On Apple/iOS, it appears as a silver-gray bell with gentle shading and a tiny clapper, cut by a bold red diagonal slash. The look is clean and slightly 3D, instantly reading as the mute icon—no ringing lines, no motion, just a firm hush. The red-on-gray contrast makes it pop like the Do Not Disturb toggle in Control Center; one glance and your brain hears nothing.
As a vibe, it’s texting’s universal “shhh, not now”—basically airplane mode for your social battery. People pair it with lines like “no pings pls,” “I’m off the grid,” or the classic “do not @ me.” It also drops in with a wink to say you’re muting drama, dodging spoilers, or shelving that one friend who sends 47 memes before 8 a.m.—in meme-speak, the visual equivalent of ghosting without the paperwork.
Use it to flag quiet hours, announce “headphones in, world out,” or signal that alerts are going dark for focus mode. It covers the essentials—Do Not Disturb, taming group chat chaos, and flipping into stealth mode for naps, movies, or meetings—and it plays well for jokes too: “muting negativity,” “silencing main-character energy,” or “notifications off until coffee loads.”
Definition
A bell and a line across it. A bell makes a ringing sound and the line across it means it is being cancelled out. No sound will be heard or mute. Often used as a sound setting notification on electronic devises with customizable sound settings, such as a mobile phone or computer. Shush. Peace and quiet. Don't talk to me. Don't make a sound.
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Emoji History The emoji code/ image log of changes.
This emoji first appeared in OSX / iOS after the iOS 5 update.
