How to Manage or Turn Off Notifications on Your iPhone

Q: Why won't an app show up under Notifications?

Apps only appear in Settings → Notifications after they've been opened at least once and have requested permission to notify you. If you tapped "Don't Allow" the first time, the app may not appear until you reopen it.

Q: How do I silence everything at once without turning off each app?

Use Do Not Disturb in Settings → Focus (or Control Center) to mute all calls and alerts at once, instead of disabling apps one by one.

Published ✓ Verified ⏱️ 2 min read May 23, 2025 · by Ryan Bennett

Take control of which apps can interrupt you by turning notifications off, muting them temporarily, or batching them into a scheduled summary.

Why: Every app you install can ask to send notifications, and the defaults are usually noisy. iPhone lets you tune this per app — silence the ones you don’t care about while keeping the alerts that matter.

Fix 1: Turn off notifications for one app

This is the fastest way to silence a single noisy app completely.

Open Settings → Notifications.
Tap the app you want to quiet.
Turn off Allow Notifications.

To keep notifications but make them quieter, leave Allow Notifications on and turn off individual options like Sounds, Badges (the red number on the icon), or Banners instead.

Fix 2: Mute an app for an hour or a day

If an app is only annoying right now, you don’t have to dig into Settings.

On the Lock Screen or in Notification Center, swipe left on the notification (or a group of them).
Tap Options.
Choose Mute for 1 Hour or Mute for Today. Muted notifications go quietly to Notification Center instead of lighting up your screen.

Fix 3: Batch them into a Scheduled Summary

Instead of getting pinged all day, collect non-urgent notifications and deliver them at set times.

Go to Settings → Notifications → Scheduled Summary.
Turn it on and tap Continue if prompted.
Pick which apps to include and set the delivery times (for example, 8:00 AM and 6:00 PM).

Fix 4: Change how notifications look on the Lock Screen

Go to Settings → Notifications.
Under Display As, choose Count (just a number), Stack (grouped by app), or List (each one shown separately).

FAQ

Why won’t an app show up under Notifications? Apps only appear in Settings → Notifications after they’ve been opened at least once and have requested permission to notify you. If you tapped “Don’t Allow” the first time, the app may not appear until you reopen it.

How do I silence everything at once without turning off each app? Use Do Not Disturb in Settings → Focus (or Control Center) to mute all calls and alerts at once, instead of disabling apps one by one.

Sources: Apple Support — Turn notifications on or off for a specific app on your iPhone, Apple Support — Change notification settings on iPhone