How to mute channels and direct messages in your Slack workspace? Step by step guide

Today, Slack is one of the most useful options for companies or organizations around the world in order to optimize work connections with each other. Well, it is characterized by promote and facilitate inclusion among members of a work team.

As if that were not enough, on your platform, Slack has implemented customization to a great extent, so that all users can adapt the experience to their liking, depending on their requirements. Thanks to this, there is the possibility of mute both channels and direct messages in a workspace.

Now, given its efficiency, it is worth knowing how you can mute such chats in Slack in order to avoid other users causing you inconvenience while you work. Therefore, in this post, we will teach you how to do it and even, how to set up Do Not Disturb Mode.

Learn step by step how to mute channels in Slack and avoid being disturbed while you work

By default, in this application, communication and teamwork take place in channels that, basically, consist of a centralized place that allows work teams to share messages, files and tools in order to achieve the objectives set. In such a way, These are usually organized by projects or teams and in this sense, they are integrated by several users. As a consequence, at any time, said users can intervene in a channel.

And of course, your messages will be delivered to the other members. Which, sometimes it can become annoying and, therefore, to avoid making some people uncomfortable, Slack has granted the possibility of mute channels when you work. That way, they will appear in gray at the bottom of the channel list. Now, if you want to use this tool, it is important that you know how to handle it in Slack both through the desktop version and also from the mobile app.

Therefore, below, we detail each of these procedures:

From the computer

In this case, you can decide between download and install the app compatible with Windows and MacOS or, make use of the platform through your trusted web browser. Thus, from either option, you simply have to access your account.

Then do the following to mute the channel you want:

Through the main page of your Slack account, find the Channels section and choose the one you want to mute to proceed to open it.
Followed by this, in the upper right corner, click on the details or information icon. This will open a small box on the right side of the window.
Then you have to click on “More …” to display a new menu with various options available.
To conclude, just subtract click on “Mute #channel name” and ready.

From the mobile app

In case you choose to do it through your Android or iOS mobile device, you must have the application installed Slack (You can find it for free in the Play Store or Apple Store).

In this sense, enter your account from said app and do the following:

Through your workspace, look for the Channels section and in the list that appears there, select the channel you prefer to mute.
After accessing the chat of the channel in question, go to the upper right corner and tap the information (or details) icon.
Followed by that, in the Channel Information window, go to the bottom until you get the option to “Mute channel”.
Subsequently, just enough activate this option by moving the switch from the left to the right.

Learn how to mute direct messages from other users in your Slack workspace

Despite the fact that, on this platform, most of the conversations take place through channels, the truth is that also allows you to use direct messages that work best for individual conversations that don’t require the involvement of an entire channel. Thus, these are distinguished by being smaller conversations that, by default, are carried out outside a channel between two to nine people maximum.

It is because of that, Slack It also gives you the possibility of mute direct messages in your workspace, freely. In this case, basically, those notifications of the specific conversation will be silenced and that will not influence the messages sent by a member, a bot or an application in other chats.

Therefore, we will also explain to you how you should silence direct messages from other users on your computer and on your mobile:

With the computer

If you want to mute a direct message with members, you will have to proceed as follows:

Login to your account making use of the version of Slack for desktop or through its online version.
Now, in the main window, go to the left sidebar and look for the Direct Messages section (They are located at the bottom of Channels).
Next, proceed to open direct message you want to silence right now.
Then at the top look for the information icon and click on it.
Done the above, from the Information window, click on “More”.
Finally, choose the option that says “Mute conversation”, in the small menu.

On the other hand, if you need to silence a direct message with bots or applications connected to your workspace, it is important that you do the following correctly:

As we indicated above, start with log into your Slack account.
Then, using the left sidebar, click on “More” and there, you have to click on “Applications”. However, in some cases, the indicated option is displayed on the bar directly.
When you access the window in question, proceed to find and choose the app or bot you want to mute in your workspace.
Once you enter this (or this), press the information icon in the upper right and there, click on “More”.
Finally, just click on “Silence this application” and ready.

Using a mobile device

In this case, to mute a direct message with members using the Slack mobile application, you have to proceed as follows:

To start, access your account through said app and on the main page, from the Direct Messages section, open the message you want to manage in this way.
Once you select said direct message, it is time to press the details icon which is located in the upper right corner.
Then in the next window, press the button next to the option “Mute conversation”. That’s it.

On the other hand, if instead of silencing a direct message with a member of your workspace, what you need is to silence a direct message with applications or bots, you will have to use the procedure detailed here:

Login to your Slack account through your mobile app.
Second, from the bottom, select the tab “Home”.
Later, with the search bar that indicates “Go to…” at the top of the screen, find the app or bot you want to mute.
When you find the mentioned app or bot, go to the top right and tap the information icon.
Finally, in Mute conversation, you must press the switch shown there.

Do Not Disturb Mode How to configure it to prevent notifications from arriving while I work?

For avoid receiving notifications from Slack while you work and thus concentrate as you need it, the platform gives you the possibility of pause notifications with Do Not Disturb mode. Which is responsible for interrupting all the notifications and mentions you want to ensure the greatest possible peace of mind.

In this sense, in addition to activating it, It is possible to configure it based on a specific schedule regarding the certain hours in which you prefer to receive notifications. In addition to this, the other members of your workspace They will be able to see the “Do not disturb” icon right next to your name. Therefore, in case they need to notify you of urgent messages, they can override this mode.

Now, if further ado, we will show you how you have to activate and adjust Do Not Disturb mode through your computer, from your Android device or using your iPhone or iPad:

Via computer

In this case, we recommend make use of the web version of Slack to enable Do Not Disturb mode.

So, log into your account using your trusted web browser and after that, do the following:

By means of the service home page, go to the upper right corner and there, select your profile picture icon.
Now, in the list that is shown, you have to place the mouse cursor on the option “Pause notifications”.
Next, proceed to select an available time period from the menu to stop notifications. Either 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, Morning or custom (1).
If you want to set a specific time for notifications, then click on “Set a schedule for notifications” and in the window that appears, define when you want to allow notifications (2).

On Android or iOS

Here, you have to access your account using the Slack mobile app, either on your mobile or tablet Android or through your iPhone or iPad.

Once that is done, proceed to do the following:

Straight from the Slack home page, go to the bottom and click on the tab “You”.
After that, in the list of options, click on “Do not disturb”. There you can choose a period from the list to stop notifications (30 minutes, one hour, two hours, until tomorrow) or Personalize (to specify a specific time interval). For thus, tap on Save, in the upper right corner.
If you choose to set a notification schedule, it is necessary that click on “Notifications” from the tab “Your”. In order to do so, press on “Schedule for notifications” in General Settings and define when you want to allow such alerts in your Slack account.