Mute or unmute a topic

Zulip lets you mute topics and channels to avoid receiving notifications for messages you are not interested in. Muting a channel effectively mutes all topics in that channel. You can also manually mute a topic in an unmuted channel, or unmute a topic in a muted channel.

Muting has the following effects:

  • Messages in muted topics do not generate notifications (including alert word notifications), unless you are mentioned.
  • Messages in muted topics do not appear in the Combined feed view or the mobile Inbox view.
  • Muted topics appear in the Recent conversations view only if the Include muted filter is enabled.
  • Unread messages in muted topics do not contribute to channel unread counts.
  • Muted topics and channels are grayed out in the left sidebar of the desktop/web app, and in the mobile app.
  • In the desktop/web app, muted topics are sorted to the bottom of their channel, and muted channels are sorted to the bottom of their channel section.

Note: Some parts of the Zulip experience may start to degrade if you receive more than a few hundred muted messages a day.

Mute or unmute a topic

  1. Hover over a topic in the left sidebar.

  2. Click on the ellipsis ().

  3. Configure topic notifications using the row of icons at the top of the menu.

You can also configure notifications by clicking the topic notifications status icon (, , or ) in the message recipient bar, in the Inbox view, or in Recent conversations.

  1. Press and hold a topic until the long-press menu appears.

  2. Tap Mute topic or Unmute topic.

If you are viewing a single topic, you can access the long-press menu from the bar at the top of the app.

You can also use the Shift + M keyboard shortcut to mute or unmute a topic.

Automatically unmute topics in muted channels

  1. Go to Notifications.

  2. Under Topic notifications, select the desired option from the Automatically unmute topics in muted channels dropdown.

Manage configured topics

  1. Go to Topics.

  2. Configure notifications for each topic by selecting the desired option from the dropdown in the Status column.

  1. Tap the Channels (hash) tab at the bottom of the app.

  2. Select a channel containing topics you want to configure.

  3. Tap the Topics list (list) icon in the upper right corner of the app.

  4. Press and hold a topic until the long-press menu appears.

  5. Tap Mute topic or Unmute topic.

Muted topics are grayed out in the topics list.