If you want to stop absolutely all notifications and vibrations while you’re actively using your iPhone or iPad, you can set Do Not Disturb (DND) to do just that. But there are a few things to consider. Let’s tell you everything about it and show you how to get zero calls and app notifications when you’re using your iPhone or not using it.
Stop notifications for calls, messages, and apps while using your iPhone
In older versions of iOS, you could go to Settings > Do Not Disturb, and under the Silence section, select Always. This ensured no call or app notifications even when your iPhone is unlocked and you’re using it. With newer versions of iOS, like iOS 15 and iOS 16, Do Not Disturb is now a part of the broader Focus feature. Plus, the option to always silence calls and notifications or only when iPhone is locked is also gone. In iOS 16, Do Not Disturb silences calls and app notifications and doesn’t show any banner irrespective of whether the iPhone is locked or unlocked. You will receive no notification banner, sound, or vibration while using your iPhone or not using it. You will, of course, still receive messages and phone calls, but you will not be notified they are coming in any way. This is the ideal setting if you want to focus on something on your iPhone or iPad and make sure you aren’t being distracted by any notification. To enable Do Not Disturb on iOS 15 and iOS 16, open the Control Center and tap the crescent moon icon. It will turn purple, signifying DND is on.
The incoming notifications you missed while your iPhone was in Do Not Disturb will stack under the While in Do Not Disturb section of the Notification Center. You can access the Notification Center by swiping up on the Lock Screen or swiping down from the top of the screen when your iPhone is unlocked. However, there are some important things that need your attention.
Additional settings to consider
To get absolutely no calls on your iPhone:
- Go to Settings > Focus > Do Not Disturb.
- Tap People.
- Select Allow Calls From and choose Allowed People Only. But don’t tap the blue Add People button above to allow anyone. As a result, you will not receive calls from anyone when DND is active. The exceptions to this are people whom you have given the Emergency Bypass privilege.
If you don’t want to be so restrictive and you want to make sure you’re still receiving calls from certain people, you can set Allow Calls From to either Favorites (as I do) or Contacts Only. You may also choose Allowed People Only and tap Add People to allow only those selected contacts. With any of these settings selected, you won’t receive notifications for calls from anybody but the group of people you are allowing to go through. If you want to be notified of an emergency phone call, you may also turn on Allow Repeated Calls. With this option enabled, a second call from the same person within three minutes will not be silenced. While not a sure way to get emergency phone calls through, if it’s enough of an emergency for someone to try repeatedly to call you, that call will go through. To get absolutely no app notifications, go to Settings > Focus > Do Not Disturb and tap Apps. Here, don’t add any app to the exception list, and also turn off Time Sensitive Notifications.
Just like calls, if you don’t want to be so restrictive with app notifications, you can add certain apps to the allow list and get their notifications even when DND is active. Check out next:
- 8 solutions to stop getting calls during Do Not Disturb or Focus mode on iPhone
- 5 solutions to stop getting text and app notifications during Do Not Disturb on iPhone
- How to schedule Do Not Disturb on iPhone, iPad, and Mac
- How to enable Do Not Disturb temporarily
- 16 Ways to fix iPhone not getting call, text, and app notifications
- How to stop getting Messages, WhatsApp, or other app notifications in Apple CarPlay
You can turn them off temporarily or longer term
Updated on December 12, 2021
What to Know
- Turn off notifications by app: Settings > Notifications. For each app make sure the slider for Allow Notifications is turned off.
- To turn off all notifications (including calls): Open the Control Panel and select Do Not Disturb.
- Or, on the Notifications screen, swipe left on a notification until you see the menu. Select Manage and choose how to handle notifications.
This article provides instructions for turning off notifications on an iPhone, including how to turn off notifications temporarily or longer, and information about what happens when you turn the notifications to Off.
How Do I Temporarily Turn off Notifications?
