How to Hide, Mute and Favorite Chats in Microsoft Teams

The current Teams interface uses Favorites and custom sections to keep important chats close. Hide removes a conversation from your list, while Mute changes its notifications.

Those actions are not interchangeable:

• Favorite when you need quick access.
• Hide when a conversation is inactive and you want it out of view.
• Mute when the conversation can stay visible but routine notifications are distracting.
• Mark as unread when you need a personal visual reminder to return.
• Leave only when you actually want to exit an eligible group chat.

None of these user-interface actions should be treated as an organisation's retention policy.

The old Pin instruction has changed

Older versions of Teams let users pin chats to a dedicated Pinned area. Microsoft's current work/school Teams guidance tells users to move frequent conversations to the Favorites list instead.

If your client still shows Pin, you can use it. For a guide that survives the current desktop, web and mobile layouts, use Move to > Favorites as the primary route.

Microsoft's current chat-organisation instructions cover Hide, Unhide, Mute, Favorites and Mark as unread.

Add a chat to Favorites on desktop or web

Use either method:

1. Drag the chat into the Favorites section; or
2. Hover over the chat, select More options > Move to > Favorites.

You can order the items in Favorites yourself. To remove one, select More options > Remove from section. The chat still exists and normally returns to the relevant recent list; you have only changed its organisation.

Favorites is deliberately small. If every conversation is a favourite, the section stops helping.

Hide a chat on desktop or web

1. Hover over the chat in your list.
2. Select More options.
3. Select Hide.

Microsoft says the chat and its history remain hidden until somebody posts a new message. Hiding does not delete the conversation, remove other participants, erase messages or stop a retention policy applying.

Current Teams also supports the /hide command in the compose box. The menu route is easier to discover and explain across a team.

Unhide a chat

There is not always a convenient list of every hidden chat, so start with search:

1. Use the Search box at the top of Teams.
2. Enter the person's name or the group-chat name.
3. Open the result.
4. Select More options > Unhide beside the chat name.
5. Choose Show hidden chat history if Teams offers it.

For unnamed group chats, search can be harder. Give durable group chats a clear name while their purpose is still obvious. Our Teams group-chat guide explains naming, membership and history choices.

Mute a chat

1. Hover over the chat.
2. Select More options > Mute.

You remain a participant. Microsoft says you will not receive normal notifications from the muted chat, but you can still be notified of @mentions.

Muted chats can appear in a Muted section. They still show unread text in bold, but Microsoft says they do not add to the chat badge count. Use More options > Unmute to reverse the choice.

Mute is the right tool for notification volume. Hide is the right tool for list clutter. If you hide a noisy active chat, a new message can bring it back.

Mark a chat as unread

1. Hover over the chat.
2. Select More options > Mark as unread.

This is a personal visual flag, not an assigned task and not proof that somebody else will follow up. For a real commitment, create it in the team's agreed task system with an owner and date.

Mobile steps

Microsoft's current mobile instruction is compact:

1. Swipe left on the chat.
2. Tap Mute, Move to or Hide.
3. Use the corresponding reverse action if you change your mind.

Exact gestures and labels can vary slightly between iOS, Android and phased client updates. If a swipe does not reveal the menu, press and hold the chat or open its More options menu.

Choose Combined or Separate view

Current Teams can show chat and channels together or in separate app views.

To choose:

1. At the top of the chat list, select More list options.
2. Select Customize view.
3. Choose Combined or Separate.

Microsoft's new chat and channels experience explains the current structure:

• Combined view includes Favorites, recent chats, and teams and channels.
• Separate view gives Chat and Teams their own sections.
• Custom sections can contain individual, group and meeting chats as well as channels.
• Filters can focus the list on unread items, chats, channels or meeting chats.

The best layout is the one your team can explain and support. Combined view is useful for work organised around conversations; Separate view may be clearer for users who think of channels and direct chats as different workspaces.

A practical organisation system

Keep it deliberately simple.

Favorites

Use for a handful of conversations you open most days: your immediate team, current incident or active project channel.

Custom sections

Use for temporary contexts such as Current launch, Customer delivery or This month. Remove or rename the section when the work ends.

Recent chats

Let normal activity organise the rest. Do not manually curate everything.

Muted

Use for conversations you must remain in but do not need to monitor continuously.

Hidden

Use for inactive conversations you can locate again by search. Do not hide a chat if you cannot remember its participants or name and may need it soon.

What these controls do not do

Action	Does	Does not
Favorite	Moves a chat to a quick-access section	Change membership or notifications by itself
Hide	Removes the chat from your visible list	Delete messages or stop new activity
Mute	Suppresses normal notifications	Leave the chat or erase unread messages
Mark unread	Adds a personal visual reminder	Create a governed task
Leave	Removes you from an eligible group conversation	Delete the history for everyone

An administrator cannot use your Favorites list as evidence that work is important, and a hidden chat is not proof that its records have been deleted. Retention and deletion belong to Microsoft 365 policy and the permissions available for the specific chat type.

Troubleshooting

A hidden chat came back

That is expected when somebody posts a new message. Hide is not mute. If the problem is notifications, mute the chat.

You cannot find a hidden group chat

Search for the group name or a participant, then use filters and Show hidden chat history. If the group was unnamed, search for a distinctive phrase from the conversation.

Favorites or custom sections are missing

Your Teams client may be on a different chat-and-channels layout or rollout. Compare Teams on the web, update the client and check Customize view before assuming an administrator removed the feature.

Notifications still arrive from a muted chat

Microsoft says @mentions can still notify you. Check whether the event was an @mention and review your wider Teams notification settings.

You want the conversation gone for everybody

Hide and mute cannot do that. Users can delete messages they sent where policy allows; leaving or deleting an entire chat has separate eligibility and policy rules. For records management, ask the Microsoft 365 compliance owner about the approved retention configuration.

For practical Teams and SharePoint administration patterns, join the SharePoint & Teams Admins Space.

Frequently asked questions

What happened to pinned chats in Microsoft Teams?

Current work/school Teams guidance uses Favorites as the main quick-access section. Some clients or editions may still expose Pin. Use More options > Move to > Favorites for the current documented route.

Does hiding a Teams chat delete it?

No. It removes the conversation from your list. The history remains, and Microsoft says the chat reappears when somebody posts a new message.

What is the difference between hiding and muting a Teams chat?

Hide controls visibility in your list. Mute controls normal notifications while leaving you in the conversation. @mentions can still notify you in a muted chat.

How do I see a hidden Teams chat again?

Search for the person or group-chat name, open the result and select More options > Unhide. Use Show hidden chat history when offered.

Can an administrator hide or favorite chats for every user?

These are principally personal organisation choices. Administrators can govern Teams policies, apps, retention and messaging capabilities, but a user's Favorites and hidden-chat list should not be treated as a centrally curated records system.