How to Leave a Group Text

Quick! Get out of annoying message threads on iOS and Android

Woman receiving group texts at inconvenient times, like during yoga class, at work, and in bed

 Emilie Dunphy / Lifewire

by Sarah Silbert
An editor who loves smartwatches, fitness trackers, and other wearable smart devices.
Updated July 09, 2019

While keeping in touch with your loved ones is great, sometimes the incessant updates from a group text are not. 

To stop receiving group-text notifications on your Android or iPhone, you can at least mute the notifications, even if you can't extract yourself from the group chat altogether.

The procedures we outline below have been reviewed for iOS 12 and Android 8. Procedures are substantially similar for the most recent versions of both mobile operating systems.

Leaving a Group Text on Android

Android users can't leave a group text they've been roped into without asking to be removed — but they can choose to mute notifications.

The following instructions apply to the stock messages app on Android. If your Android phone uses a different texting app, like Messages on your Samsung phone, the process for leaving a group text may be different.

Don't confuse the stock Android messaging app with Android Messages; they are very different things.

  1. Navigate to the group text.

  2. Tap the three vertical dots.

  3. At the bottom of the screen, you'll see a small bell icon labeled Notification.

  4. Tap that bell to mute the conversation.

    Three Android screens showing three dot menu and two states of Notification icon

  5. You will not see any more messages in the group text unless you go back and tap the bell again to accept them. At that point, all the messages you've missed will populate the conversation.

Leaving a Group Text on an iPhone

If you're an iPhone user, you have a few options for muting unwanted group texts.

Option 1: Mute Notifications

The first option on iOS is to mute group text notifications:

  1. Open the group text you want to mute.

  2. Tap the group of contacts at the top of the screen.

  3. Tap the little Information button that appears under the group.

    Three iOS screens showing Group at top, Info icon, and Hide Alerts toggle set to ON

  4. Scroll down to the bottom and tap the Hide Alerts toggle to ON.

By selecting Hide Alerts (or Do Not Disturb in iOS 11 or earlier), you will no longer get a notification (and the accompanying text sound) each time someone in the group text sends a new message. You'll still be able to view all new messages in the thread by opening the group text, but using this method allows you to cut down on distractions.

Option 2: Leave a Group Text on iOS

The way to really leave the conversation is easy (though it's important to note that this isn't always an option even if you're using the Messages app on your iPhone).

To be able to leave a group text on iOS, you'll need the following circumstances:

  • You must be in an iMessage conversation rather than a standard group text message. If some of the people in the group chat are using Android phones or other apps rather than Messages on iOS, you'll be in a standard group message and therefore the option to leave a group text through Messages won't be available.
  • There must be at least four people in a group text, the logic apparently being that if you were to leave a three-person conversation, it would no longer be a group text but rather just a simple text between two people. In any case, if you're in a three-person iMessage chat, the Leave this Conversation option will be grayed out.

If you are able to leave a group text on iOS, follow these instructions to do so:

  1. Open the group iMessage you want to leave.

  2. Tap the group at the top, then the little Information button just below it.

  3. Scroll down to Leave this Conversation (in red, below the Hide Alerts toggle option) and tap it.

    Two iOS screens showing Leave this Conversation options and the confirmation button

  4. Confirm Leave this Conversation in the slide-up dialog.