3 iPhone Tricks to Silence Notifications for Specific People

Download Article

An easy-to-follow guide for silencing notifications on iPhone for a specific contact

Co-authored by Naseem Speach and Darlene Antonelli, MA

Last Updated: September 16, 2024 Fact Checked

Download Article

• Silencing in Messages
|
• Using a Focus Mode
|
• Silencing in Contacts
|
• Video
|
• Expert Interview
|
• Expert Q&A
|
• Tips

|Show more |Show less

Is a certain person calling or texting you too much? We all have that one friend who manages to send us text after text while we're working or in class. Fortunately, it's easy to silence notifications for one person on your iPhone. If you don't want to hear a sound or vibration when a certain person calls you, you can disable vibration and choose a silent ringtone in the Contacts app. You can also quickly mute text notifications by long-pressing a conversation and choosing "Hide Alerts," or create a Focus Mode that silences one or more contacts. This wikiHow article teaches you the easiest ways to mute notifications for one person on your iPhone.

Things You Should Know

• To silence text notifications for one person, long-press a text conversation, then tap Hide Alerts.
• To silence call notifications, open the Contacts app, select a contact and tap Edit, disable the contact's text tone and vibration, then choose a silent ringtone.
• With iOS 15 and later, you can silence specific contacts in Focus Mode so their texts and calls don't bother you.

Steps

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Silencing in Messages

Download Article

1. 1
   Open Messages. Tap the app icon that looks like a chat bubble on a green background.
2. 2
   Press and hold the conversation with the person you want to mute. A menu will appear.
   Advertisement
3. 3
   Tap Hide Alerts. You will no longer receive notifications if that person sends a message in Messages.
Advertisement

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Using a Focus Mode

Download Article

1. 1
   Open Settings. Tap the app icon that features a set of gears on a grey background. If you don't want to be notified when a certain person tries to contact, you create a Focus Mode specifically for muting that person. Once you silence notifications for one or more contacts in a Focus, you can turn on that Focus each time you don't want to be bothered by that person (or those people.

   • You can use Focus to temporarily mute notifications from anyone on your contact list. If the person you want to silence isn't in your contacts, you'll need to add them first.
   • If they aren't in your contacts and always use a different number, these might be spam calls and you'll need to block them instead.
   • You'll need to be using iOS 15 or later to use Focus Modes. If needed, update iOS.
2. 2
   Tap Focus. This is next to an icon that looks like a crescent moon on a purple background.
3. 3
   Tap + at the top-right and select Custom. This creates a new custom focus that you can use to block notifications from a certain person.
4. 4
   Type a name for the Focus and tap Next. You can name the Focus something like "Block (name)" so you can recognize it, or choose something else as needed.
5. 5
   Tap Customize Focus. You'll see this purple bar at the bottom of the screen.
6. 6
   Tap the + next to "People." This opens the Choose People to Allow screen.
7. 7
   Tap Silence Notifications From to select it. A checkmark next to the option means it's active.
8. 8
   Add the person or people you want to silence.

   • Tap +.
   • Select the contact(s) you want to mute while the Focus mode is active.
   • Tap Done to add the contact(s) to the list.
9. 9
   Tap Done. You've now created a Focus mode that silences all notifications from a specific person or people, including on-screen notifications.
10. 10
    Turn on the Focus Mode. Now that notifications are blocked for a certain person in Focus Mode, you can turn on that Focus each time you want to block notifications from that person. To enable the Focus:

    • Open Control Center by swiping down from the top-right corner of your Home screen (if you have Face ID) or from the bottom (if you have Touch ID).
    • Press and hold Focus.
    • Tap the Focus you created.
    • Once a Focus Mode is on, you'll see a crescent moon icon in the notification bar. Notifications from the selected person will remain blocked until you disable this Focus Mode in Control Center.
Advertisement

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Silencing in Contacts

Download Article

1. 1
   Open Contacts. Tap the app icon that looks like an address book with multicolored tabs.

   • This method will prevent your phone from vibrating and playing text alerts from a specific contact. However, you'll still see a notification on your screen.
   • It's not possible to silence a ringtone for a single contact. If your phone isn't on silent mode, you'll still hear a ringtone when that person calls you. The best way to silence calls from one person is to use a Focus Mode.
   • Another option for silencing calls for one person is to download a silent ringtone and set it for a specific person. Still, that's not as easy as using a Focus Mode.
2. 2
   Tap the contact you want to mute. Their details will load.
3. 3
   Tap Edit. It's in the top right corner of your screen.
4. 4
   Tap Text Tone. You'll see this at the bottom of your screen.
5. 5
   Tap None. Now, any text that this person sends you will send you a silent notification. You will not hear it, but you'll still see a banner or any other type of notification that you've set up.

   • The text tone may be silent, but your phone will still vibrate whenever that person texts you. If you don't want your phone to vibrate, tap Vibration at the top of the Text Tone page, select None, and tap the back button.
6. 6
   Tap Done. Now that you've silenced text tones, you'll probably want to silence their ringtone as well.
7. 7
   Tap Ringtone.
8. 8
   Tap Vibration and select "None." You've changed the settings for a contact so that you won't hear a noise or be alerted by a vibration when they text you.

   • Tap Done to finish editing that contact.
Advertisement

Expert Q&A

Search

Add New Question

• Question

  How do I know if my friend silenced my notifications?

  

  Naseem Speach
  Tech Expert

  Naseem Speach is a Tech Expert based in Los Angeles, California. Naseem started his tech reviews YouTube channel in 2020 and has since gained a following of over 34,000 subscribers. He specializes in sharing information about the latest smart home tech, Apple, Samsung, Google, PlayStation, Microsoft, and gaming devices.

  

  Naseem Speach

  Tech Expert

  Expert Answer

  Once you send them a message or a text, there will be a message beneath your text that says this person's notification has been silenced. Keep in mind that their Focus Status should be turned on in order for you to see this.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

  Yes No

  Not Helpful 3 Helpful 4

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Advertisement

Video

Tips

• If the person is calling you at bad times, you can also set a silent ringtone for them.
  Thanks

  Helpful 0 Not Helpful 1
• In most cases, the other person will see a "Notifications have been silenced" note when they send a text.
  Thanks

  Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

Submit a Tip

All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published

Name

Please provide your name and last initial

Submit

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

Advertisement