Google Chat Do Not Disturb: How to Turn It On, Off and Schedule It

To turn on Do not disturb in Google Chat, click your status at the top of Google Chat or Gmail on a computer, choose Do not disturb, pick how long, and click Set. On a phone, tap Menu, the Down arrow next to your status, then Do not disturb. It mutes Google Chat notifications on all your devices until the time ends, and coworkers see a red icon with a white bar, plus how long you paused notifications. To turn it off early, click your status and choose Turn off Do not disturb, or on a phone choose Automatic.

Google Chat's status menu has three presence choices: Automatic, Do not disturb and Set as away. Do not disturb is the only one that stops notifications. We opened every menu below on chat.google.com on 4 October 2026, with a personal Google account, without changing anything.

The same feature in other apps is in Slack do not disturb and Teams do not disturb.

How to turn on do not disturb in Google Chat

On a computer (Google Chat or Gmail):

• Open Google Chat or Gmail.
• At the top right, click your status button (it reads Active).
• Hover over or click Do not disturb ("Mute chat notifications").
• Pick a length under "Mute notifications for". Each item is labelled "Set Do Not Disturb for" that length and shows its end time; there is no separate Set button for these.


The menu has six fixed lengths, 30 minutes, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 24 hours, each with its end time ("Until 11:14 AM"), then Until a specific time and Set a do not disturb schedule.

On Android or iPhone (Chat app or Gmail app):

• Open the Chat app or the Gmail app.
• At the top left, tap Menu.
• Tap the Down arrow next to your status, then Do not disturb.
• Under "Mute notifications for", pick a duration or tap Until a specific time.
• Tap Set.

Notifications come back on by themselves when the time ends. Your status syncs, so turning it on from your phone also mutes Chat on your computer.

How to turn off do not disturb in Google Chat

• • Computer: click your status at the top, then Turn off Do not disturb.
• • Phone: tap Menu, the Down arrow, then Automatic.

If notifications still do not arrive after you turn it off, the cause is usually a browser or system setting. Google's troubleshooting steps say to allow notifications for both https://chat.google.com:443 and https://mail.google.com:443 in Chrome's site settings, and to check the "Allow chat notifications" box in Chat settings. A muted conversation also stays silent after Do not disturb ends.

Schedule do not disturb in Google Chat

You can pause notifications on a repeating schedule, such as every evening and weekend:

• Open Google Chat or Gmail on a computer.
• Click your status, then Do not disturb, then Set a do not disturb schedule. It opens Chat settings > Notifications at the "Do not disturb schedules" section.
• Tick a schedule that is already there, or click Create new, enter the days and times, and save.


Our account listed two schedules, both unticked: 7:00 PM - 7:00 AM on Sun to Fri, and 12:00 AM - 12:00 AM (all day) on Sat and Sun. Ticking one turns it on. Match do not disturb schedule to time zone was on, and showed the device's time zone ("Korean Standard Time" for us), so the schedule follows you when you travel.

You can create more than one schedule, and notifications pause during each of them.

On Workspace accounts, Google Calendar can also change your Chat status. When you are in a meeting or out of office, people who message you see your Calendar status next to your name. Your administrator decides which Calendar statuses, such as "Out of office" or "In focus time", appear in Chat.

What do not disturb means in Google Chat

The red circle with a white bar means the person turned on Do not disturb, and Chat notifications are muted on all their devices. Google says people "can tell how long you paused notifications so they don't expect an immediate response."

What it does not do:

• • It does not block messages. People can still send you messages. They arrive, and you see them when you open Chat.
• • It does not stop every notification. Some Chat apps and bots can send @notify messages for urgent updates. Google says these "ignore your Do Not Disturb status, muted conversations, or notification settings". Only apps can send them; a coworker cannot.
• • It does not change Idle or Away. Your dot still follows your activity underneath, but others see the red icon instead.

On Workspace accounts, Do not disturb is visible only inside your organization's domain. People outside your company do not see it.

All the icons, including Idle and Away, are decoded in Google Chat status icons meaning.

Do not disturb vs the other ways to go quiet

Set as away changes what people see without muting anything. Google Chat also sets Away on its own after 10 minutes idle; the timer is covered in how long before Google Chat shows away.

Mute a conversation works per chat: hover over it in your conversation list, click More options, then Mute. The conversation is not highlighted or moved to the top, but a badge still shows when someone mentions you.

Google Chat vs Slack, Teams and Zoom

Details for each app: Slack do not disturb, Teams do not disturb, Zoom do not disturb and Webex do not disturb.

FAQ

What does "notifications paused" mean in Google Chat? The person turned on Do not disturb. Your message is delivered, but they will not get a notification until the pause ends.

How do I turn off do not disturb in Google Chat on my phone? Tap Menu, the Down arrow next to your status, then Automatic.

Does Do not disturb in Google Chat affect Gmail? It mutes Chat notifications in Gmail too, because Chat in Gmail uses the same status. Email notifications are separate.

Why am I still getting notifications on Do not disturb? An app sent an @notify message, which ignores Do not disturb, or your phone's own notifications are coming from a different Google account.