How do I mute audio on Messenger?

Facebook Messenger provides various audio options like making voice and video calls, sending voice messages, and receiving notification sounds. While these features allow users to communicate in engaging ways, there may be times when muting audio in Messenger is preferred.

Some reasons users might want to mute audio include avoiding disruptive notification sounds during work or sleep hours, controlling notifications in group chats, and muting individuals if their audio messages become a nuisance. Thankfully, Messenger provides easy ways to mute audio temporarily or permanently as needed.

This guide will cover the different methods of muting audio in Messenger across devices. It will explain how to mute all sounds, customize notifications for individuals and groups, and troubleshoot any audio issues.

Mute All Audio

You can mute all audio notifications at the account level in your Messenger settings. This will disable all notification sounds from Messenger across all your chats. Here’s how to do it:

Open the Messenger app on your phone and tap your profile picture in the top left. Then tap “Settings”.
Scroll down and tap “Notifications”.

Toggle the switch next to “Sounds” off. This will disable all notification sounds.

You can toggle this back on at any time to re-enable audio notifications. Muting at the account level is the easiest way to disable all Messenger sounds instantly (Source).

Mute Audio in Group Chats

You can mute or unmute audio notifications for specific group chats in Messenger to customize which chats make sound and which ones are silent. This allows you to silence busy group conversations while still receiving alerts from close friends or family members.

To mute or unmute a group chat’s notifications on iOS:

Open the Messenger app and go to the group chat you want to mute.
Tap the name of the group chat at the top of the screen.

Toggle the “Notifications” switch off to mute or on to unmute.

On Android:

Open the group chat.

Tap the name of the group chat at the top.
Tap Mute notifications and confirm.

You can always go back and turn notifications back on for any muted chats. Muting a group chat will silence all notifications but you can still view new messages by opening the chat.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/help/messenger-app/276605209445733

Mute Audio from Individuals

You can mute audio from specific people in Messenger one-on-one conversations. This allows you to stop receiving audio notifications from that person, while still receiving messages normally.

To mute audio from an individual in Messenger:

Open the Messenger conversation with the person you want to mute.
Tap on their name at the top of the chat window.
Tap “Mute [name]”.

This will stop all audio notifications from this person. You can unmute them at any time by tapping “Unmute [name]” from their chat window. Muting an individual only affects your ability to receive audio from them – they will not know you’ve muted them and can still send audio as normal.

Muting individuals can be useful if you still want to receive messages from someone but would prefer not to get frequent audio notifications from them.

Customize Notification Sounds

You can customize the notification sounds in Messenger to change the sound that plays when you receive new messages. This lets you set different notification sounds for different conversations or contacts.

To customize notification sounds on iPhone or Android:

Open the Messenger app and tap your profile icon in the top left corner.
Go to Settings & Privacy > Notifications & Sounds.

Tap ‘Notification Sound’ (iPhone) or ‘Ringtone’ (Android).
Select one of the available notification sounds or tap ‘Add Sound’ to use your own audio file.

You can set a different notification sound for individual conversations. Tap into a conversation, tap the contact’s name at the top, and change the ‘Custom Notifications’ or ‘Custom Tone’ option.

On Android only, you can set notification sounds for group conversations too. Tap into the group, tap the group name, then change the ‘Custom Notifications’ or ‘Custom Tone’ setting.

To mute notifications from a conversation, set the sound to ‘None’. You can also adjust notification settings like vibrate, LED light, and priority.

Mute During Work Hours

One way to manage distractions from Messenger is to set up scheduled quiet times when you won’t receive any notifications. This can be especially useful for muting Messenger during work hours or at night when you don’t want to be disturbed.

To schedule quiet times:

Open the Messenger app and tap your profile picture in the top left.
Go to Settings & Privacy > Quiet Mode.

Toggle “Scheduled Quiet Mode” on.
Set your quiet hours by choosing start and end times.

You can schedule multiple quiet periods per day. During these set times, you won’t get any sound or visual notifications from Messenger.

This feature works across Messenger on all devices, so you won’t be disturbed even if you switch from your phone to computer. It’s a convenient way to avoid distractions during key times of the day when you need to focus.

Mute Temporary

You may want to temporarily mute Messenger notifications and audio for a short period of time without fully turning them off. This allows you to mute notifications during important events or times when you don’t want to be disturbed, while still receiving them normally at other times.

On iPhone and Android, you can easily mute Messenger notifications and audio for either 1 hour, 8 hours or 24 hours:

Open the Messenger app.
Tap your profile picture in the top left corner.
Tap “Active Status”.

Select “Take a Break” and choose either 1 hour, 8 hours or 24 hours.

Messenger will be muted during that time period. You’ll see a moon icon next to conversations to indicate your Active Status is set to “Take a Break”. After the selected time period ends, Messenger will automatically become unmuted again.^[1]

This provides a handy way to quickly mute Messenger temporarily for short bursts like meetings or dinners, without having to remember to unmute it again later.

[1] Turn Messenger notifications on or off

Mute on Mobile

You can mute audio in the Messenger mobile apps for both iOS and Android. Here are the steps:

iOS

To mute audio on the Messenger app for iOS:

Open the Messenger app on your iPhone or iPad.
Tap on your profile picture in the top left corner.
Tap on ‘Settings’.

Toggle the switch next to ‘Sounds’ to turn off all Messenger audio.

You can also press the side volume buttons on your iOS device while in the Messenger app to quickly mute audio.

Additionally, you can mute an individual chat by opening the chat, tapping the name at the top, and toggling ‘Mute’ on or off.

Android

On Android devices, open the Messenger app and:

Tap your profile picture.
Tap ‘Privacy’.

Toggle ‘Message sounds’ off.

This will mute all Messenger audio. You can also press the volume rocker on your Android device to quickly mute while in the app.

To mute an individual chat, tap the name at the top of the chat and select ‘Mute’ to turn off notifications.

Source: How to turn off Facebook Messenger notification sounds for Android and iOS

Troubleshooting Tips

If you are having issues with muting or hearing audio in Messenger, here are some troubleshooting tips:

Make sure your device’s volume is turned up and not muted. Check both the ringer/notification volume and the media volume.

Check that the microphone and camera permissions are enabled for Messenger in your phone’s settings. Messenger needs access to use your mic.

Force close and restart the Messenger app if you are experiencing glitches. This can reset any bugs.

Update Messenger to the latest version from your phone’s app store. Updates sometimes include bug fixes.

Try toggling Airplane Mode on and off on your device. This disables network access temporarily and can reset connectivity.

Make sure other apps are not using your microphone in the background. Close any other video calling apps.

If issues persist on mobile, try accessing Messenger on a desktop computer to see if the problem is device-specific.

As a last resort, uninstall and reinstall Messenger to do a clean reconfiguration of the app.

If nothing works, contact Messenger Support for further troubleshooting assistance.

Conclusion

In summary, there are a few different ways to mute audio in Facebook Messenger for both group chats and conversations with individuals.

You can mute all audio from Messenger in your Settings or use the mute options directly within chats and calls to silence notifications. Customizing notification sounds, muting during work hours, and temporarily muting threads are other options to manage audio.

While muting can be helpful to avoid distractions, it’s important not to overuse it. Consider whether you need to mute everything or just certain busy group chats. And don’t forget to unmute friends and family you want to stay in touch with.

With the various audio controls available, you can tailor Messenger to fit your needs. Just be thoughtful about when and how long to mute so you don’t miss important messages.