Can You Silence Notifications for One Person? Here's How

Is a certain person calling or texting you too much? 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. On iPhone, you can also quickly mute text notifications by long-pressing a conversation and choosing "Hide Alerts." On iPhone or Android, create a custom Focus/Do Not Disturb Mode that silences one or more contacts. This wikiHow article teaches you the easiest ways to mute notifications for one person on your iPhone and Android.

How to Silence Notifications for One Contact

To silence text notifications for one person on iPhone, long-press a text conversation, then tap Hide Alerts.
You can set a contact’s text or ringtone to silent or “None” in the Contacts app on both iPhone and Android.
Create a custom Focus or Do Not Disturb mode to silence specific contacts.

Method 1

Method 1 of 5:

Silencing in Messages (iPhone)

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Tap the app icon that looks like a chat bubble on a green background.^{[1]
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A menu will appear.^{[2]
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Tap Hide Alerts. You will no longer receive notifications if that person sends a message in Messages.^{[3]
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- To allow alerts again, long-press the conversation again, and then tap Show Alerts.

Method 2

Method 2 of 5:

Using a Focus Mode (iPhone)

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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, you can 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.^{[4]
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- 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.
This is next to an icon that looks like a crescent moon on a purple background.^{[5]
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This creates a new custom focus that you can use to block notifications from a certain person.
You can name the Focus something like "Block (name)" so you can recognize it, or choose something else as needed.^{[6]
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You'll see this purple bar at the bottom of the screen.
This opens the Choose People to Allow screen.
A checkmark next to the option means it's active.
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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.
You've now created a Focus mode that silences all notifications from a specific person or people, including on-screen notifications.
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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:^{[7]
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- 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 the Control Center.

Method 3

Method 3 of 5:

Silencing in Contacts (iPhone)

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Open Contacts. Tap the app icon that looks like an address book with multicolored tabs.^{[8]
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- 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.
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It's in the top right corner of your screen.^{[9]
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You'll see this at the bottom of your screen.^{[10]
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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.
Now that you've silenced text tones, you'll probably want to silence their ringtone as well.
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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.

Method 4

Method 4 of 5:

Muting a Single Person (Android)

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Open the person's contact page. You can find this through your default messaging app or in your Contacts app.
- This method will mute notification sounds from a person. To stop showing their notifications entirely, see the next method.
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Tap the menu icon and select Set Ringtone. This will open the contact's default ringtone options.
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Select None. You may need to tap My Sounds or similar to open the menu.
- Now when the contact calls or texts, it will be silenced.

Method 5

Method 5 of 5:

Using Do Not Disturb Mode (Android)

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Open the settings app. You can use your device's built-in Do Not Disturb mode to prevent notifications from going through. The default Do Not Disturb will prevent all notifications. However, you can create a custom mode that blocks notifications from a certain person only.^{[11]
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Tap Modes.
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Tap Create your own mode +. This is in the menu.
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Enter a name and icon for the mode. You can choose any name and icon available.
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Select People. You can find this underneath the Notification Filters header.
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Select a person. This will be the person you want to silence notifications for.
- You can also stop certain apps, alarms, and other interruptions from notifying you by tapping their respective categories.
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Tap Done. This will save the new mode. To turn it on, access the quick settings menu and tap the Modes icon. Then, select your custom mode.

Expert Q&A

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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.

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