Telegram gives you several ways to cut the noise without losing the messages that matter. This guide covers muting a chat, still hearing mentions in a muted group, setting exceptions, quieting topics, and changing or silencing sounds. You also learn which controls Telegram does not describe, so you don’t waste time looking for them.
The quickest way to get quiet
If one group is pinging you nonstop, mute it. That one step stops most of the noise. Telegram still notifies you when someone mentions you or replies to one of your messages, so you don’t miss what’s aimed at you.
If you’d rather keep seeing a chat’s notifications but stop the sound, use Disable Sound on that chat instead. You still see each alert, but your phone stays quiet.
Here’s a quick map of the controls covered below.
| What you want | Control | Where it is |
|---|---|---|
| Silence one chat or group | Mute | Chat’s info page or chat header |
| Still hear mentions and replies in a muted group | Smart notifications | Happens when you mute the group |
| See which chats have their own settings | Exceptions | Settings > Notifications > Exceptions |
| Quiet one topic in a group | Topics | Each topic’s own notification settings |
| Keep alerts, lose the sound | Disable Sound | Chat’s notification menu |
| Pick or add tones | Sounds | Settings > Notifications and Sounds |
| Use your own audio as a tone | Custom Notification Sounds | Tap a short audio file or voice message in a chat |
Mute one chat
Muting turns off notifications for a single chat or group. It’s the control you’ll use most.
On Android:
- Open the chat’s info page and tap Notifications, or
- Use Mute in the chat header.
On iPhone or iPad:
- Open the chat’s info page and tap Mute.
- Pick a length, or set your own.
Telegram offers preset lengths such as 8 hours or 2 days. You can also set a custom duration. That helps when you know a group will be loud for a set stretch, like a weekend event or a project crunch, and you want it back to normal afterward.
Telegram runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iPhone and iPad, Android, and in a web browser. The mute steps above come from Telegram’s notes for Android and iPhone. The vendor’s pages don’t spell out the same steps for desktop or web.
Get mentions from a muted group
This is how you mute a Telegram group without going dark. Telegram calls it Smart notifications.
Here’s how it works:
- Mute the group.
- Ordinary messages stop notifying you.
- You still get notified when someone mentions you or replies to one of your messages.
That’s a good fit for big work channels, class groups or community chats. You skip the general chatter but still hear about anything aimed at you.
One thing still gets through a mute. Pinned messages notify every member, even people who muted ordinary messages from the group. If an admin pins an announcement, expect a ping.
Telegram’s help pages describe alerts for mentions and replies. They don’t describe alerts for words you choose yourself.
Pause everything at once
Telegram’s help pages do not describe a way to pause all notifications at once, such as a snooze or do-not-disturb switch inside the app.
Quiet hours on a schedule
Telegram’s help pages do not describe recurring quiet hours, like silencing notifications every night or during class.
Set different levels for different chats with Exceptions
Your Telegram notification settings have a global level. Any chat you change on its own becomes an exception to that level. Telegram collects these in one list, so you can review them in one place.
To find them:
- Go to Settings > Notifications.
- Open Exceptions.
- You’ll see the chats that use their own notification settings instead of your global ones. You can change them from here.
This is handy after a few weeks of muting things on the fly. You can see what you’ve muted, spot a chat you forgot about, and fix it without hunting through every conversation. Telegram introduced Exceptions in a blog post, and that post is where the feature is described.
Quiet busy topics one at a time
Some Telegram groups are split into Topics, which work like threads. Each topic keeps its own notification settings.
That means you don’t have to choose between muting the whole group and hearing everything. You can:
- Leave the topics you care about at full volume.
- Mute the topics that are just noise for you.
For example, in a large community group, you might keep the announcements topic on and mute the off-topic or general chat topic. Set each one on its own.
Keep notifications but turn off the sound
Sometimes you still want to see what’s coming in. You just don’t want to hear it. That’s what Disable Sound does.
To use it:
- Open the chat’s notification menu.
- Choose Disable Sound.
You keep getting that chat’s notifications, silently. This works per chat.
Be careful in that menu. The Mute options sit in the same place, and they turn notifications off completely. Pick Disable Sound if you want to keep seeing alerts. Pick Mute if you don’t.
Change your notification sounds
A distinct sound helps you tell at a glance (or at a listen) whether a ping matters. Telegram lets you set tones for groups of chats and for single chats.
Pick or add tones
Go to Settings > Notifications and Sounds. From there you can:
- Pick a tone.
- Add new tones.
- Set sounds for whole groups of chats.
Telegram describes these tones as cross-platform and free.
Telegram’s help pages do not name or describe the default notification sound.
Give one chat or contact its own sound
Also in Settings > Notifications and Sounds, you can set a sound for an individual chat. Any tone you’ve added can go on any chat.
A practical setup: give your manager, your teacher or your closest group a sound you’ll recognize. Leave everything else on a quieter tone, or turn the sound off for busy chats with Disable Sound.
Use your own sound file
Telegram calls this Custom Notification Sounds. You can turn a short clip into a notification tone.
To add one:
- Find a short audio file or voice message in a chat.
- Tap it to add it to your list of notification sounds.
The limits:
- Under 5 seconds long.
- Up to 300 KB in size.
Once it’s in your list, you can assign it to any chat, like any other tone.
A simple setup that works for most people
If you want fewer interruptions without missing anything important, try this:
- Mute your loudest groups. Smart notifications still alert you to mentions and replies.
- In topic-based groups, mute topic by topic instead of muting the whole group.
- Use Disable Sound for chats you want to see but not hear.
- Give your most important chats a distinct tone in Settings > Notifications and Sounds.
- Check Exceptions now and then under Settings > Notifications to review what you’ve changed.
FAQ
If I mute a Telegram group, will I miss messages meant for me?
No, not mentions or replies. When you mute a group, Telegram still notifies you when someone mentions you or replies to one of your messages. Pinned messages also notify every member, even those who muted the group.
What’s the difference between Mute and Disable Sound?
Mute turns a chat’s notifications off completely. Disable Sound keeps that chat’s notifications coming, just without sound. Both are in the chat’s notification menu and work per chat.
How long can I mute a chat?
You can pick a preset length, such as 8 hours or 2 days, or set your own custom duration.
Can I use a voice message as my notification sound?
Yes. Tap a short audio file or voice message in a chat to add it to your notification sounds. It must be under 5 seconds and up to 300 KB.