Turn off notifications entirely, or let only the ones you choose through

You can silence your Apple Watch in three ways: mute all notifications, mute only the watch while letting your iPhone handle alerts, or pick which apps send you notifications at all. Most people use a mix — silencing the watch during work or exercise, but keeping calls and messages from specific contacts. The choice depends on whether you want the watch quiet but still getting information, or truly disconnected for a while.

The fastest route is the Silent Mode toggle in Control Center. Swipe up from the bottom of your watch face, tap the bell icon with a slash through it, and your watch stops buzzing and vibrating when ready. Everything still arrives on your iPhone. If you want to silence the watch but keep seeing notifications on its screen, use Do Not Disturb instead — swipe up, tap the crescent moon icon. Notifications still land on the watch, but silently.

Key Takeaways

  • Silent Mode stops all sounds and vibrations on the watch but sends alerts to your iPhone instead.
  • Do Not Disturb silences the watch while keeping notifications visible on its screen.
  • You can turn off notifications from specific apps in the Watch app on your iPhone, which is faster than doing it on the watch itself.
  • Focus modes on your iPhone automatically silence your watch when you set up them — useful for work hours or sleep.
  • Turning off wrist detection means the watch will vibrate even if it thinks you are wearing it, so use this only when you know you will not miss alerts.

Silence the watch but keep alerts on your phone

Silent Mode is the quickest way to stop your watch from buzzing without losing information. Swipe up from the bottom of your watch face to open Control Center, then tap the bell with a line through it. The icon turns red, and your watch goes silent — no sounds, no vibrations. Notifications still arrive on your iPhone and in the Notification Center on your watch, but you will not feel them.

This works well during meetings, workouts, or any time you want the watch quiet but do not want to miss something important. To turn Silent Mode off, swipe up again and tap the bell icon once more — it returns to white and your watch sounds return to normal.

Keep notifications on screen but mute the sound and vibration

Do Not Disturb is different from Silent Mode. It silences the watch but leaves notifications visible on the screen — you can glance and see what came in without being interrupted by sound or vibration. Swipe up from the bottom of your watch face, tap the crescent moon icon, and it turns white. Your watch is now in Do Not Disturb mode.

Calls and alerts still show up on your watch face, but they arrive silently. This is useful if you want to stay aware without the constant buzzing — for example, during a meal or a quiet activity where you might check your wrist occasionally but do not want interruptions.

Turn off notifications from specific apps

If you want most notifications but not all, the cleanest approach is to disable them app by app. Open the Watch app on your iPhone, tap Notifications, scroll to the app you want to silence, and tap it. Toggle off Allow Notifications. That app will no longer send alerts to your watch, though it may still send them to your iPhone depending on your iPhone notification settings.

You can also do this on the watch itself: open Settings, tap Notifications, scroll down, and tap the app name. Toggle off Mirror iPhone Alerts or Allow Notifications depending on what you see. The iPhone method is usually faster because you can see all your apps at once instead of scrolling through a small watch screen.

Some apps let you choose how they alert you — sound only, vibration only, or both. Open the Watch app on your iPhone, go to Notifications, find the app, and look for Alert Style or Sound options. You might set Messages to vibrate but not sound, for example, while keeping Calls loud.

Use Focus modes to silence the watch on a schedule

If you silence your watch at the same times every day — during work, during sleep, during exercise — Focus modes do it automatically. On your iPhone, open Settings, tap Focus, and choose or create a Focus (Work, Sleep, Fitness, or a custom one). Tap Notifications and choose which apps can send alerts while that Focus is on. When you turn on the Focus, your watch automatically silences notifications from apps not on the allowed list.

You can set a Focus to turn on at a specific time each day. For example, create a Work Focus that runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., allowing only calls and messages from your boss or team. At 9 a.m., your watch automatically silences everything else. At 5 p.m., it turns off and your watch returns to normal. This is far easier than manually silencing the watch every morning.

Turn off vibration without muting sound

If you want your watch to alert you with sound but not vibration — useful if vibrations distract you during certain activities — open Settings on your watch, tap Sounds & Haptics, and toggle off Haptic Alerts. Your watch will still ring or chime for notifications, but will not tap your wrist.

You can also adjust the vibration strength in the same menu under Haptic Strength if you want it gentler rather than off entirely. Some people set it to light during the day and turn it off at night, so they can silence the watch without losing audio alerts.

Stop the watch from vibrating when you are not wearing it

By default, your Apple Watch only vibrates when it thinks you are wearing it — a feature called Wrist Detection. If you take the watch off, it stops vibrating even if notifications arrive. If you want the watch to vibrate whether you are wearing it or not, open Settings on your watch, tap Passcode, and toggle off Wrist Detection.

This is rarely necessary unless you are testing the watch or leaving it on a desk where you want to feel alerts. Turning it off also means you will need to enter your passcode every time you put the watch on, so most people leave it on. If you just want the watch silent while you are wearing it, use Silent Mode or Do Not Disturb instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I still see notifications on my watch screen if I turn on Silent Mode?

Yes. Silent Mode stops sounds and vibrations but notifications still appear on your watch screen and in Notification Center. If you want them hidden entirely, use Do Not Disturb instead, which also silences them but keeps them visible on screen. To hide them completely, turn off notifications from that app in the Watch app on your iPhone.

Can I silence my watch without silencing my iPhone?

Yes. Silent Mode and Do Not Disturb both silence only the watch — your iPhone continues to alert normally. If you want your iPhone silent too, you will need to silence it separately. Focus modes can silence both at once if you set them up that way.

What is the difference between Silent Mode and Do Not Disturb?

Silent Mode stops all sounds and vibrations and sends alerts to your iPhone instead. Do Not Disturb silences the watch but keeps notifications visible on its screen so you can glance and see what came in. Use Silent Mode when you want to be completely undisturbed, and Do Not Disturb when you want to stay aware without interruptions.

If I turn off notifications for an app, will it still alert my iPhone?

Turning off notifications in the Watch app only affects your watch. Your iPhone will continue to alert you based on your iPhone notification settings. If you want to silence an app everywhere, you will need to turn off notifications on your iPhone as well in Settings > Notifications.

Can I silence my watch just during sleep?

Yes. Create a Sleep Focus on your iPhone in Settings > Focus, set it to turn on at your bedtime, and choose which apps (if any) can alert you. When Sleep Focus turns on automatically, your watch silences all other notifications. You can allow calls from family or emergency contacts if you want to stay reachable.