Microsoft Teams Introduces New Chat Sections for Muted and Meeting Chats
Microsoft Teams is adding new chat organization options to help users manage conversations more easily. With this update, Teams will introduce two dedicated chat sections:
- Muted chats
- Meeting chats
These sections are designed to reduce chat list clutter and make it easier for users to focus on important conversations.
As Teams becomes a daily communication hub, users often manage many one-to-one chats, group chats, meeting conversations, and muted threads. When everything appears together in one long list, it can become difficult to find the conversations that matter most.
What Is Changing in Microsoft Teams?
Microsoft Teams is introducing two system-generated chat sections: Muted chats and Meeting chats.
These sections automatically group specific types of conversations. Users can enable or disable available sections and reorder them based on how they prefer to organize their chat list.
This update is focused on improving the user experience and does not require any technical setup from Microsoft 365 admins.
Muted Chats Section
The Muted chats section will be enabled by default.
When a user mutes a chat, Teams will automatically move that conversation into the Muted chats section, as long as the chat is not already placed in Favorites or a custom section.
This helps keep the main chat list cleaner while still allowing users to access muted conversations whenever needed.
Unread muted chats will continue to appear in bold, so users can still identify new activity.
Meeting Chats Section
The Meeting chats section is designed for users who want to keep meeting-related conversations separate from regular chats.
Unlike Muted chats, this section is not enabled by default. Users can manually turn it on from Teams settings.
Once enabled, meeting chats that are not already in Favorites or user-created sections will automatically move into the Meeting chats section.
Unread meeting chats will still appear in bold and continue to contribute to badge counts, so users will not miss new messages from meeting conversations.
Favorites and Custom Sections Will Not Change
Microsoft Teams will not automatically move chats that users have already added to Favorites or placed inside custom sections.
This is important because many users already organize important conversations manually. Teams will respect those existing choices and only move eligible muted or meeting chats that are not already organized elsewhere.
Users can also drag and drop the new sections to reorder them in the chat list.
Can Admins Control These Sections?
No. Admin controls are not available for these new chat sections.
Microsoft 365 admins cannot enable, disable, or enforce these sections for users. Each user manages this experience individually inside Microsoft Teams.
No admin configuration is required for this update.
How Users Can Manage These Sections
Users can manage these chat sections in Microsoft Teams by going to:
Settings > Chats and channels
From there, users can enable or disable available chat sections and adjust how their chat list is organized.
What Admins Should Do
Although no technical action is required, admins and helpdesk teams should be aware of this update.
Some users may notice that muted chats appear in a separate section and may think their chats have moved or disappeared.
Admins can prepare a simple message explaining the change and guide users to Settings > Chats and channels if they want to manage these options.
Why This Update Matters
Chat overload is common in Microsoft Teams. Muted conversations and meeting chats can quickly fill the chat list, making it harder for users to focus.
With dedicated sections for muted and meeting chats, Teams gives users a better way to organize communication without losing access to important messages.
This update can help users:
- Keep the main chat list cleaner
- Find active conversations more easily
- Separate meeting chats from regular chats
- Reduce distraction from muted conversations
- Customize Teams based on their workflow
Final Thoughts
The new Muted chats and Meeting chats sections are useful improvements to the Microsoft Teams chat experience.
For users, this update provides more control over how conversations are organized. For admins, there is no configuration required, but it is helpful to communicate the change clearly so users understand the new behavior.
Overall, this update should make Microsoft Teams easier to manage for users who deal with many chats every day.