Where to find notification settings on your iPad

Open Settings on your home screen, then tap Notifications. You will see a list of every app installed on your iPad that can send you messages. From this single screen, you can turn off notifications entirely for any app, or drill down into each one to change what kind of alerts it sends and how it sends them.

The notifications list is organized alphabetically. Apps you have not yet configured appear at the top under "Allow Notifications", and apps you have already customized appear below. If an app is not in the list, it either does not send notifications or you have not opened it yet — installing an app does not automatically add it to this screen.

Key Takeaways

  • Go to Settings > Notifications to see every app that can send you alerts, organized by how you have already configured each one.
  • Tap any app name to turn notifications off entirely, or to choose whether you see badges, sounds, or banners instead of all three.
  • Focus modes let you silence notifications from specific apps during certain times or locations without deleting the apps themselves.
  • Turning off notifications for an app does not delete the app or prevent it from working — it only stops the alerts.
  • Some apps send notifications through other channels like email or text message, which you control separately in that app's own settings.

Turn off all notifications from a single app

Tap the app name in your Notifications list. At the top of the screen, you will see a toggle for Allow Notifications. Tap it once to turn it off. The toggle will turn gray, and that app will stop sending you any alerts — no sounds, no badges on the app icon, no banners on your screen.

You can turn notifications back on the same way: go back to Settings > Notifications, tap the app, and toggle Allow Notifications back on. Turning notifications off does not uninstall the app, change your data, or prevent it from working normally when you open it yourself.

Choose which types of alerts you see from each app

If you want to keep some notifications but not others, tap the app name and look for the options below Allow Notifications. You can control three separate things: whether you see a Badge (the red number on the app icon), whether you hear a Sound, and whether you see a Banner (the alert that pops up on your screen).

Each of these can be toggled on or off independently. For example, you might turn off Sound and Banner but keep Badge on, so the app can tell you something happened without interrupting you. Or you might turn off Badge and Banner but keep Sound, so you hear the alert but do not see anything on your screen until you look for it.

Scroll down in the same app settings to find Notification Grouping and Notification Preview. Grouping lets you stack notifications from the same app so they take up less space on your lock screen. Preview controls whether the notification shows you the actual message content or just says "1 New Message".

Use Focus modes to silence notifications by time or location

If you want to turn off notifications from certain apps only during specific times — like work hours, bedtime, or when you are driving — use Focus modes instead of changing your notification settings permanently. Go to Settings > Focus, then tap the plus sign to create a new Focus or tap an existing one like Work, Sleep, or Driving.

Inside any Focus, you can choose which apps are allowed to send you notifications and which are silenced. You can also set a schedule so the Focus turns on automatically at the same time every day, or turns on automatically when you arrive at a specific location. This way, notifications from a messaging app might come through during the day but stay silent after 10 p.m. without you having to manually change settings.

When a Focus is active, a small icon appears at the top of your screen. People who text or call you will see a message saying you have notifications silenced, so they know you are not ignoring them on purpose.

Control notifications from apps that send alerts outside Settings

Some apps send notifications through email or text message instead of through the iPad's notification system. Turning off notifications in Settings will not stop these, because they are not coming through the iPad at all — they are coming through your email or phone number.

To stop these, open the app itself and look for a Settings, Preferences, or Account section. Search for words like "notifications", "alerts", or "email". You may find options to turn off email notifications, text message notifications, or both. Some apps also let you choose which types of activity trigger an alert — for example, you might get an email only if someone replies to you, not every time someone likes your post.

If you cannot find these settings in the app, look for an "Unsubscribe" link at the bottom of an email the app sent you, or check the app's help section online.

Stop notifications from appearing on your lock screen

By default, notifications appear on your lock screen even before you unlock your iPad. If you want to keep notifications but hide them from the lock screen, go to Settings > Notifications, tap the app, and look for Lock Screen. Toggle it off, and notifications from that app will only appear after you unlock your iPad.

You can also control how many notifications show on your lock screen at once. Go to Settings > Notifications and scroll to the bottom to find Lock Screen. Tap it and choose how many recent notifications you want to see — you can show all of them, a limited number, or none at all.

Manage notifications in Do Not Disturb mode

Do Not Disturb is different from Focus modes — it silences all calls, texts, and notifications at once, with no exceptions. Go to Settings > Do Not Disturb and toggle it on to silence everything when ready. You can also set a schedule so Do Not Disturb turns on automatically at the same time every day.

If you want some people or apps to break through Do Not Disturb — for example, so your family can still reach you in an emergency — use a Focus mode instead. Focus modes let you choose exactly which apps and people can notify you, while Do Not Disturb silences everything except calls from your Favorites.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will turning off notifications delete my messages or data?

No. Turning off notifications only stops the alerts. Your messages, emails, and data stay on your iPad exactly as they were. When you turn notifications back on, you will not see old alerts — only new ones from that point forward.

Can I turn off notifications for just one person in a messaging app?

It depends on the app. Some apps like Messages let you mute individual conversations — open the conversation, tap the person's name at the top, and look for a mute or silence option. Others do not have this feature, so you would have to turn off all notifications from that app or use a Focus mode to silence it during certain times.

Why do I still get notifications after turning them off?

The app might be sending notifications through email or text message instead of through the iPad's notification system. Check the app's own settings for email alerts or text alerts, separate from the iPad's Notifications menu. You may also have a Focus mode active that is allowing certain apps through.

What is the difference between a badge, a sound, and a banner?

A badge is the red number on the app icon. A sound is an audio alert. A banner is the message that pops up on your screen. You can turn each one on or off separately, so you can have a badge without a sound, or a sound without a banner, depending on what works best for you.

Can I schedule notifications to turn off at night automatically?

Yes, using Focus modes. Go to Settings > Focus, create or edit a Focus (like Sleep), add the apps you want to silence, and set a schedule so it turns on automatically at bedtime and turns off when you wake up.