WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. One of the key features of WhatsApp is the ability to mute chats from specific contacts if you don’t want to receive notifications from them temporarily.
Muting a chat is useful if someone is sending too many messages and you want to control notifications. You can mute an individual chat or entire group conversations. But what happens when you mute someone – do you stop receiving their messages entirely, or do they still come through?
How does muting work on WhatsApp?
When you mute a chat on WhatsApp, you stop getting notifications for new messages from that conversation. The notifications are paused until you unmute the chat. However, muting does not block messages from coming through.
New messages from a muted chat will still be delivered to your WhatsApp account. You can view them in the chat window, but you will not get alerted about them through notification sounds or pop-ups. Essentially, muting acts like turning off notifications for a particular contact’s messages temporarily.
Some key points about how muting works in WhatsApp:
- Muting does not affect the sender. They will not know if you’ve muted their chat and can still send messages as normal.
- The muted chat will show up lower in your main WhatsApp chats list indicating it has been muted.
- Unreading muted chats will not show up as a notification preview.
- Muted group chats will skip the ‘xyz is typing’ status if someone starts composing a message in them.
Overall, muting is designed to simply suppress notifications from a chosen chat – the messages still get delivered silently. Think of it as a snooze button, not a block button.
Does muting prevent all notifications?
Muting prevents most notifications from a chat, but not all of them. There are certain types of messages that will still produce alerts even if you’ve muted the chat:
- Mentions: If someone mentions or replies directly to you in a muted group chat, it will trigger a notification.
- Reactions: When someone reacts to your message, you’ll get notified regardless of mute.
- Private replies: If you get a private reply within a muted group, you’ll still get alerted.
These overrides on mute are designed so you don’t miss important direct interactions even if you’ve muted the overall chat. But for regular messages that don’t mention you directly, muting will suppress notifications.
How long do mutes last?
By default, muting on WhatsApp only lasts 8 hours. After 8 hours, notifications will resume automatically. This prevents you from inadvertently leaving a chat muted forever.
However, you can choose to extend the mute period manually up to 1 year at a time. To extend a mute:
- Open the muted chat
- Tap the mute icon again
- Select a longer duration up to 1 year
This will override the 8 hour limit and keep the chat muted for your chosen extended duration. You can repeat this each time to keep a chat perpetually muted for up to 1 year at once.
Does muting delete messages?
No, muting does not delete or erase messages. New incoming messages still get saved to your chat history as normal. Muting simply mutes the notifications.
All previously received messages remain visible. And new messages sent during the muted period will also be visible in the chat when you scroll up. So no messages get deleted or lost due to muting.
Can I manually unmute?
Yes, you can manually unmute a chat at any time to resume getting notifications right away:
- Open the muted chat
- Tap the mute icon in the top right
- Select the Unmute option
This immediately overrides the mute, whether the original 8 hour duration was up or not. The chat will return to its regular unmuted state.
Will the muted person know I muted them?
No. WhatsApp does not directly indicate to other users if you’ve muted their chats. The mute happens privately on your device.
However, someone may be able to deduce they are muted indirectly in a few ways:
- You don’t reply promptly to their messages anymore
- Your ‘last seen’ status no longer updates in real-time for them
- Their messages show only 1 checkmark instead of 2 when sent
But there is no explicit indicator shown to them that they are muted. It appears like normal messaging from their end.
Can I mute group chats?
Yes, you can mute both individual chats and group chats on WhatsApp. Muting works the same way for both.
To mute a group:
- Go to the group chat window
- Tap the group name at the top
- Tap Mute
- Choose 8 hours or longer duration
This will suppress notifications from the entire group while still allowing you to scroll up and view messages. You can unmute whenever needed.
Can I still get calls if muted?
Muting only affects chat notifications and does not apply to WhatsApp calls. If someone calls you on WhatsApp from a muted chat, the incoming call will ring as normal.
Use cases for muting
Here are some common scenarios where muting chats can be useful on WhatsApp:
- Temporarily reduce notifications – Mute chats when you need to concentrate without distractions from message alerts.
- Avoid spoilers – Mute groups and channels where important events like sports games or show episodes may get spoiled.
- Suppress broadcasts – Mute one-way announcement channels that send too many updates.
- Manage disputes – Mute heated conversations that get too intense or toxic for a while.
- Reduce late night disturbances – Mute groups or contacts that tend to message at night when you need rest.
Muting vs archiving chats
Besides muting, WhatsApp also offers the option to archive chats. So what’s the difference between muting and archiving?
| Feature | Mute | Archive |
|---|---|---|
| Notifications suppressed | Yes | Yes |
| Chat hidden from main list | No | Yes |
| New messages stored | Yes | Yes |
| Effect on sender | No difference | No difference |
| Duration | 8 hours to 1 year | Indefinite until unarchived |
In summary:
- Muting simply mutes notifications while keeping the chat in place
- Archiving hides the chat from view in addition to muting notifications
Think of archiving as an enhanced mute that also removes the chat from your main view. But archived chats can still be unarchived anytime.
Conclusion
Muting chats on WhatsApp simply silences notifications from those conversations temporarily while letting messages come through silently. It does not block messages or prevent them from being delivered.
Notifications are suppressed until you manually unmute. But mentions, reactions and private replies will still notify you even in muted chats.
Muting is handy for controlling distractions, avoiding spoilers, and silencing noisy chats without cutting contact. It provides more granular control over your notifications.
But keep in mind muting does not delete or erase chat history. All incoming messages remain saved in your muted chats. Muting only controls whether you get alerted about new messages, not the delivery of the messages themselves.
Overall, muting gives you a quick way to reduce distractions and streamline your WhatsApp experience by silencing chats while still keeping them accessible. Together with archiving and deleting chats, it provides useful tools to curate your WhatsApp notifications and conversations.