# Introducing new filter and sort options for chat channels 💬
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/introducing-new-filter-and-sort-options-for-chat-channels/411958
**Category:** Announcements
**Tags:** chat
**Created:** [September 9, 2026, 2:37am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/introducing-new-filter-and-sort-options-for-chat-channels/411958 "2026-09-09T02:37:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@martin](https://meta.discourse.org/u/martin)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2026, 2:37am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/introducing-new-filter-and-sort-options-for-chat-channels/411958/1 "2026-09-09T02:37:21Z")
Until now, chat channels have been sorted like this, with no way to change it:
- Public channels - Alphabetically
- Direct message/group channels - By priority (unread first)
Though when you are a member of a lot of public channels, or have a fair few starred channels, the list can be a bit overwhelming, especially if you only need those channels followed in case something interesting or important shows up.
We’ve just added the functionality to select filter and sorting options per section of chat channels! 🚀 The defaults will be the same as before, but now you can specify these filter and sort options for each section (public channels, DM/group channels, and starred channels).
- Filter
- All channels
- Active only (new activity in last 30 days)
- Unreads
- Mentions
- Sort
- Alphabetically
- Recent activity
- Priority (mentions, then unreads, then recent activity)
See the screenshots below, or give it a whirl yourself 🙂
---
### Author:  [@martin](https://meta.discourse.org/u/martin)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2026, 1:55am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/introducing-new-filter-and-sort-options-for-chat-channels/411958/5 "2026-09-10T01:55:30Z")
We did a fast followup here:
>
>
> Followup https://github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/3dfc739016f9ee6523d91a5b6…b28d0968ef028e6
>
> When a channel section is empty because no channels match
> the filter, we no longer show a bulky message + link for
> the empty state.
>
> Now, we show an eye icon in the header of the section, which
> allows users to temporarily disable their filter and see all
> channels in the section, still respecting their sort preferences.
>
> This applies in the sidebar and in the channel list.
>
> This commit also extends the sidebar section header to allow
> for more than one action button.
>
> \*\*DM section, no channels\*\*
>
> \
>
> \*\*DM section, all channels temporarily shown\*\*
>
> \
>
>
> \*\*DM in drawer and mobile, no channels matching filter\*\*
>
> \
>
> \*\*DM in drawer and mobile, all channels temporarily shown\*\*
>
> \
Now if a filter makes one of your sections empty, we show this button at the top of it to temporarily show all channels, and no longer show the empty placeholder which was a bit bulky:
