A busy Messages conversation keeps interrupting you even after you’ve stopped replying. You can quiet one chat, silence every Messages notification, or keep visual alerts without the sound. These steps use macOS Tahoe 26 and leave message delivery enabled so you can catch up later.
Mute a single conversation
An unmuted conversation keeps sending alerts while its notifications are enabled. Open Messages and select the individual or group conversation you want to quiet. Click the contact or group icon at the top of the conversation, then turn on Hide Alerts. Messages continue arriving; mentions remain an exception when mention notifications are enabled.
For the keyboard route, select the conversation, then press Option-Command-M to mute it. The same combination unhides alerts; shortcuts vary by keyboard layout and language.
To mute several conversations together, select them in the sidebar. Control-click the selection, then choose Hide Alerts.
Turn off all Messages notifications
For silence across every conversation, open System Settings → Notifications. Under Application Notifications, select Messages, then turn off Allow notifications. This stops Messages notifications while keeping message delivery enabled, so you can open the app and read your conversations later.
Keep visual alerts and silence the sounds
Use this option when you want to see incoming notifications without hearing them. Messages has a separate control for sounds produced within the app.
Open Apple menu → System Settings → Notifications → Messages, leave Allow notifications enabled, then turn off Play sound for notification. To silence the app’s event sounds too, open Messages → Settings → General and deselect Play sound effects. This controls Messages event sounds without turning off visual notifications.
Stop mentions from breaking through a muted chat
To close the mention exception to Hide Alerts, choose Messages → Settings. Open General, then deselect Notify me when my name is mentioned.
Pause interruptions with Do Not Disturb
Click Control Center in the menu bar, then open Focus. Select Do Not Disturb. This pauses notifications across apps, subject to your Focus exceptions.
Choose For 1 hour for a timed break. For a shortcut that toggles Do Not Disturb on or off, hold Option while clicking the date and time in the menu bar.
For complete Messages silence, use Allow notifications instead: Focus allows interruptions through configured exceptions for people, apps and time-sensitive notifications, plus Intelligent Breakthrough & Silencing. If you turn on Share Focus status for that Focus, a sender can choose Notify Anyway.
Quiet messages from unknown senders
Unknown-sender screening suppresses selected notification categories without muting every conversation. In Messages, click the Filter button above the sidebar, then choose Manage Filtering. Select Screen unknown senders, click Notifications, and deselect the categories you do not want allowed through. Available categories depend on your country or region.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can someone tell that I muted their conversation?
Apple says Hide Alerts can indicate to senders that your notifications are silenced. Muting is not guaranteed to be invisible.
How is blocking different from muting?
Blocking stops the sender’s messages from being delivered and affects that contact in other Apple communication apps. To block someone, select their conversation in Messages. Choose Conversation → Block Person, then click Block. This does not block a whole group.
Can I mute a conversation with a trackpad gesture?
Yes. In the Messages sidebar, swipe left with two fingers on the conversation. Click the Hide Alerts button. Apple also documents this gesture for a Magic Mouse.
Can Siri on my iPhone turn on Do Not Disturb for my Mac?
Yes, through shared Focus. On your Mac, open System Settings → Focus and enable Share across devices. Enable Focus sharing on your iPhone using the same Apple Account. Ask Siri on the iPhone to turn on Do Not Disturb; the shared Focus also activates on your Mac.