Why am I getting SO many notifications on my phone?
Notifications are the messages that pop up on your phone to tell you something has happened—maybe you received a text, someone commented on a post, there's breaking news, or an app wants you to know about a sale.
Some notifications are useful. Others can become distracting very quickly.
The good news is that you get to decide which apps are allowed to notify you. You don't have to turn off everything at once. A good place to start is with the apps that interrupt you most often.
First: Which apps are bothering you?
The next time an unwanted notification appears, notice which app sent it.
For example:
Facebook
a news app
a shopping app
a game
your email app
Don't recognize the app? That's useful information too. Write down its name before dismissing the notification.
If you have an iPhone
To change notifications for a particular app:
Open Settings.
Tap Notifications.
Scroll down until you find the app you want to change.
Tap the app.
Look for Allow Notifications.
If you don't want any notifications from that app, turn Allow Notifications off.
Apple also lets you adjust how notifications appear rather than turning them off completely.
So, for example, you might decide:
Text Messages: Keep notifications on.
Weather: Keep notifications on.
Shopping app: Turn notifications off.
Game: Turn notifications off.
You can always come back and change your choices later.
Want fewer interruptions without turning notifications off completely?
Your iPhone also has a feature called Scheduled Summary. Instead of interrupting you throughout the day, less-important notifications can be collected and delivered together at times you choose.
Go to:
Settings → Notifications → Scheduled Summary
Turn it on, choose when you'd like your summary, and choose which apps should be included.
That can be useful if you do want to see notifications from an app—you just don't need to see every one immediately.
If you have an Android phone
Android phones vary somewhat depending on the manufacturer, so the words on your screen may not be exactly the same.
A common route is:
Open Settings.
Tap Notifications.
Tap App notifications.
Look for the app that's sending too many notifications.
Tap the app.
Turn its notifications off—or, on some phones, choose which types of notifications that app can send.
Google also offers a shortcut: when an unwanted notification appears, touch and hold the notification, then tap Settings. From there, you can change that app's notification options.
Don't feel like you need to fix everything at once
If your phone sends dozens of notifications every day, don't spend an hour trying to review every app.
Instead, try this:
Every time an annoying notification appears, ask yourself:
Do I actually want this app interrupting me?
If the answer is no, change that app's notification settings.
After a few days, your phone may already feel considerably quieter.
One thing we don't recommend turning off automatically
Be cautious about disabling notifications related to emergencies, security alerts, account activity, calls, messages, or other information that's important to you.
The goal isn't a phone that never communicates with you. It's a phone that gets your attention when you actually want it to.
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