Your notification settings are probably turned off, or your phone is silencing them without telling you

Message notifications stop arriving for three main reasons: your notification settings for the Messages app are disabled, your phone is in Do Not Disturb or Silent mode, or your phone's battery saver is blocking background activity. The fastest way to fix it is to check whether you can see the notification badge — the small red circle with a number — on your Messages app icon. If the badge is there but you're not hearing or seeing alerts, your phone is receiving messages but hiding the notifications. If there's no badge at all, the app itself isn't getting permission to notify you.

The difference matters because the fix is different. A missing badge means you need to turn notifications back on in your phone's settings. A badge that appears but no alert means something is silencing notifications after they arrive — usually Do Not Disturb mode or a battery-saving feature.

Key Takeaways

  • Check your Messages app icon for a red notification badge; if it's there, your phone received the message but is hiding the alert.
  • On Android, go to Settings > Apps > Messages > Notifications and make sure "Allow notifications" is toggled on.
  • On iPhone, go to Settings > Notifications > Messages and check that "Allow Notifications" is enabled and the alert style is set to Banners or Alerts, not None.
  • Do Not Disturb mode and battery saver mode both silence notifications even when they're turned on in the app settings.
  • If notifications work sometimes but not always, check whether your phone enters Do Not Disturb automatically at certain times.

How to turn notifications back on for Android

Open Settings and tap Apps (or process Manager on older phones). Find Messages in the list and tap it. Look for Notifications or App Notifications — the exact name varies by phone maker — and tap it. You should see a toggle that says "Allow notifications" or just "Notifications." Make sure it's turned on (the toggle should be blue or green, not gray).

If the toggle is already on, scroll down and look for "Importance" or "Priority." If it's set to "None" or "Silent," change it to "High" or "Urgent." This controls whether your phone makes a sound or shows the notification on your lock screen. You can also check whether a specific contact is muted by opening Messages, finding their conversation, tapping their name at the top, and looking for a mute icon or "Mute notifications" option.

How to turn notifications back on for iPhone

Open Settings and tap Notifications. Scroll down and find Messages. Tap it. Make sure "Allow Notifications" is toggled on (it should be green). Below that, check the "Alert Style When Unlocked" setting — if it's set to "None," change it to "Banners" or "Alerts." Banners appear at the top of your screen and disappear on their own. Alerts stay on screen until you dismiss them.

If notifications are on but you're not hearing a sound, tap "Sounds" and make sure a sound is selected (not "None"). You can also check "Show in Notification Center" and "Show on Lock Screen" — both should be toggled on if you want to see messages when your phone is locked. If a specific person's messages aren't notifying, open Messages, swipe left on their conversation, tap the three dots, and make sure "Hide Alerts" is not turned on.

Check whether Do Not Disturb is silencing your notifications

Do Not Disturb mode blocks all notifications, even if they're turned on in the app. On Android, swipe down from the top of your screen twice to open Quick Settings. Look for "Do Not Disturb" and make sure it's off (it should not be highlighted or colored). On iPhone, swipe down from the top right corner to open Control Center and look for a crescent moon icon — if it's highlighted, tap it to turn Do Not Disturb off.

Many phones are set to turn Do Not Disturb on automatically at certain times — for example, every night at 10 p.m. If notifications work during the day but stop at night, this is probably the cause. On Android, go to Settings > Notifications > Do Not Disturb and check the "Scheduled" or "Automatic" setting. On iPhone, go to Settings > Focus and look for "Do Not Disturb" — if it has a schedule, you can turn the schedule off or edit the times.

Check whether battery saver is blocking background activity

Battery saver mode (called Battery Saver on Android, Low Power Mode on iPhone) reduces background activity to save power. This can delay or block notifications. On Android, go to Settings > Battery and Device Care > Battery (or just Battery on some phones) and make sure Battery Saver is off. On iPhone, go to Settings > Battery and make sure Low Power Mode is off.

If you use battery saver regularly, you can add Messages to an exception list so it still gets notifications even when battery saver is on. On Android, go to Settings > Battery and Device Care > Battery Usage and look for Messages — tap it and choose "Unrestricted" or "Optimize." On iPhone, battery saver doesn't have an exception list, but you can turn it off temporarily when you're expecting important messages.

Make sure Messages has permission to send notifications

Your phone's operating system controls which apps can send notifications. On Android, go to Settings > Apps > Messages > Permissions and make sure "Notification" is allowed (it should show a checkmark or be toggled on). On iPhone, go to Settings > Notifications > Messages and scroll to the bottom — make sure "Allow Notifications" is on.

If you recently updated your phone's operating system, it may have reset your notification permissions. This is especially common after a major update. If notifications suddenly stopped working after an update, this is usually the cause — just turn them back on using the steps above.

Restart your phone if notifications still aren't working

If you've checked all the settings above and notifications are still not arriving, restart your phone. Power it off completely, wait 10 seconds, and turn it back on. This clears temporary glitches that can block notifications even when settings are correct.

If restarting doesn't work, try clearing the Messages app's cache. On Android, go to Settings > Apps > Messages > Storage > Clear Cache (not Clear Data — that will delete your messages). On iPhone, you can't clear cache for individual apps, but you can uninstall and reinstall Messages by going to the App Store, searching for Messages, and tapping "Get" (it's a built-in app, so reinstalling just restores it).

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do I get notifications from some people but not others?

You probably have that person muted or their notifications turned off individually. On Android, open Messages, find their conversation, tap their name, and look for a mute option. On iPhone, swipe left on their conversation and tap the bell icon to unmute. You can also check whether they're in a group chat that has notifications disabled separately from your one-on-one messages.

My notifications work sometimes but not always — what's happening?

Your phone is probably entering Do Not Disturb automatically at certain times, or battery saver is turning on when your battery gets low. Check your Do Not Disturb schedule in Settings and your battery saver threshold. You can also check your phone's activity log to see when Do Not Disturb was active — on iPhone, this is in Settings > Focus > Do Not Disturb > History.

I turned notifications back on but they're still not working — what else can I try?

Restart your phone completely by powering it off and back on. If that doesn't work, check whether your Messages app needs an update — go to your app store and search for Messages. If an update is available, install it. If notifications still don't work after restarting and updating, the problem may be with your phone's operating system rather than the app.

Can I get notifications from Messages but not from other apps?

Yes. Each app has its own notification settings, so you can turn notifications on for Messages and off for everything else. Go to Settings > Notifications and scroll through the list to see which apps have notifications enabled. You can turn them on or off individually for each app.

Why did my notifications stop working after I updated my phone?

Operating system updates sometimes reset app permissions. Go to Settings > Apps > Messages > Permissions and make sure "Notification" is allowed. You may also need to go to Settings > Notifications > Messages and turn "Allow Notifications" back on. This is especially common after major updates.