Three different tools for three different problems. Muting a thread quiets a conversation. Muting a member hides what they write. Blocking cuts contact.
Knowing which one you want saves using a heavier tool than the situation needs.
Muting a thread or a forum
Silences reply notifications, and nothing else.
The thread carries on, you can still read it, and other people cannot tell. It is for the thread you posted in once that is now forty replies long.
Use the Mute control on the thread, or on a whole forum to stop notifications from all of it. Unmute in the same place.
Subscribing is the opposite control, on the same menu: it turns notifications on for a thread you did not post in.
Muting a member
Hides their posts from your view.
Their posts collapse behind a "Muted" stub you can open if you want to. It is one-directional and silent: they are not told, and nothing about their account changes.
Muting does not stop them contacting you. They can still message you, see your profile, and mention you. If that is the problem, block instead.
Your muted list is at Friends › Muted.
Blocking a member
Cuts contact both ways.
No messages, no profile access, no mentions that reach you. It is the heavier tool and it is the right one when somebody is directing something at you rather than simply being tiresome to read.
Your blocked list is at Friends › Blocked.
Blocking is not reporting. It protects you and tells nobody. If a rule was broken, report it as well, so a moderator sees it: Community rules and reporting.
Where blocks bite, and where they do not
Inside a family group, the member list and the shared pantry deliberately ignore blocks, because a household sharing a kitchen has to see each other's names. Meal sharing does not: a shared meal is a content channel between two people, so a block stops it, and it does so silently. See Family meal sharing, on or off.
Which one do I want
- The topic is noisy → mute the thread.
- One person is tiresome to read → mute the member.
- One person is bothering you → block, and report if a rule was broken.
- Somebody is at risk → report it, straight away.
Related
