How to Cut a Word or Phrase on Twitter

In February 2020, I discovered that it was possible to not only mute conversations or other accounts on Twitter, but (courtesy of a tweet by @nonprofWHIT ) that you can also disable a word . And you can do it directly from a tweet.

ContentsMute Words or Phrases on an iPhoneMute Words or Phrases on an Android PhoneMute Words or Phrases on Your DesktopSome Additional Notes

Now Twitter has announced it's expanding this feature so that when you mute a word or phrase, it won't appear in your Explore tab or event-based notifications.

Here's how to do it.

Mute words or sentences on an iPhone

If you're using the Twitter app on an iPhone, this is a quick and easy process:

• Long press the word you want to cut.
• Choose "Mute" from the context menu.
• You will be taken to a page where you can choose where you want to mute the word (your timeline or notifications), from whom (anyone or people you don't follow) and the duration (forever, 24 hours, seven days or 30 days).

Mute words or sentences on an Android phone

If you have an Android phone, don't despair. You can also disable words from the Android Twitter app (or, for that matter, the iOS Twitter app) via the app settings. It's not as quick as doing it directly from a tweet, but it's just as effective.

• Select your icon in the top left corner.
• Select "Settings &Privacy"> "Privacy &Security"> "Mute &Block".
• Tap "Muted Words".
• Press the plus sign and type the word you want to disable. You then get the same choices of where, from whom, and for how long.

If you no longer want to hyphenate the word or if you want to extend the silence time, return to the "Hyphenate words" screen, tap on the word in question and choose the corresponding option (" Delete Word” or “Edit Silence Time”).

Mute words or sentences on your desktop

And finally, if you're tweeting directly from the Twitter website, you can also cut a word from there.

• On your desktop, in the left menu, click "More"> "Settings &Privacy"> "Privacy &Security"> "Disable and Block".
• In the right column, click "Muted Words". Click the plus sign in the upper right corner.
• You can now enter the word or phrase you want to disable. As with the mobile Twitter apps, you can choose to mute your timeline or notifications, anyone or people you don't follow, and for how long.

• When you have made all your choices, click "Save".
• If you want to reactivate words, go back to the "Cut Words" column. Click the red crossed-out volume symbol to the right of the word, then click "Unmute" in the pop-up window that appears.

A few additional notes

Twitter has several ways you can disable different types of information in your timeline and notifications. For example:

• You can also disable specific mentions of specific accounts (but not disable the account itself) by using the @ in front of the account name.
• If you mute a word, you will also mute the hashtag for that word.
• The mute is not case sensitive ("spoilers" and "SPOILERS" will both work), and you can use a sentence with punctuation ("Hey, you!") .
• Twitter expands ability to mute words, phrases, etc. to areas other than timelines and notifications. Just yesterday, he announced that blocked or hidden text will no longer appear in event-based areas either:

If/when the ability to mute is further extended, we will add it to this article.

Updated January 12, 2022, 10:00 am ET: This article was originally published on February 19, 2020 and has been updated to accommodate UI changes and new features.