How to Turn Off Messages on Threads: Who Can Still Reach You

Messaging launched in the app on July 1, 2025. The September 12, 2025 update said people would, starting soon, be able to message accounts they do not follow, with those messages going to a requests folder where links and media are disabled and senders face request limits. The October 15, 2025 update said group chats were rolling out, including up to 50 people who follow you, and that messaging was expanding to the EU. You can trace the documented inbox changes to those three updates in Meta's messaging announcement for Threads.

Because the feature is layered, the settings are layered too. Whether a message interrupts your day depends on four separate questions. Did the sender pass your who-can-message rule? If not, it landed in Message Requests, where links and media are disabled and senders face limits on how many requests they can send. Did it look like spam or contain offensive content? Then it went to the hidden folder instead, which never notifies you. Did a notification type survive your notification settings? Your phone only buzzes for the types you left on. And is this one particular chat too loud? That is what conversation mute is for.

The mistake most people make is changing only the third layer. Turning notifications off feels like turning messages off, but the requests folder keeps filling, and accepted conversations keep growing. Work through the next four sections in order and the inbox gets quieter step by step: fewer senders able to open a request, less spam visible when they do, fewer buzzes for what remains, and per-chat control for the rest.

This is the control that matches what most people mean by turning messages off. Meta's wording: you can turn off message requests from people you don't follow at any time by visiting your Messages settings and choosing Only People You Follow. That stops new requests from accounts you do not follow. It does not stop people you follow, and it is not a block.

Meta's announcement does not publish a longer tap path than Messages settings, then Only People You Follow. Do not look for a switch aimed at people who do not follow you. That is the opposite relationship. Someone who follows you, but whom you do not follow, still cannot start a new request. Someone you follow can still write even if they do not follow you back. When the setting rolled out, the official Threads account walked the same route from the inbox: open your DMs, tap Requests at the top, and manage requests from Settings, where you choose between only people you follow or anyone on Threads.

The announcement does not say this deletes requests already in the folder. Clear those in Requests if they are still there. It also does not say an existing chat with someone you do not follow stays open. For one person, use restrict or block, later in this guide.

For creators who use DMs for real opportunities, the tradeoff is real. Close the door and a collaborator you do not follow yet has to reply on a post or comment first. A public reply is a softer introduction than a cold DM, and it is one way to generate leads without spamming anyone. Keep the door open and the request queue stays an intake desk. Choose deliberately. Nothing in the announcement says this control moves after each app update.

Some senders still get through the first door, because you follow them or they already message you. Requests that may be offensive, unwanted, or contain spam go to the Hidden requests folder on Threads, and you do not receive notifications for hidden message requests. Meta says it tries to filter harmful messages and spam. That is not a count of how many people never see spam.

Open Messages, then Requests, then Hidden. Select one request or several, then Accept to move the conversation to the main inbox, or Delete, then Delete again to confirm. Reporting a hidden message sends its content to Meta for review. The report is anonymous except for intellectual property reports. The sender is not told who reported them.

Do not add pitch phrases to Hidden Words expecting them to catch message requests. The Hidden Words preferences page says those preferences currently will not apply to messages you receive on Threads. The hidden-requests page still says some requests and some previews can be hidden based on those preferences, and that messages from accounts you have connected with will not be hidden even if they contain offensive words. The two pages disagree. Until the Hidden Words page says the filter applies to messages, do not use it as an inbox control. A hostile connection needs restrict or block, and a triage system for hostile comments covers the public side of the same problem.

Two practical habits follow from how the folder works. First, automated filtering is imperfect in both directions: aggressive spam sometimes lands in the visible Requests folder, and a legitimate message can sit in Hidden. If you are expecting a message from someone specific, check Hidden before assuming it never arrived. Second, the hidden folder is a holding area, not a deletion rule. Messages sit there until you act, so a monthly one-minute sweep of Requests, then Hidden, keeps the queue from quietly growing.

If messages keep interrupting you but you want the inbox itself open, this is your layer. The push notification settings for Threads let you turn notifications on or off for each type, and for many types you can also choose who you hear about: Off, From people you follow, or From everyone.

The path: tap your Profile picture, then Menu, then Notifications. Pick a category such as Threads and replies or Following and followers, scroll to a notification type, and select the option you want. Not every type offers the middle choice. A separate pause control is linked from that page. This article does not describe what the timer covers.

Set message notifications to Off if you want silence. The notifications page lists Off, From people you follow, and From everyone as examples, and not every type offers the middle choice. Do not assume the message row has From people you follow unless you see it. Following and followers can be limited to people you follow. Leave mentions and reposts on only if those are the alerts you still want.

Be precise about what this does not do. Notification settings never delete a message or close a request door. They decide whether your phone tells you about things that already happened. That is why this section is third, not first: a silent inbox that fills with spam is worse than a loud one, because you stop looking. Set who can message you, know what the hidden folder catches, and only then decide what deserves a buzz.

Sometimes the problem is not strangers. It is one group chat of 50 people, or one enthusiastic collaborator. To mute a conversation on Threads, press and hold the conversation in your inbox and select Mute, or open the chat, tap More, and choose Mute with a duration. You stay in the conversation and can read it anytime; only the notifications stop. This currently works in the mobile apps, not on desktop.

Restrict is not a mute and not a block. The help page to restrict someone on Threads says the person is not notified, their chat moves to Requests, and later messages from them go to Requests. You can read a message without them knowing you saw it. They can still see your posts and reply. The hidden-requests page points to restrict or block for a connected account sending offensive messages. It does not name restrict as the only option. The comparison of replies, tags, and visibility is in the restrict versus block decision guide.

The help page to block someone on Threads says they cannot message you, see your posts, or find your profile, and they are not notified. It also says that if you stay in a group chat with someone you blocked, you can still see each other's messages in that group. Use block for harassment or scam persistence. If the goal is leaving the app, deactivating the account is a separate decision, not a message setting with a grace period documented here.

Screening replies before they go live is a comments control, not a message mute. For messages: mute the chat if you only want quiet, restrict if you want their DMs in Requests without telling them, block if you want one-to-one messages stopped. That order is a practical split of Meta's documented effects, not a tested moderator ladder.

If you do nothing else, do these three steps in order. Step 1: open Messages settings and choose Only People You Follow. Accounts you do not follow cannot start a new request after that. Existing requests are not described as auto-cleared. Accept or delete them in Requests.

Step 2: clear the filter Meta already runs. Open Messages, then Requests, then Hidden, and accept or delete what is there. Do not build a Hidden Words list for DMs. That preferences page says the list currently will not apply to messages you receive. Check Hidden before you assume an expected message never arrived.

Step 3: decide what deserves a buzz. Profile, Menu, Notifications. Set the message notification type to Off if you want full silence, and trim Following and followers to people you follow if that row offers the choice. Leave on only the types that map to work you actually do.

Review Requests and Hidden on a schedule you will actually keep. None of these settings batches your posts, and a scheduler does not turn messages off. If a quieter inbox is the first step of a calmer Threads routine, JoltSage builds tools for text-first creators, starting from the home page.