How to Turn Off Snapchat Notifications (All Methods Explained)

Snapchat is one of the more aggressive apps when it comes to notifications. Between snaps, chats, stories, friend suggestions, and in-app promotions, your phone can buzz constantly throughout the day. Whether you want complete silence or just want to filter out the noise, there are several layers of notification control available — and the right approach depends on how you use the app.

Why Snapchat Sends So Many Notifications

Snapchat's notification system is designed to keep you engaged. The app sends alerts for:

• Incoming snaps from friends
• Chat messages
• Story posts from friends and subscriptions
• Friend activity (birthdays, new friends joining)
• Snap Map activity
• Promotional content and Spotlight highlights

Each of these categories can be controlled independently, which is either a feature or an inconvenience depending on how granular you want to get.

Method 1: Turn Off Snapchat Notifications Through Your Phone's Settings

The fastest, most complete way to silence Snapchat is at the operating system level. This overrides everything inside the app.

On iPhone (iOS)

1. Open Settings
2. Scroll down and tap Snapchat
3. Tap Notifications
4. Toggle Allow Notifications to off

This completely disables all Snapchat alerts — sounds, banners, badges, and lock screen notifications. You can also get more specific here: iOS lets you disable just sounds, just badges, or just lock screen previews while keeping other notification types active.

On Android

Android settings vary by manufacturer (Samsung, Google Pixel, OnePlus, etc.), but the general path is:

1. Open Settings
2. Tap Apps (or App Management / Application Manager)
3. Find and tap Snapchat
4. Tap Notifications
5. Toggle off Show notifications or disable individual notification categories

Some Android versions let you disable notification categories directly from this screen, which means you can block story alerts while keeping snap and chat alerts active.

Method 2: Manage Notifications Inside the Snapchat App

If you don't want to go nuclear and still want some Snapchat alerts, the in-app settings give you category-level control. 🔔

1. Open Snapchat
2. Tap your profile icon (top-left)
3. Tap the gear icon (Settings, top-right)
4. Scroll down to Notifications

From here you'll see toggles for:

Turning off the categories you don't care about — like birthdays or friend suggestions — while keeping snaps and chats active is a popular middle-ground approach.

Method 3: Do Not Disturb and Focus Modes

Both iOS and Android offer system-level Do Not Disturb or Focus modes that can silence Snapchat (along with other apps) during specific times or situations without permanently changing your settings.

On iPhone, Screen Time and Focus modes let you schedule notification windows — useful if you want Snapchat quiet during work hours but active the rest of the time.

On Android, Digital Wellbeing and Do Not Disturb settings offer similar scheduling options, with some manufacturers adding their own layers of customization on top.

This approach is worth understanding if your goal is time-based quiet rather than permanent silence.

Method 4: Muting Specific Friends or Groups

If most of your notification noise comes from specific people or group chats, you don't have to touch your global settings at all.

To mute a specific friend or chat:

1. Long-press the conversation in the Chat tab
2. Tap Chat Settings (or More on some versions)
3. Select Message Notifications and set to Silent

This keeps global notifications active but stops specific conversations from buzzing your phone. Useful if one group chat is the culprit.

The Variables That Change What Works for You

Turning off Snapchat notifications sounds simple, but the right method depends on several factors:

• How you use Snapchat — casual scroller vs. active daily communicator
• Your OS version — newer versions of iOS and Android offer more granular controls
• Your device manufacturer — Samsung One UI, MIUI, and stock Android all present notification settings differently
• Whether you use Snapchat for work or group coordination — muting everything vs. keeping specific alerts alive matters more here
• How notifications interact with your other apps — if you're already using Focus modes for work, adding Snapchat to those filters is simpler than setting up separate controls

Notification Behavior on Different Snapchat Account Types

It's also worth knowing that Snapchat+ subscribers have access to some additional customization options not available on standard accounts. The core notification settings described above apply to everyone, but premium features may affect how certain alerts (like story boosts or exclusive content) are handled. 📱

Additionally, notifications tied to Snap Map, Spotlight, and My AI have become more prominent in recent versions of the app — categories that didn't exist a few years ago and that some users don't realize they can disable.

What You Can and Can't Control

There are a few notification types that behave differently depending on your setup:

• In-app notifications (the ones you see inside Snapchat itself) are separate from push notifications. Disabling push notifications at the OS level won't affect what you see when you open the app.
• Story notifications from public accounts or brands you follow may fall under different settings than friend story alerts.
• Email notifications from Snapchat — like account alerts or promotional messages — require a separate opt-out through your account settings or the emails themselves.

How much control you actually want, and which method gets you there with the least friction, depends on what's specifically driving the notification overload in your case.