How to mute conversations on WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Telegram on your Android phone

Muting conversations is a happy medium between having to tolerate annoying messages and leaving conversations altogether.

This picture shows a phone screen with Whatsapp, Telegram and Messenger apps.

In a lot of the cases where a person receives too many messages, group chats are usually to blame. (Image credit: Pixabay)

With the proliferation of instant messaging services like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Telegram, it is not hard to imagine that most smartphone users receive more messages on a daily basis that have to, want to, or indeed, can process. While this may seem like just an annoyance to most people, it could actually lead to information overload, where you get overwhelmed by information, affecting your overall functioning and wellbeing.

In a lot of the cases where a person receives too many messages, group chats are usually to blame. While just leaving group chats outright may seem like a simple enough solution, it is not always that simple. There are some groups that you cannot leave for a variety of reasons, personal or professional.

This means that there are often groups that you can’t quite leave because you need to remain updated about what is happening but at the same time, the sheer volume of messages could end up being a distraction.

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In such situations, muting a conversation is a happy middle ground between having to tolerate all those notifications and leaving conversations completely. In this short how-to guide, we will show you how you can mute the conversations that you don’t want to be notified about. Also, remember that muting a conversation is always reversible.

A set of screenshots from WhatsApp

How to mute a conversation on WhatsApp

Go to your chat
Long-press on the conversation that you want to mute, whether it is a single account or a group
On the top bar, hit the mute icon
In the dialog box that pops up, select the duration you want to mute the conversation for. You can also choose mute the conversation permanently
The conversation will be muted

A set of screenshots from Facebook messenger that shows you how to mute conversations.

How to mute a conversation on Facebook Messenger

Go to your chat
Long-press on the conversation that you want to mute.
In the options that pop up, select “Mute notifications”.
In the dialog box that pops up, select the duration you want to mute the conversation for and hit Ok.
The conversation will appear muted.

A set of screenshots from Telegram showing users how to mute conversations

How to mute a conversation on Telegram

Go to your chat
Long-press on the conversation that you want to mute
Hit the mute icon on the top bar.
In the dialog box that pops up, choose the duration that you want to mute the conversation. If you want to mute it permanently, hit “Disable”.
The conversation will appear muted.