The fastest way to silence notifications

Open Settings, then tap Notifications. You will see a list of every app installed on your phone. Tap any app name, then toggle off Allow Notifications. That app will stop sending you alerts, badges, and sounds. You can also turn off notifications for all apps at once by going to Settings > Focus > Do Not Disturb and turning it on — this silences everything except calls from people in your Favorites.

If you want to keep some notifications but silence others, you do not have to turn off the whole app. In that same Notifications settings screen, you can choose exactly how each app reaches you: banner alerts at the top of your screen, badges (the red numbers on app icons), sounds, or nothing at all. You can also set different rules for different times of day using Focus modes, which let you silence work apps after 6 p.m. but keep messages from family coming through.

Key Takeaways

  • Turn off notifications for a single app by going to Settings > Notifications, tapping the app name, and toggling off Allow Notifications.
  • You can silence all notifications at once by turning on Do Not Disturb in Settings > Focus, which still allows calls from your Favorites to come through.
  • For finer control, use Focus modes to silence specific apps during work hours, bedtime, or other times you choose.
  • Notification badges (the red numbers on app icons) can be turned off separately from sounds and alerts in the same Notifications settings.
  • Lock screen notifications can be hidden from view without turning off the app entirely by changing how the notification appears in that app's settings.

Turning off notifications for one app at a time

This is the most common choice because you probably want some apps to notify you and others to stay quiet. Go to Settings > Notifications and scroll until you find the app you want to silence. Tap it. At the top of that app's notification settings, you will see Allow Notifications with a toggle switch next to it. If the toggle is green, notifications are on. Tap it once to turn it gray — now that app is silent.

If you turn off Allow Notifications completely, the app will not reach you in any way. But you can also keep notifications on and just change how they arrive. Below the Allow Notifications toggle, you will see options like Sounds, Badges, and Lock Screen. You can turn any of these off individually. For example, you might let Instagram send you a badge (the red number on the icon) but no sound, so you see it when you open your phone but it does not interrupt you.

Using Focus modes to silence apps on a schedule

Focus modes let you create rules that turn notifications on and off automatically at certain times or in certain places. Go to Settings > Focus and tap the + button to create a new Focus. Choose a name — Work, Sleep, Gym, or anything else that describes when you want it active. Then tap Customize.

In the customize screen, you will see Allowed Notifications. By default, only calls and messages from your Favorites come through. You can add more apps to this list by tapping Add and selecting them. Any app not on this list will be silenced while the Focus is on. Below that, set a schedule — for example, Sleep Focus could turn on automatically at 10 p.m. and off at 7 a.m. You can also set it to turn on automatically when you arrive at work or leave home, using location.

Once your Focus is set up, you can turn it on manually by swiping down from the top right of your screen to open Control Center and tapping the Focus name. Or it will turn on automatically at the time or place you chose. When a Focus is active, notifications from apps not on your allowed list will not reach you at all — they will not make sounds, show badges, or appear on your lock screen.

Controlling how notifications look on your lock screen

Your lock screen is the first thing you see when you pick up your phone, so controlling what appears there matters. Go to Settings > Notifications, tap the app you want to adjust, then scroll down to Lock Screen. You have three choices: Show Previews (the default, which shows the full message), Hide Previews (shows "1 notification" but not what it says), or Off (no notification appears on the lock screen at all, though the app can still notify you when you unlock your phone).

This is useful for apps like email or banking that send sensitive information. You might turn off lock screen notifications for your bank so a notification with your account balance does not sit visible on your phone if someone picks it up. The notification will still reach you — it just waits until you unlock your phone to show you the details.

Turning off badges and sounds without silencing the app

Badges are the red numbers that appear on app icons — they tell you how many unread messages or alerts you have. Sounds are the chimes, buzzes, or rings that play when a notification arrives. You can turn either one off while keeping the app's notifications on. Go to Settings > Notifications, tap the app, and look for Sounds and Badges. Toggle each one off separately.

Many people turn off sounds but keep badges, so they see notifications when they check their phone but are not interrupted by noise. Others turn off badges entirely because they find the red numbers stressful. You can mix and match — for example, keep sounds on for messages from family but turn off sounds for social media, and turn off badges for everything except email.

Silencing all notifications at once with Do Not Disturb

Do Not Disturb is the nuclear option: it silences every notification from every app when ready. Swipe down from the top right of your screen to open Control Center, then tap the Do Not Disturb icon (it looks like a circle with a line through it). The icon will turn purple, and all notifications will stop. Calls from people in your Favorites will still come through, but everything else is silent.

You can also turn on Do Not Disturb permanently by going to Settings > Focus > Do Not Disturb and toggling it on. If you do this, you can set a schedule so it turns on automatically at bedtime and off in the morning. This is different from creating a custom Focus — Do Not Disturb is built in and silences everything by default, with no exceptions unless you add them.

What happens to notifications you miss

When you turn off notifications for an app, you do not lose the messages or alerts — they just do not reach you in real time. The app stores them, and you will see them the next time you open it. For example, if you turn off notifications for email, new messages will arrive in your inbox, but you will not get a notification. When you open the Mail app later, all your new messages will be there waiting.

The only exception is time-sensitive alerts like delivery notifications or appointment reminders that have a specific important date. If you turn off notifications for a delivery app and miss the window to accept a package, you may not be able to reschedule it. For apps like this, you might want to keep notifications on but use a Focus mode to silence them only during certain hours.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I turn off notifications for just one contact?

Not directly through Notifications settings, but you can silence a specific person in the Messages or Phone app. Open the conversation, tap the contact name at the top, then tap Hide Alerts. You will still see their messages, but you will not get a notification when they text you. This works for individual conversations, not for all messages from that person across different apps.

Why am I still getting notifications after I turned them off?

Check whether a Focus mode is overriding your settings. If a Focus is active, it silences apps not on its allowed list, even if you have notifications turned on in the app's settings. Swipe down from the top right to see if a Focus is active (it will show in Control Center). You can also check Settings > Focus to see which Focus modes are scheduled and what apps they allow.

Will turning off notifications affect my ability to use the app?

No. Turning off notifications only stops the app from reaching you — it does not change how the app works. You can still open it, send messages, check your email, or do anything else. The app just will not interrupt you with alerts, sounds, or badges.

Can I schedule notifications to turn off at night automatically?

Yes, by using a Focus mode. Create a Sleep Focus in Settings > Focus, set it to turn on at your bedtime and off when you wake up, and choose which apps (if any) can still notify you. This is easier than manually turning notifications on and off every day.

What is the difference between turning off notifications and turning off the app?

Turning off notifications silences alerts but the app still runs and works normally. Turning off the app (or uninstalling it) removes it from your phone entirely. If you just want silence, turn off notifications. If you want to remove the app, you would delete it from your home screen or go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage and tap Offload App.