This keeps coming up with my users, so I wanted to ask here to make sure we’re understanding this correctly.
When someone filters their Inbox to @mentioned, they still see notifications for comments and task activity where they were not actually @mentioned. Usually it’s because they’re a collaborator on the task—often because they were @mentioned once at some point in the past.
If I wasn’t specifically @mentioned in a comment or update, why does it show up when the Inbox is filtered to @mentioned? From a user perspective, an @mention feels intentional—like “this message is specifically for you.” When the filter includes other updates where that didn’t happen, people assume the filter is broken or meaningless.
This has become a recurring point of confusion for our team, so I’m trying to understand: Is this working as designed? If so, what’s the intended use of the @mentioned filter? Is there any plan to support a true “only show me new comments where I’m explicitly @mentioned” view?
I’m assuming that since there’s no filter for “As collborator” that this is intentionally working that way, but I agree, it’s very confusing and there really should be a way to truly only display @mentions vs collaborator comments. I’m guessing it was designed this way because there are so many instances where people forget to directly tag someone when having a conversation in the comments so they don’t want users missing chats that are directed towards them.
I couldn’t find an example of an Inbox entry appearing when the @mention filter is on unless I was @mentioned somewhere in the thread. (No example of just being a Collaborator causing this filter match.)
If that’s the case, then I think it’s not confusing.
You could add a English Forum > Product Feedback request if you want another filter or option on this filter to show only new notifications where you’re @mentioned, not ones earlier in the thread.
Notes:
There’s also a For me standard filter that combines @mentiond and assigned to me, and
The tab @mentioned is just a regular tab, so you can rename it and/or change the filter applied, and thus make it confusing or clearer
I can see why that might have influenced the design—people don’t always explicitly @mention someone, so there’s a desire to avoid users missing messages that are effectively “for them.”
That said, I think this is where the confusion comes from. From a user’s perspective, filtering the Inbox to @mentioned implies intent: someone explicitly tagged me. When the filter also includes other activity simply because I’m a collaborator (often due to a historical @mention), it breaks that mental model and makes the filter feel unreliable.
I’ll take your advice and add a product suggestion!