How to silence notifications on iPhone: Tips and tricks

Did you know that there are at least 4 ways of how to silence notifications on an iPhone? Yep, so many ways to protect yourself from reminders about new words in the puzzle and Instagram comments :)

Let's start with a quick overview of all the ways you can silence notifications on your iPhone. I'll go into more detail on each option below, plus give you some ideas on how to use them best.

Let’s compare!	Silent Mode	Scheduled Summary	Do Not Disturb	Focus Modes
What is it?	Mutes all notification sounds. Alerts still appear on the screen.	Batches non-urgent text notifications for specific times to reduce distractions.	Silences all notifications for a set duration or until manually disabled.	Customize notification behavior based on your preferences, location, etc. (e.g., work, sleep).
Best for	When you need instant silence right now.	Managing low-priority app notifications.	Quick silence for short periods.	Regular silence periods for recurring scenarios (e.g., work, sleep).
How to enable?	Flip the side switch to silent (orange visible).	Settings > Notifications > Scheduled Summary > Toggle on > Select apps > Set delivery times.	Swipe down from the upper right side of the screen to Control Center > Tap Do Not Disturb icon.	Settings > Focus > Select or create a Focus. Then, customize apps, contacts, and schedules.
Customization level	Low. Applies to all notifications.	High. Select apps, set multiple delivery times, etc.	High. Choose duration, allow exceptions for calls or contacts.	Very high. Configure apps, contacts, schedules, and filters (e.g., Intelligent Breakthrough).
Automation	None. Need to toggle on manually.	Low. Automatic delivery at set times.	Advanced. Supports time, location, and app-based triggers (e.g., the mode activates when you open Books).	Advanced. Supports time, location, and app-based triggers.

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 and iPad

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 incoming calls, text messages, 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.

How to use 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.

How to improve focus mode in iOS 18.1 on iPhone 15 Pro and newer?

The arrival of Apple Intelligence on iPhones has significantly improved Focus mode, thanks to Intelligent Breakthrough. This AI feature works across all Focus modes, filtering alerts based on your preferences to ensure critical alerts are received, and non-critical ones don't disturb you.

To enable Intelligent Breakthrough:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Focus and choose a Focus mode.
3. Scroll to Options, and toggle on Intelligent Breakthrough.  

Once activated, Apple Intelligence analyzes how you interact with your iPhone, apps, phone calls, notification, etc. Soon, it will learn which notifications are important enough to interrupt you, and which should be silenced. Any notifications that you have already allowed or silenced will keep these settings.

Please note that Apple Intelligence is still in beta and may occasionally experience glitches. Allow a few days for it to fully adapt to your preferences. The feature is currently available on iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max, 16, and 16 Pro running iOS 18.1 and supports English language.

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 text 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. 

3 Common iPhone notification issues [Can happen to you, too]

Getting your iPhone notifications set up perfectly can be tough. There's always something you might miss. So I decided to cover some common frustrations people run into:

#1. Do other people know when I've silenced notifications?

When you turn on Focus mode, your iPhone might share your Focus status with your contacts. They won't get a specific message, but they might see your status in certain apps (e.g., a "notifications silenced" in iMessages).

This isn't bad at all, but I know that some people prefer to hide their status due to privacy reasons. Or, they just don’t want to show that they’re having a short nap during work day, hehe.

Here’s how to stop sharing your Focus status:

1. Open Settings > Focus.
2. Tap > Focus Status.
3. Toggle off Share Focus Status.

#2. I still get spam calls in Focus Mode

Ever get a spam call from an unknown number late at night? It happens. I'd suggest combining your sleep focus schedule with silencing unknown callers. 

To silence unknown callers:

1. Go to Settings > Apps > Phone.
2. Toggle on Silence Unknown Callers. 

From now on, all calls from unknown numbers will be silenced and sent to voicemail. You won't lose them, though — you can always check them out on your recent call list.

#3. Third-party app notifications break through my focus mode

I heard that people sometimes struggle with third-party apps that bypass focus settings. If that happens to you, check Settings > Notifications > [App] > Time-Sensitive Notifications. 

If this is enabled, notifications will be delivered immediately, which may be the cause of your issue. Try disabling it.

If neither focus mode and notification settings nor Intelligent Breakthrough help, try disabling notifications within the app itself.

Usually, you can do this by going to the app's settings and turning off sounds or notifications.

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. 

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