I use the hardware button to mute. My headphone has a mute button right on the cord. It's fast and easy and always within reach. If that's not available, I use

I use the hardware button to mute. My headphone has a mute button right on the cord. It's fast and easy and always within reach. If that's not available, I use the operating system to mute. My Linux systems have a mic icon on the top bar. I believe it's easy to do in Windows also. I don't know about mac.