How to Disable Message Previews in Microsoft Teams on Windows 11

Microsoft Teams is a powerful tool for collaboration, but its default settings can be intrusive. By default, Teams displays the content of incoming messages in banner notifications. This can expose private information to anyone near your screen. Disabling this feature helps maintain your privacy and reduces visual distractions, allowing you to focus on your work.

What happens when you are done?

Once you disable message previews, your notifications will only show the sender’s name and a generic alert that a message has arrived. The actual text content remains hidden until you manually open the chat window. This setting does not affect your activity feed, which will still show message snippets for easy navigation.

How to disable message preview in Teams

Note: You do not need admin privileges to change these settings.

1. Open the Teams app from your Start menu.

   

2. If a mini window opens, click the expansion button to see the full screen.

   

3. Click the Settings and more (three dots) button next to your profile picture and select Settings.

   

4. Click the Notification and activity tab on the left side.

   

5. Find the Message preview section. Toggle the switch to Off to hide message text.

   

Cross-Platform and Version Differences

Whether you use the New Teams or the Classic version, the steps remain similar. In the New Teams, look for the Show message and content previews in notifications toggle under the Notifications menu. On macOS, you may also need to check your System Settings under Notifications & Focus to ensure Teams is allowed to show banners without previews.

Privacy During Screen Sharing

When you share your screen, Teams automatically suppresses notifications to prevent sensitive information from appearing. However, if you are worried about pop-ups, you can enable Do Not Disturb mode. Pro Tip: Click your profile picture and set your status to Do Not Disturb to silence all incoming notifications instantly during presentations.

Troubleshooting Notification Issues

If you still see message text after changing settings, ensure your Windows Focus Assist or Notification settings are not overriding Teams. Check Settings > System > Notifications to ensure Teams is configured correctly. If the issue persists, restart the app to refresh your configuration files located in %AppData%\Microsoft\Teams.

Summary

Managing your privacy in Microsoft Teams is essential for a focused workspace. By disabling message previews, you prevent sensitive information from appearing on your screen. This guide covered how to adjust these settings in both Classic and New Teams, how to use Do Not Disturb mode for instant privacy, and how to troubleshoot common notification issues.