--- labels: products: - oss title: 'Mute timings vs silences' --- ## Mute timings vs silences [Mute timings](ref:shared-mute-timings) and [silences](ref:shared-silences) are distinct methods to suppress notifications. They do not prevent alert rules from being evaluated or stop alert instances from appearing in the user interface; they only prevent notifications from being created. The following table highlights the key differences between mute timings and silences. | | Mute timing | Silence | | ---------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Setup** | Created and then added to notification policies | Matches alerts using labels to determine whether to silence them | | **Period** | Uses time interval definitions that can repeat periodically | Has a fixed start and end time |