How to Mute a Hashtag on Mastodon Without Blocking Authors

If you follow a hashtag on Mastodon but the posts annoy you, you can mute that hashtag instead of unfollowing it. Muting a hashtag removes posts with that tag from your Home and Federated timelines. The authors of those posts are not blocked or muted themselves. This article explains how to mute a hashtag on Mastodon using the web interface and mobile apps.

Mastodon lets you follow hashtags to discover new content. But sometimes a hashtag is used for spam, off-topic posts, or repetitive content you do not want to see. Muting the hashtag hides those posts without affecting your relationship with the people who post them. You can still see their other posts and interact with them normally.

This guide covers the mute feature for hashtags, the steps to mute a hashtag on desktop and mobile, and common mistakes to avoid. You will learn how to keep your timeline clean without blocking anyone.

Why Mute a Hashtag Instead of Blocking the Author

Muting a hashtag works differently from muting or blocking a user. When you mute a hashtag, Mastodon checks each incoming post for that hashtag. If the post contains the muted hashtag, the post is hidden from your Home and Federated timelines. The post still appears in the author’s own profile and in the timeline of other users who follow that hashtag. You can still see the author’s other posts that do not include the muted hashtag.

Blocking a user hides all their posts from you and prevents them from seeing your posts. Muting a user hides their posts from your timelines but does not block them. Neither option is necessary if you only want to hide posts with a specific tag. Muting the hashtag is the most precise tool for this task.

Mastodon also lets you set an expiration time for a hashtag mute. You can mute a hashtag for 30 minutes, 1 hour, 6 hours, 1 day, 7 days, or permanently. This is useful for temporary events like conference hashtags or trending topics that will fade soon.

Steps to Mute a Hashtag on Mastodon Desktop

The following steps work on the Mastodon web interface for desktop browsers. The process is the same on all Mastodon instances unless the instance admin has modified the theme.

1. Open the hashtag page
   Click a hashtag link anywhere in the Mastodon interface. You can click a hashtag in a post, in the trending hashtags sidebar, or in the Explore section. This opens the dedicated page for that hashtag. The URL looks like https://instance.social/tags/hashtagname.
2. Click the three-dot menu
   On the hashtag page, look for the three-dot icon near the top right of the page. It is located next to the Follow button. Click it to open a dropdown menu.
3. Select Mute this hashtag
   From the dropdown menu, click Mute this hashtag. A confirmation dialog appears.
4. Choose the mute duration
   In the confirmation dialog, select how long you want to mute the hashtag. Options are: 30 minutes, 1 hour, 6 hours, 1 day, 7 days, or Forever. Click Mute to confirm.

After you mute a hashtag, posts containing that tag disappear from your Home and Federated timelines immediately. You can still see the hashtag page itself if you visit it directly. The mute applies only to your account. Other users are not affected.

Steps to Mute a Hashtag on Mastodon Mobile App

The Mastodon mobile app for Android and iOS uses a similar process. The button location varies slightly depending on the app version, but the general steps are the same.

1. Open the hashtag page
   Tap a hashtag link in any post or in the Explore tab. This opens the dedicated page for that hashtag.
2. Tap the three-dot menu
   On the hashtag page, tap the three-dot icon in the top right corner of the screen.
3. Tap Mute this hashtag
   From the menu that appears, tap Mute this hashtag. A confirmation dialog appears.
4. Select the mute duration
   Choose the mute duration from the list. Options are the same as on desktop: 30 minutes, 1 hour, 6 hours, 1 day, 7 days, or Forever. Tap Mute to confirm.

The muted hashtag is now hidden from your timelines. You can unmute it at any time by going to Preferences > Filters > Hashtag filters and deleting the filter.

How to Manage Muted Hashtags

You can view and edit all your muted hashtags from the Mastodon settings page.

1. Open Preferences
   Click your profile avatar in the bottom left corner of the Mastodon web interface. Select Preferences from the menu.
2. Go to Filters
   In the left sidebar, click Filters. This page shows all your active filters, including hashtag mutes and keyword filters.
3. Find the hashtag filter
   Look for filters with the type Hashtag. Each filter shows the hashtag name, the mute duration, and the expiration date if one was set.
4. Edit or delete the filter
   Click the edit icon to change the mute duration. Click the delete icon to remove the mute entirely. Removing the mute restores posts with that hashtag to your timelines.

You can also create a new hashtag mute from the Filters page by clicking Add new filter. This is useful if you want to mute a hashtag without first visiting its page.

Common Mistakes and Things to Avoid

Muting a hashtag does not mute the author

Some users think muting a hashtag also mutes the person who posts it. This is not true. The author can still appear in your timeline with other posts. If you want to hide all posts from a specific person, mute or block the user instead.

Muting a hashtag does not affect the Explore tab

The mute only applies to your Home and Federated timelines. Posts with the muted hashtag still appear in the Explore tab and in search results. This is by design so you can still discover content if you choose to look for it.

Muted hashtags are not visible to other users

Your muted hashtags are private. Other users cannot see which hashtags you have muted. Your mute list is stored on your instance and is never shared.

You cannot mute a hashtag from a post directly

Some users try to mute a hashtag by clicking the three-dot menu on an individual post. That menu does not contain a mute option for hashtags. You must open the hashtag page to access the mute feature.

Mastodon Hashtag Mute vs Keyword Filter vs User Mute

Item	Hashtag Mute	Keyword Filter	User Mute
What it hides	Posts containing a specific hashtag	Posts containing specific words or phrases	All posts from a specific user
Scope	Home and Federated timelines	Home, Federated, and notifications	Home and Federated timelines
Affects author relationship	No	No	Yes
Expiration options	30 min, 1h, 6h, 1d, 7d, Forever	30 min, 1h, 6h, 1d, 7d, Forever	None (permanent only)
Private to you	Yes	Yes	Yes

Muting a hashtag is the best choice when you want to hide posts about a specific topic without hiding the people who post about it. Keyword filters are better for hiding posts that contain certain words but not a specific hashtag. User mutes are for hiding all content from a particular person.

Now you can mute any hashtag on Mastodon without blocking the author. Open the hashtag page, click the three-dot menu, and choose Mute this hashtag. For temporary events, set a duration of 6 hours or 1 day. To manage all your muted hashtags, go to Preferences > Filters > Hashtag filters. You can also create new mutes from that page without visiting each hashtag first.