How to silence notifications on iPhone: Tips and tricks

Like most people, I’m easily distracted by shiny new things. Notifications take advantage of this tendency, so if I don’t set my preferences, they end up controlling my life. I don’t really want to be reminded about every new word puzzle that’s available or that someone liked a social media post from two weeks ago. 

That’s why I did some research, and I’ll cover how to silence notifications on an iPhone in this article and how to customize your notification experience so that you, too, can sleep without worrying that you won’t hear if the sky falls. 

Why you may want to silence notifications on iPhone

If you’ve not tried silencing notifications on your iPhone anywhere other than the movie theater, you might not realize all the benefits of doing so:

• First and foremost, turning off your notifications saves you from distractions. News stories you can’t do anything about or RSVPs on a group chat for a friend’s birthday can interrupt your focus and productivity even if you don’t open your phone. 
• Turning notifications off also contributes to better sleep, as you can avoid being disturbed by late-night alerts. It’s been years since I’ve put myself through the sound of emails coming in at four in the morning, but I’ve also stopped letting my phone light up next to me with that devious blue light, tempting me to look at what’s popped up instead of getting to sleep. 
• And finally, there’s the classic reason for turning them off: to avoid being “that person” in a meeting, library, or theater. I’ll assert here again that even if you don’t have the sound on, having something pop up on your phone at the wrong place and wrong time can be a disaster, you wouldn’t add to your memoir. 

But the question remains: how do you silence notifications on your iPhone without missing an update that your flight was canceled? 

How to silence all notifications on iPhone

I’ll start with how to mute all notifications on iPhone. Many, if not most, people have moments in life where they can and should experience complete silence, at least from their phones. These moments may be rare, but worth reading the following instructions.

Using Silent Mode switch

First, you can turn off just the sound. Switch the physical mute button on the side of your iPhone to disable the sound for calls, texts, and alerts. If you have your phone on vibrate, it will still vibrate, but it won’t chime, ding, or meow. 

Using Do Not Disturb mode

Then there is Do Not Disturb, which is exactly what it sounds like. This will turn off all notifications, including Uber’s special deals. A lot of people like to do this during work.

Here’s how to activate Do Not Disturb: 

1. Open Control Center by swiping down from the top right of your screen.
2. Tap Focus > Do Not Disturb.
3. Tap the three dots to choose a fixed duration. 
4. Tap Settings to customize who can notify you.

Note: You do not have to follow steps 3 and 4. You can simply tap Do Not Disturb to silence all notifications and tap it off to return to your regular mode. I’ll discuss customization more soon. 

How to mute notifications from specific apps

If you don’t want to turn off notifications for calls and texts but you have a few apps you really don’t need to hear from, you can adjust notifications. 

Here’s how you customize notifications for a specific app:

1. Go to Settings > Notifications.
2. Choose the app you want to silence.
3. Turn off Allow Notifications for permanent silencing or mute specific elements like sounds.

You can also temporarily mute notifications. Swipe up on your locked home screen to open the Notification Center. Swipe left on an app notification and tap Options to mute for 1 hour or the rest of the day.

Using Focus modes to customize notification silence

Focus mode is where it really is for me. It allows you to create a completely customized experience of what notifications are showing up on your phone, and you can make multiple modes that you can choose from depending on the occasion. 

For example, I have a Meeting mode. My closest friends know that I’m not available most of the day, so if they call me, it’s an emergency. Their calls can come through. Texts from my cofounder and new emails will also be silent banner notifications. And my Sleep mode turns off everything but calls from my loved ones or pet-sitter. 

Here’s how to customize a Focus mode:

1. Go to Settings > Focus.
2. Choose a Focus mode (e.g., Work, Sleep).
3. Choose which contacts or apps are allowed to send notifications during that Focus mode.

One of the coolest features in Focus mode is location-based modes for specific environments like the workplace or gym. 

Set a location-based mode by:

1. Go to Settings > Focus.
2. Choose the Focus mode you want to modify. 
3. Tap Add Schedule > Location and enter the location where you want that focus mode to activate.

You can also try Smart Activation. This will intuit Focus modes based on your location, app use, and other cues. You might find this feature knows you better than you know yourself. 

To set Smart Activation: 

1. Go to Settings > Focus.
2. Choose the mode you want to modify. 
3. Tap Smart Activation and turn it on.

Once you get into Focus modes, you won’t want to go back. It’s an easy way to optimize your life and support your mental health. You can improve your sleep or focus on a workout while keeping your peace of mind.

Silencing notifications from specific contacts

You may just get worn out by one specific person. For example, one of my good friends from college regularly sends me a long series of messages recounting something that happened to her, and I can’t help but want to look whenever her messages come in. It’s a guilty pleasure and sometimes quite a big distraction. Maybe you have one of these, or maybe you’re afraid that an ex will resurface right before you give an important presentation.

You can do this directly in the Messages app: Just open a conversation, tap the contact’s name, and enable Hide Alerts. 

You can alternatively set up a Focus Mode that specifically blocks notifications for one contact or a group of contacts. Go to Settings > Focus > Custom and choose Silence Notifications From to block certain contacts during work or sleep.

How to schedule notifications

For news and social media app notifications, I use scheduled summaries. Twice a day — at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. — I get a notification summary that shows me everything that has happened in these apps since the last time. You can customize how many summaries you get and which app notifications are included in the summary. Any apps not included in the summary will follow whatever their normal notification rules are.

To set up Scheduled Summary:

1. Go to Settings > Notifications.
2. Turn on Scheduled Summary.
3. Customize how many summaries you want, when, and for which apps. 

How to put notifications on silent: Resolved

I will never go back to haphazard notifications coming in from all places. I filter what I read, watch, and who I talk to, so why wouldn’t I want to filter reminders of those things? Silencing notifications on the iPhone improves productivity, sleep, and politeness, and it’s easy enough to do. 

To sum up your options: 

• Use the Silent mode switch on the side of the phone.
• Use Do Not Disturb to deactivate notifications for specific apps
• Use Temporarily Mute and Focus modes to hide alerts for specific contacts. 
• Use ClearVPN to block unwanted ads and pop-ups while browsing.
• Use CleanMy®Phone to clear up clutter that distracts you from necessary files. 

All these apps and more than 250 iOS and macOS apps can be found in Setapp and used for free within a 7-day trial period. Setapp is a platform where you can find tools to boost your productivity and creativity and stay focused on important tasks. Why wait? Try today.

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