Mute or unmute a topic

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

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 All messages 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 stream unread counts.
  • Muted topics and streams 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 stream, and muted streams are sorted to the bottom of their stream 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.

Automatically unmute topics in muted streams

  1. Click on the gear () icon in the upper right corner of the web or desktop app.

  2. Select Personal settings.

  3. On the left, click Notifications.

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

Manage configured topics

  1. Click on the gear () icon in the upper right corner of the web or desktop app.

  2. Select Personal settings.

  3. On the left, click Topics.

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

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

  2. Select a stream 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.