Where to find your notification settings on iPhone

Your iPhone notification settings live in the Settings app under Notifications. Open Settings, scroll down, and tap Notifications. From here you can control which apps send you alerts, how they appear, and what sounds they make. This is where you turn notifications on or off for individual apps, change their style (banner, alert, or badge), and decide whether they show on your lock screen.

The Notifications section is organized by app. Scroll through the list to find the app you want to adjust. Tap any app name to see its specific options — you'll find toggles for sounds, badges (the red numbers on app icons), and whether alerts appear on your lock screen or in your notification center. Some apps have additional choices like grouping notifications or showing previews of message content.

Key Takeaways

  • Notification settings are in the Settings app under Notifications, where you control which apps can send you alerts.
  • Notifications appear three ways on your iPhone: as banners at the top of the screen, as alerts that require you to dismiss them, or as badges (red numbers) on app icons.
  • Your lock screen shows notifications by default, but you can hide them there while keeping them in your notification center.
  • Swiping left on any notification lets you delete it, silence the app for an hour, or manage that app's settings without opening Settings.

How notifications appear on your lock screen

When your iPhone is locked, notifications stack up on your lock screen in the order they arrive. Recent notifications appear at the top. You can see the app icon, the app name, and a preview of the message or alert. If you have many notifications, older ones move down the list or disappear from view — they're still in your notification center, just not visible on the lock screen itself.

You can interact with lock screen notifications without unlocking your phone. Tap a notification to open that app, or swipe left on it to see quick actions like Delete or Manage. If you want to hide notifications from your lock screen entirely while keeping them in your notification center, go to Settings > Notifications, tap the app, and turn off Show on Lock Screen.

Finding notifications in your notification center

Your notification center is a scrollable list of all your recent alerts. On an iPhone with Face ID, swipe down from the top-left corner of the screen. On an iPhone with a home button, swipe down from the top. This opens the notification center, which shows notifications grouped by app and sorted by time. Notifications stay here for several days before disappearing automatically.

You can clear notifications one at a time by swiping left and tapping Delete, or clear all notifications from one app by tapping the X next to the app name. Tapping a notification opens that app. If you want to see older notifications that have scrolled out of view, keep scrolling down in the notification center — they're still there unless you've deleted them.

The difference between banners, alerts, and badges

Notifications come in three styles, and you choose which one each app uses. A banner appears at the top of your screen for a few seconds, then disappears automatically — you can still tap it to open the app. An alert stays on your screen until you tap it or dismiss it, interrupting what you're doing. A badge is the red number that appears on an app's icon on your home screen, showing how many unread notifications you have.

To change a notification style, go to Settings > Notifications, tap the app, and look for Alert Style. You can also turn badges on or off separately from alerts. Some apps let you choose whether to see a preview of the notification content (like the first line of a message) or just see that a notification arrived. These choices are all in that app's notification settings.

Silencing notifications from specific apps

If an app is sending too many notifications, you have options without deleting the app. The quickest way is to swipe left on any notification from that app and tap Manage. This opens that app's notification settings so you can turn off alerts, badges, or sounds. You can also tap Silence for 1 Hour to pause notifications from that app temporarily — they'll resume after an hour.

For permanent changes, go to Settings > Notifications, find the app, and turn off the toggles you don't want. You can disable sounds, badges, and lock screen notifications independently, so you might keep badges but turn off sounds, for example. If you turn off all notification options for an app, it will still show up in your notification center if it has something to tell you — it just won't interrupt you with a sound or alert.

Notification grouping and sorting options

By default, your notification center groups notifications by app — all messages together, all emails together, and so on. You can change this grouping in Settings > Notifications > Notification Grouping. Choose between By App (the default), By Time (newest first, regardless of app), or Off (each notification separate). This affects only how they appear in your notification center, not how they appear on your lock screen.

You can also set different grouping for different apps. Go to Settings > Notifications, tap an app, and look for Notification Grouping within that app's settings. Some apps like Mail let you group by conversation or thread instead of by app. These options vary depending on the app — not every app offers custom grouping.

What to do if you're not seeing notifications

If you're not getting notifications from an app, check three things first. Open Settings > Notifications and confirm the app is in the list and has notifications turned on — the toggle next to the app name should be green. Second, check that Allow Notifications is turned on for that specific app. Third, make sure your iPhone isn't in Do Not Disturb mode, which silences all notifications except from people in your Favorites.

To check Do Not Disturb, swipe down from the top-right corner to open Control Center and look for the moon icon. If it's highlighted, tap it to turn Do Not Disturb off. You can also go to Settings > Focus > Do Not Disturb to see if it's active. If notifications are still missing after checking these, try restarting the app or restarting your iPhone — sometimes a glitch prevents notifications from coming through.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I get notifications from one app but not see them on my lock screen?

Yes. Go to Settings > Notifications, tap the app, and turn off Show on Lock Screen. The app will still send you notifications that appear in your notification center and can alert you with a sound or banner, but they won't show on your lock screen when your phone is locked.

How do I stop an app from putting a red number on its icon?

Go to Settings > Notifications, tap the app, and turn off Badges. The red number will disappear from the app's icon on your home screen. You can do this while keeping other notifications from that app turned on.

What happens to notifications when I clear them from my lock screen?

Clearing a notification from your lock screen removes it from there, but it stays in your notification center. You can still find it by swiping down from the top to open the notification center. If you want to delete it completely, swipe left on it in the notification center and tap Delete.

Why am I getting notifications even though I turned them off for an app?

Check if Do Not Disturb is on — it silences notifications from most apps. Also check Settings > Notifications to make sure the app's main toggle is actually off (it should be gray, not green). If both are correct, restart your iPhone. Sometimes notifications get stuck in a glitch and restarting clears it.

Can I organize my notifications by time instead of by app?

Yes. Go to Settings > Notifications and tap Notification Grouping. Choose By Time to see all your newest notifications together, regardless of which app sent them. You can change this back to By App anytime.