Turn Off 'Joined the Channel' Messages in Slack (Tested)

To turn off "has joined the channel" messages in Slack, a workspace owner or admin opens Admin, then Settings & permissions, clicks Expand next to Channel Join & Leave Messages, unticks Show a message when people join or leave channels, and clicks Save. The setting is on the Free plan. It does not hide every join line: in our test on October 28, 2026, a join in a small channel still showed with the setting off. A separate setting, Notify of new users, controls the message everyone gets when a new person joins the workspace.

The join and leave setting

In our Free workspace the box was already unticked:

The note under the box matters: "You'll always see these messages in some cases, such as in small channels, private channels, and when a person joins a channel by invitation." Slack's help page puts a number on "small": with the setting off, a join to a public channel is hidden only in channels with more than 20 members.

What we saw with the setting off

We made a public test channel and had a test app join it by itself (not by invitation). The join line still appeared, because the channel had two members:

Then the app left the channel. Nothing appeared, and Slack's message history for the channel had no leave event at all, only the two joins. An app we invited to a second channel also got a join line, as the note says.

What changed with the setting on

We ticked the box and saved:

The app joined the first channel again and left. This time Slack stored a "has left the channel" event and the channel showed it, folded into the earlier line:

We then set the box back to unticked and checked that the workspace setting read off again.

So the setting mostly helps big public channels. In a team-sized channel, people will still see who joins.

Stop the "new teammate joined" notifications

The other message people mean by "new member notifications" is the one Slack sends when someone joins the workspace. That is a different admin setting, Notify of new users, a few rows lower on the same page:

Untick Notify everyone when a new teammate joins and click Save. The note says members can also opt out of these for themselves. We left this one on and did not test what each member sees.

You are not an admin

Members cannot turn join lines off for themselves. What you can do is mute a noisy channel, as Slack mute a channel shows. For what other members see when you leave, see does Slack notify when you leave a channel.

FAQ

Does this setting delete old join messages?

No. In our test the join lines posted before we changed the setting stayed in the channel.

Is it on the Free plan?

Yes. We changed it as the owner of a Free workspace, and Slack's help lists Free, Pro and Business+.

Can I turn off join messages for one channel only?

We found no per-channel setting. It is one switch for the whole workspace.