How-To

How to Mute iMessage on Mac

By Adam Davidson

Published July 11, 2022

Are you tired of message notifications popping up on your Mac? Learn how to mute iMessage on Mac right here.

Being able to receive iMessages on your Mac can be very useful. It makes it less likely that you’ll miss any important messages when you’re working on your Mac, and you can also type your response more quickly and accurately with your full Mac keyboard vs. a small virtual keyboard on your iPhone.

Sometimes, however, the endless pings of message notifications can start to wear you down. The good news is that it’s possible to control how and when you’re notified about new messages.

Here’s how to mute iMessage on Mac.

Mute iMessage on Mac with Do Not Disturb

If you want to quickly mute iMessage on Mac, you can turn on Do Not Disturb. This will block any iMessage notifications, but you can set it up so that you are still able to receive calls if you wish. The way that you turn on Do Not Disturb will depend on which version of macOS you are running.

How to Use Do Not Disturb on Catalina or Older

The Control Center wasn’t introduced until macOS Big Sur. Prior to this, Do Not Disturb was controlled via the Notification Center.

To turn on Do Not Disturb on macOS Catalina or Older:

1. Hold down the Option (Alt) key and click the Notification Center icon in the menu bar.
   
2. The Notification Center icon will be grayed out, indicating that Do Not Disturb has been turned on. No notifications will come through while this is turned on.
   
3. To turn off Do Not Disturb, repeat step 1 and the icon will no longer be greyed out. Notifications will come through as normal.
4. You can also turn on Do Not Disturb through the Notification Center. Click the Notification Center icon to open it.
   
5. Swipe down with two fingers on your trackpad to reveal the Do Not Disturb controls.
   
6. Toggle the Do Not Disturb switch to turn it on or off.
   

How to Use Do Not Disturb on Big Sur or Newer

With the introduction of macOS Big Sur, Apple added the Control Center to Mac. This is similar to the Control Center you use on iPhone.

To turn on Do Not Disturb on macOS Big Sur or Newer:

1. Click the Control Center icon in the menu bar.
   
2. Click Do Not Disturb in Big Sur or Focus in Monterey.
   
3. Choose your desired setting.
   
4. To turn off Do Not Disturb, repeat steps 1-2 above and click your current Do Not Disturb setting to disable it.
   

How to Change Do Not Disturb Settings

The way you change Do Not Disturb settings is similar on both newer and older versions of macOS. The method below should work for both.

To Change Do Not Disturb Settings on Mac:

1. Click the Apple menu in the menu bar.
   
2. Select System Preferences.
   
3. Click Notifications.
   
4. Click Do Not Disturb.
   
5. If you want to allow calls when Do Not Disturb is turned on, check Allow Calls From Everyone.
   
6. If you only want to allow calls if people call you at least twice in the space of three minutes, check Allow Repeated Calls.
   
7. You can also set up Do Not Disturb to turn on at specific times or under specific circumstances.
   

How to Set Messages to Deliver Quietly

Do Not Disturb allows you to still receive messages in the Notification Center, but stops any notifications from popping up and disturbing you. Another way to achieve the same effect is to set messages to deliver quietly. You can do this when a notification appears if you’re using macOS Big Sur or later. You can also do this via System Preferences on both current and older versions of macOS.

To set Messages to deliver quietly from a notification:

1. Click the Time and Date to open the Notification Center.
   
2. Right-click on an unopened message.
   
3. Select Deliver Quietly.
   
4. Your Messages notifications will still appear in the Notification Center, but you won’t see any notifications appear on the screen.
5. To turn prominent notifications back on, repeat steps 1 and 2 and select Deliver Prominently.
   
   

To set Messages to deliver quietly in System Preferences:

1. Click the Apple icon in the menu bar.
   
2. Select System Preferences.
   
3. Click Notifications.
   
4. In the menu on the left, scroll down and click Messages.
   
5. Under Message Alert Style, click on None.
   
6. If you don’t want to hear a sound when a message arrives, uncheck Play Sound for Notifications.
   
7. If you want to turn notifications back on, repeat steps 1-4, and select Banners or Alerts.
   

How to Mute iMessage on Mac for Individual Conversations

If you’re running macOS Big Sur or later, then you also have the option to mute alerts for specific conversations in Messages.

To hide alerts for individual conversions in iMessage:

1. Open the Messages app.
2. Swipe left on the conversation that you want to mute, and click on the Hide Alerts icon.
   
3. You will not receive notifications of new messages in this conversation, and these will not show in the Notification Center, either.
4. To turn alerts back on, repeat steps 1-2 above and click on the Show Alerts icon.
   

How to Mute iMessage on Mac for Specific Numbers and Accounts

If you want to stop messages from coming through to your Mac completely, you can disable messages for specific accounts and phone numbers.

To disable Messages for specific accounts and numbers:

1. Open the Messages app.
2. In the Menu bar, click on Messages.
   
3. Select Preferences.
   
4. Click iMessage.
   
5. Uncheck any accounts that you don’t want to be able to reach you through your Mac.
   
6. You will no longer receive any messages from these accounts.

How to Sign Out of iMessage Completely

The most drastic way to mute iMessage on Mac is to sign out of Messages completely. By doing so, you will be unable to receive any messages from any of your accounts on your Mac until you sign back in again.

To sign out of iMessage on Mac:

1. Launch the Messages app.
2. In the Menu bar, click Messages.
   
3. Select Preferences.
   
4. Click iMessage.
   
5. Click Sign Out.
   
6. When you have signed out, you will no longer receive any messages on your Mac.
7. To sign back in, launch Messages and sign in with your Apple ID.
   

Do More With iMessage

Learning how to mute iMessage on Mac allows you to take control of how and when you receive notifications. It makes it easier to ensure that you only get the notifications you really want.

If you’ve upgraded to macOS Big Sur, there are some new features in Messages that you might want to check out. You can also use Messages for some useful things on your Mac, such as sharing your iPhone contacts.

If you’re getting frustrated with iPhone notifications and calls continually popping up on your Mac, you can always just bite the bullet and disconnect your iPhone from your Mac.