chat or channel later, right-click it again and select Unmute. You can mute as many conversations as you want. This is the fastest way to silence a noisy group chat or a channel you want to read on your own schedule.

Turning off notifications by time of day

Go to Settings > Notifications and look for Scheduled notifications. You can set a time window — for example, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. — when Teams will send you alerts. Outside those hours, notifications stay silent even if messages arrive.

This is useful if you want to keep Teams open during work but don't want alerts at night or on weekends. You can set one schedule for weekdays and a different one for weekends. Teams will still deliver the messages; they just won't interrupt you with a sound or banner until your notification window opens.

Using Do Not Disturb mode

Click your profile picture at the top right and look for your status indicator — it's usually a green dot, yellow circle, or red X. Click on it and select Do Not Disturb. This silences all notifications when ready and tells other people you are unavailable.

While in Do Not Disturb mode, you can still send and receive messages, and you can still join meetings if you choose to. The difference is that Teams won't alert you to new activity. When you're ready to be reachable again, click your status and switch back to Available or Away.

Setting notification rules by message type

In Settings > Notifications, scroll down to Notification settings. You'll see options for different types of alerts: chat messages, channel messages, meeting invites, and more. For each type, you can choose Banner and sound, Banner only, Sound only, or Off.

For example, you might turn off notifications for channel messages but keep them on for direct chats, so you only get alerted when someone messages you privately. Or you can silence meeting invites but keep chat notifications on. This way, urgent messages still reach you while routine ones stay quiet.

Muting notifications for specific people

Open a direct chat with someone and click the three dots in the top right of that conversation. Select Mute. Now you won't get notifications from that person, though you can still see their messages if you open the chat manually.

This is different from blocking — the person can still message you, and you can still reply. You just won't be interrupted by their alerts. To unmute them, open the same menu and select Unmute.

Checking your notification history

If you mute a conversation and then forget about it, you can still find unread messages. Look at your sidebar: muted chats and channels show a small number badge if they have unread messages, even though they didn't send you a notification. Click on them to read what you missed.

You can also go to your Activity feed by clicking the bell icon at the top of Teams. This shows you a log of mentions, replies, and other activity, regardless of whether notifications were muted. It's a good way to catch up on things that happened while you had alerts turned off.

Frequently Asked Questions

If I mute a channel, will I miss important messages?

No. Muting only stops the notification sound and badge — the messages are still in the channel. You can read them whenever you open Teams. If someone mentions you directly with an @mention, you may still get an alert depending on your settings, so critical messages can still reach you.

Can I mute Teams notifications on my phone but keep them on my computer?

Yes. Open the Teams app on your phone, go to Settings > Notifications, and adjust them separately from your desktop settings. Each device has its own notification controls, so you can be strict on your phone and relaxed on your computer, or vice versa.

What's the difference between muting a chat and muting a person?

Muting a chat silences notifications from that entire conversation thread. Muting a person silences notifications from that specific person across all your chats with them. If you mute a person and they message you in a group chat, you still won't get an alert from that group.

Will people know if I mute them or their channel?

No. Muting is invisible to other people. They can't see whether you have notifications on or off, and they won't know if you've muted their messages. Your status (Available, Away, Do Not Disturb) is visible, but muting itself is private.

Can I set different notification rules for work hours and after hours?

Yes, through the Scheduled notifications feature in Settings > Notifications. You can set one schedule for weekdays and another for weekends, or create a custom time window. Outside those hours, Teams won't send alerts, though messages will still arrive and wait for you.