Turning off all notifications on your iPhone is easy. Enable the Do Not Disturb feature on your iPhone either through Settings or the Control Panel. Do Not Disturb will turn off all the notifications that come into your phone, including app notifications, mail and message notifications, and call notifications.
If that’s not what you had in mind, there are a few other ways to manage your notifications, too.
How Do You Turn off Notification on iPhone?
Although using Do Not Disturb to turn off your notifications can be temporary (when you’re ready, turn off Do Not Disturb to begin receiving notifications again), you can also turn off your notifications temporarily just for specific apps.
For example, if you want to receive calls and messages, but you don’t want to receive other types of notifications from a specific app, turn them off temporarily (or permanently) through Settings.
- Go to Settings > Notifications.
- Here you can alter notifications for any app. Tap the app to adjust notifications as you need.
- Choose the options that best suit you for the notifications for the app. Choose to disable Allow Notifications or change where and how notifications, sounds, and badges appear.Once you’ve finished making your selections, close out of Notifications. When you’re ready to get the notifications again, follow these instructions to change the settings again.
Change Notifications Settings From an Incoming Notification
There is also an alternative to using this method to silence notifications for specific apps. If you receive a notification from an app for which you want to turn off notifications, adjust notification settings directly from the notification.
- On the Notifications screen that appears when you wake your iPhone, slowly slide a notification to the left. A menu should appear on the right side of the notification.
- Select Manage.
- On the screen that appears, select Deliver Quietly or Turn Off. If you choose Deliver Quietly, the notification will still appear in your Notification Center, but it won’t make noise or vibrate your phone. If you choose Turn Off, the notifications will be turned off completely until you turn them back on.You also can tap Settings to be taken to the same settings screen you used above to turn off notifications.
How Do You Turn off All Notifications on iPhone?
The most common way to silence all notifications on iPhone at this time is to use Do Not Disturb, which is detailed above. But if you truly want quiet time, you can also flip the Silence switch on the left side of your phone to Off (It will show red when Off and silver when On).
This action silences all notification to vibration, and they will remain on vibrate until you move the switch back to the On position.
What Happens When You Turn off Notifications on iPhone?
If you’re stressed about turning off the notifications on your phone, don’t be. While turning them off either using Do Not Disturb or using one of the methods to change the notifications for individual apps, you can always turn them back on when you’re ready.
And if you think you may forget to turn them back on, you can always set a reminder to do it later.
FAQ
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- How do I turn off live notifications for Facebook on an iPhone?If you don’t want to receive notifications from Facebook about a live video, it’s easy to turn off these notifications. In the Facebook app, tap Menu (three lines), then tap Settings & Privacy > Settings > Notification Settings. Tap Video, then toggle off Allow Notifications on Facebook.
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- How do I turn off push notifications on an iPhone?Push notifications can be one of several things: badge icons next to an app icon that show how many unread notifications for that app there are, banners that appear at the top of your screen, alerts that appear in the middle of your screen, and sounds that indicate an alarm or timer. Turn off these push notifications in the same way as described above: Go to Settings > Notifications, tap the app, then toggle off Allow Notifications.
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- How do I turn off email notifications on an iPhone?Go to Settings > Notifications, then scroll down and select Mail. Toggle off Allow Notifications, or select a specific email client, such as Gmail, and toggle off Allow Notifications for that client.
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- How do I turn off news notifications on an iPhone?Go to Settings > Notifications, then scroll down and select News. To stop notifications from all news sources, toggle off Allow Notifications. To stop notifications from specific sources, tap News Notification Settings; under Channels You Follow, toggle off any channels from which you no longer wish to receive notifications.
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- How do I turn off notifications when I’m talking on my iPhone?Unfortunately, there’s no official way to disable notifications only when you’re on a call. One workaround is to turn off sound (enter Silent Mode) before taking a call. However, if you have Vibration enabled in Settings > Accessibility > Touch, you’ll still feel your phone vibrate if notifications are allowed.
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