(If you want to block or mute entire servers, please see the Blocking and Muting Servers on Mastodon guide.)
Is it rude to mute or block people?
It is totally fine to block or mute people on Mastodon and the Fediverse. It is not considered rude or unusual to do so. Use it as freely as you want!
There are lots of reasons why someone might block or mute an account, it’s not necessarily any kind of judgement against that account.
To block or mute someone on Mastodon:
- Either click ⋯ on one of their posts, or go to their profile and click the ⋯ or︙ button at the top
- Select Mute or Block depending on what you want
- If you change your mind, do the same thing again but select Unmute or Unblock
Here’s what these options mean:
- Mutes are the softest option. When you mute someone you will no longer see their posts and you won’t see posts that mention them. You can also optionally mute notifications from them, and set a timer so that the mute expires after a certain period. People who are muted will not know they are muted, and they will still be able to follow you, see your posts and interact.
- Blocks are the harder option. When you block someone, it does everything a mute does but also prevents them following you and hides your posts from them while they are logged in.
⚠️ Important: If you are posting public posts they will still be visible to the blocked person when they log out, because public posts are visible to everyone on the internet. To restrict the audience for a post, use followers-only or mentions visibilities.
What about the “Block Domain” option? What does that do?
It mutes all accounts from that person’s server, but does not block them (yes, the name is very misleading!). Please see the blocking and muting servers guide for more details.
How do I keep track of who I’ve muted and blocked?
To view lists of all of your blocks and mutes:
- Log in through your server’s website
- Go to your profile page and click ︙
- Select Muted Users, Blocked Users or Blocked Domains
- If you want to remove a mute or block, click the icon next to a name on the list
How do I do a temporary mute?
To have a temporary mute on Mastodon, log in through your server’s website or web app and it will offer you the option of setting a duration when you’re confirming the mute. Set the duration to however long you want the mute to last.
How do I mute just someone’s boosts?
On Mastodon, if you follow someone and you want to see their posts but not their boosts, you can hide just their boosts without blocking or muting them. This doesn’t affect their normal posts, and they have no way of knowing you’re doing it.
- Open your Mastodon app or log in through your server’s website
- Go to the profile of the person whose boosts you want to hide
- Click on the ︙or ⋯ button at the top and select Hide boosts from… (or Hide reblogs on some apps)
- If you change your mind, go back to their profile and select Show boosts from… (or Show reblogs)
This only works on accounts you follow.
What happens to DMs sent by someone I’ve muted or blocked?
If you mute or block someone, you won’t see any DMs from them by default. However if you decide to browse their profile you will see any DMs sent to you in their profile timeline.
If you remove a mute or block, DMs will start arriving as normal, but any DMs sent during the mute or block will only be visible by going to their profile.
How do I block DMs from people I don’t follow?
- Log onto your server’s website or web app
- Click ⚙️ Preferences
- Click Notifications (on the mobile website click ☰ and then Notifications)
- Tick the box marked “Block direct messages from people you don’t follow”
- Click the Save Changes button
If you change your mind, repeat these steps but untick the same box.
Also, if you are blocking DMs from strangers, you might want to mention this on your profile description to avoid any misunderstandings. (This avoids situations where people are trying to contact you for legitimate reasons but think you’re ignoring them.)
Another thing to bear in mind is it will also block private replies in threads from people you don’t follow, as these are technically the same as DMs on Mastodon.