Helpful Guide
If your phone pings, buzzes, lights up, and interrupts you all day, it can quickly become tiring. Many people put up with it because they worry that changing notification settings will make them miss something important. In reality, most phones let you quieten noisy apps while keeping calls, messages, reminders, and other essential alerts easy to notice.
You do not need to understand every setting at once. A calm tidy-up usually starts with checking which apps send the most interruptions, turning off the ones you do not need, and using a quiet mode for times when you want fewer distractions.
The simple version: keep phone calls, messages, alarms, and trusted reminders on, then switch off shopping, game, promotional, and other non-essential alerts one app at a time.
This guide explains what to review first on iPhone and Android and how to reduce noise without cutting yourself off.
Which notifications should usually stay on?
Before switching things off, think about the alerts that genuinely matter to you. Many people want to keep:
- Phone calls from family, carers, doctors, or other important contacts.
- Text messages or WhatsApp messages from the people they speak to most.
- Calendar reminders for appointments and medication prompts.
- Banking alerts that warn about payments or unusual account activity.
- Doorbell, alarm, or safety-device alerts if they use them at home.
Everything else can be reviewed more carefully. A supermarket app offering a sale, a game asking you to return, or a social app reacting to every little update usually does not need to interrupt your day.
Good rule: if a notification is only trying to tempt you back into an app, it is often safe to switch it off.
Start with the noisiest apps first
You do not have to tidy every app in one sitting. Start with the ones that disturb you most often.
- Think about the apps that buzz most often. Shopping, games, social media, and news apps are common culprits.
- Keep a note of anything you still need. For example, you may want delivery updates from one app but not marketing messages from another.
- Change one app at a time. That way, if you switch something off and regret it later, you will know what changed.
If you feel overwhelmed, spend just ten minutes on the biggest annoyances and come back later for the rest.
How to turn off unwanted notifications on iPhone
On iPhone, you can control notifications for each app separately.
- Open Settings.
- Tap Notifications.
- Choose the app you want to review.
- Turn Allow Notifications off if you do not want any alerts from that app.
- Or keep notifications on and adjust how they appear, such as badges, sounds, or lock-screen alerts.
On some iPhones, you may also reach the same controls by opening Settings, tapping Apps, choosing the app, then tapping Notifications.
Practical iPhone tip: if you still want alerts from an app but do not want the noise, try turning off Sounds first rather than removing all notifications.
How to turn off unwanted notifications on Android
Android menu names vary a little by phone brand, but the process is usually similar.
- Open Settings.
- Tap Notifications or Apps.
- Open App notifications or choose the app you want to review.
- Turn notifications off completely for that app, or adjust individual notification categories if your phone offers them.
Many Android phones let you leave important alerts on while muting less useful ones inside the same app. For example, you may be able to keep message alerts but switch off promotions or recommendations.
If your menus look different: use the search box in Settings and type notifications or app notifications.
Use Do Not Disturb or Focus when you want quiet time
If you want peace in the evening, during appointments, or while resting, a temporary quiet mode can help without permanently changing every app.
On iPhone, Focus settings let you allow calls and notifications from certain people or apps while silencing the rest. On Android, Do Not Disturb or Modes can do the same thing, and many phones let you keep alarms, priority contacts, or repeated calls coming through.
This is often better than putting the whole phone on silent because you can still keep the alerts that matter most.
How to avoid missing important calls or messages
This is usually the biggest worry, so it helps to be deliberate.
- Leave phone and message notifications on for the people you rely on most.
- Test your settings after making changes by asking a family member to call or message you.
- Use a quiet mode with exceptions instead of muting everything.
- Keep alarms and calendar reminders on if you use them for appointments or medicines.
If you use WhatsApp regularly, check that message notifications from your close contacts still appear after making changes. If you are already reviewing privacy and control settings, our guide on checking app permissions on your phone is a sensible next step.
What to switch off first if you want a quick win
If you want immediate relief, these are often the easiest notifications to reduce:
- Shopping promotions and flash-sale alerts
- Game reminders
- Social-media suggestions and reaction summaries
- News alerts that are not essential to you
- Browser alerts from websites you no longer care about
If a strange warning or pop-up keeps trying to push you into calling a number or tapping a suspicious message, read our guide on what to do if a virus warning pop-up tells you to call a number before taking any action.
When patient support can help
Notification settings can feel fiddly, especially if you are helping an older parent or trying not to disturb a phone that already works well enough. Calm one-to-one help can make the process much easier.
Simply Tech Support helps independent clients and families with phone setup, safer settings, suspicious messages, WhatsApp help, account confidence, and practical home tech support. You can read more on the Simply Tech Support services page.
