Choose how apps notify you

Turn notification light on/off

You can control whether the notification light blinks when you have unread notifications:

  1. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications > Notifications.
  2. Touch Advanced, then turn Blink light on toggle on switch or off toggle off switch.

Turn off app notifications

When you receive unwanted notifications from an app, touch & hold the notification, then tap Turn off notifications.

To review all apps and adjust whether they can send notifications:

  1. Swipe down to view your notifications.
  2. At the bottom of the list, tap Manage notifications.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • To stop all notifications from an app, turn it off toggle off switch.
    • To stop certain notifications from an app, tap the app name, then turn notifications toggle on switch or off toggle off switch for each category.
    • To stop an app from showing notifications as a banner across the top of an unlocked screen, like those for incoming calls, tap the app name, (if needed, tap the notification type), then turn Pop on screen off toggle off switch for the category.
TipTo prevent notifications from all apps during certain times or calendar events, use Do Not Disturb.

Silence an app's notifications

Change to Silent

If you want an app's notifications to be less intrusive, you can categorize them:

  • Default: You'll hear a sound and feel vibration (if on), get a message on your lock screen, and can see the app's icon in your status bar.
  • Silent: You won't hear a sound or feel a vibration. The notification icon will still show in the status bar, unless you hide them.

Option 1: On a notification

  1. Touch & hold a notification.
  2. Tap Silent.

Option 2: In Settings

  1. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications > See all # apps, select the app, and tap Notifications.
  2. Tap the type of notification to change.
  3. Tap Silent.

Hide silent notifications

  1. Go to Settings > Sound > Do Not Disturb.

    Or, in quick settings, touch & hold .

  2. Tap Advanced > Display options for hidden notifications.

  3. Select what to allow or block:

    • No sound from notifications: You will see notifications in the pull-down list of all notifications but won’t hear their sound.
    • No visuals or sound from notifications: You won’t see or hear notifications.
    • Custom: Start with not seeing or hearing notifications, and make small adjustments, like allowing the notification light to blink.

Hide status bar icons for silent notifications

To hide the icons for silent notifications from all apps:

  1. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications > Notifications.
  2. Tap Advanced.
  3. Turn Hide silent notifications in status bar on toggle on switch.

  4. Restart the phone to apply the new settings.

    You won't see the icon in the status bar for any silent notifications. When you swipe the status bar down, the icon appears in the pull-down along with the notification.

TipTo hide status bar icons for a single app, open the app and look in its settings. Only some apps let you do this.

Change notification volume

To adjust the volume level of all notifications:

  1. Press a Volume button and on the screen tap .
  2. Adjust the Ring & notification volume slider.

Change notification sound

You can modify the notification sound for all apps, or assign a distinctive sound to notifications from a specific app, replacing the default.

Set default notification sound

  1. Go to Settings > Sound > Advanced > Default notification sound.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • To change it, choose a new sound.
    • To turn notification sounds off, select None.

Set notification sound for a specific app

  1. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications.
  2. Tap See all # apps, select the app, and tap Notifications.
  3. Tap the category for checkmarked notifications, then tap Advanced > Sound.
  4. Select a unique ringtone, or set it to none.

If you can't hear a notification

If an app's notifications are silent but you want to hear them:

  1. Touch & hold a notification.
  2. Tap Default.

To let an app's notifications be heard when Do Not Disturb is on:

  1. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications.
  2. Tap See all # apps select the app, and tap Notifications.
  3. Tap the category for enabled notifications, then tap Advanced and turn Override Do Not Disturb on toggle on switch.

Turn on app notifications

If an app isn't sending notifications but you want it to:

  1. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications > Notifications.
  2. Tap See all from last ### days.
  3. At the top, tap and select Turned off.
  4. Turn notifications on toggle on switch as needed.

Turn on snoozing

If you want to be able to snooze your notifications, turn on snoozing:

  1. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications > Notifications.
  2. Tap Advanced.
  3. Turn Allow notification snoozing on toggle on switch.

Control lock screen notifications

If you've set a pattern, PIN or password, you can control which type of notifications show on your lock screen and prevent them from revealing private information.

To adjust notifications for all apps:

  1. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications > Notifications.

  2. To hide sensitive content on your lock screen, turn Sensitive notifications off toggle off switch.

    You’ll get lock screen notifications for an incoming email or chat, but they won’t include message details.

    For finer control, leave this on toggle on switch to allow details, and instead hide sensitive content from specific apps.

  3. To change which notifications show on your lock screen (show all, hide notifications from apps you silenced, or hide all), tap Notifications on lock screen.
TipWhen you turn on Lockdown, notifications won't show on your lock screen.