Turn off notifications in Settings, not just on your lock screen

The fastest way to stop notifications is to go to Settings > Notifications, find the app you want to silence, and toggle off Allow Notifications. That removes the notification entirely — it will not appear on your lock screen, in your notification center, or anywhere else. If you want to keep some notifications from an app but silence others, you can turn off specific types instead: toggle off Badges (the red number on the app icon), Sounds, or Banners (the pop-up that appears at the top of your screen).

The reason to use Settings instead of swiping away notifications one by one is that swiping only dismisses that single notification. The app can still send you more. Settings stops the app from sending them in the first place. This matters if you are trying to focus — silencing in Settings means you will not be interrupted at all, rather than just clearing your screen temporarily.

Key Takeaways

  • Go to Settings > Notifications and toggle off Allow Notifications for any app you want to silence completely.
  • You can turn off just the sound, the badge number, or the banner pop-up while keeping other notification types on.
  • Focus modes let you silence notifications from specific apps only during certain times or locations, without permanently turning them off.
  • Do Not Disturb silences all notifications except from people in your Favorites, but Focus modes give you more control over which apps can still reach you.

Use Focus modes to silence apps only when you need to focus

If you want to silence notifications from certain apps only during work hours or while you are sleeping, Focus modes are more flexible than turning notifications off permanently. Go to Settings > Focus and tap the plus sign to create a new Focus. Name it (Work, Sleep, Driving, or whatever fits your routine), then tap Allowed Notifications and choose which apps can still send you notifications while that Focus is on.

Once you have set up a Focus, you can turn it on manually by swiping down from the top right corner of your screen to open Control Center, then tapping the Focus name. You can also set a schedule: tap Turn On Automatically and choose a time of day or location. For example, you could set your Work Focus to turn on automatically at 9 a.m. on weekdays and turn off at 5 p.m., so notifications from social media apps disappear during those hours without you having to remember to switch it on.

Understand the difference between Do Not Disturb and Focus modes

Do Not Disturb is the older, simpler tool. When it is on, all notifications are silenced except from people in your Favorites list. You turn it on through Control Center (swipe down from the top right, tap the moon icon) or through Settings > Focus > Do Not Disturb. It is useful when you need everything quiet but want to stay reachable to important people.

Focus modes are more powerful because you choose which apps can notify you, not just which people. With a Work Focus, you could allow notifications from your email and calendar but silence social media and games. With a Sleep Focus, you could allow only your alarm and calls from family. Do Not Disturb does not give you that granularity — it is all or nothing except for Favorites. If you need to silence specific apps at specific times, Focus is the right tool.

Adjust notification settings per app to keep what matters

Not every app needs to be completely silenced. You might want to hear from Messages but not from News, or get badge notifications from Mail but not banner pop-ups. Go to Settings > Notifications, scroll to the app, and tap it to see your options.

The main toggles are Allow Notifications (turns everything off), Sounds (removes the sound but keeps the visual notification), Badges (removes the red number on the app icon), and Banners (removes the pop-up at the top of your screen). Some apps also have Critical Alerts, which bypass Do Not Disturb and Focus modes — use this only for apps that truly need to reach you in emergencies. Below these toggles, you can also choose whether notifications appear on your lock screen, in your notification center, or both.

Use the notification center to manage notifications without deleting them

Swipe down from the top left corner of your iPad to open the Notification Center. This shows all your recent notifications grouped by app. You can swipe left on any notification to delete it, or swipe left and tap the three dots to see more options like Manage (which takes you to that app's notification settings) or Turn Off (which silences that app).

The Notification Center is useful for clearing your screen without changing your settings. If you have a few notifications you want to dismiss but still want the app to notify you in the future, swipe them away here. If you realize an app is notifying you too much, tap Manage from the Notification Center and adjust its settings right there instead of going back to Settings.

Silence notifications from specific contacts or groups

If you want to keep notifications from an app but silence specific people, you can do that in some apps. In Messages, open a conversation, tap the person's name at the top, scroll down, and toggle on Hide Alerts. The messages will still arrive, but you will not get a notification sound or banner. You can do the same with group chats.

In Mail, you can mute entire mailboxes or VIP senders. Swipe left on an email in your inbox and tap the bell icon to mute that sender, or go to Settings > Mail > VIP to control which senders get special notification treatment. This way you can silence notifications from most people but keep them on for your boss, partner, or family.

Turn off notification previews to protect your privacy

By default, your iPad shows a preview of the notification content on your lock screen — so anyone looking at your device can read incoming messages or emails. If you want notifications to arrive but not show their content, go to Settings > Notifications, tap an app, and change Show Previews from Always to When Unlocked or Never. When Unlocked means the preview only shows if your iPad is already unlocked. Never means you will see "1 new message" but not what the message says until you open the app.

This is a privacy choice, not a silencing choice — the notification will still arrive and you will still see it. But if you share your iPad or want to keep your notifications private, turning off previews keeps the content hidden from anyone who glances at your screen.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will the app know I turned off its notifications?

No. Turning off notifications in Settings only affects what you see on your iPad. The app does not receive any signal that you have silenced it. The app will continue to function normally; you straightforward will not be notified when something happens.

Can I silence notifications from an app but still see them in the notification center?

Yes. Go to Settings > Notifications, tap the app, and toggle off Sounds and Banners while leaving Allow Notifications on. The notifications will arrive silently and appear in your Notification Center, but you will not hear a sound or see a pop-up.

What happens to notifications when a Focus mode is on?

Only apps you have allowed in that Focus mode will send you notifications. All other apps are silenced. When you turn off the Focus, notifications from those apps resume normally. Your permanent notification settings (in Settings > Notifications) do not change — the Focus just temporarily overrides them.

Can I silence notifications from one person in Messages but not others?

Yes. Open the conversation with that person, tap their name at the top, scroll down, and toggle on Hide Alerts. You will still receive their messages, but without a notification sound or banner. You can do this for individual people or entire group chats.

If I turn on Do Not Disturb, will calls still come through?

Calls from people in your Favorites will come through. All other calls and notifications are silenced. If you want to allow calls from specific people who are not in Favorites, use a Focus mode instead, which gives you more control over which apps and contacts can reach you.