How do I change the pop up notification on WhatsApp?

What are popup notifications in WhatsApp?

Popup notifications in WhatsApp are alerts that appear on top of the screen when you receive new messages. They allow you to see a preview of new messages without having to open the WhatsApp app.

For example, when someone sends you a text message on WhatsApp, a popup notification may display the contact name and a preview of the message content. If someone sends you a photo, the popup notification may say “Photo from [contact name].”

Popup notifications help you stay aware of new messages without having to constantly check inside the app. You can quickly glance at the notification to get a sense of what the new message says.

By default, WhatsApp displays popup notifications for all incoming messages. However, you can customize the notifications in the settings.

Why customize popup notifications?

There are a few key reasons why customizing your popup notifications in WhatsApp can be beneficial:

Reduce distraction – With so many incoming notifications, it can be distracting and disruptive if they all look and sound the same. By customizing notifications per chat or contact, you can make sure only the most important ones demand your attention right away.

Prioritize certain contacts – You may want notifications from close family and friends to pop up differently than other chats. Customizing notifications allows you to assign special ringtones, sounds, or vibration patterns to VIP contacts.

Personalize the experience – Part of the fun of customizing your device is making it feel more your own. Custom notification settings let you showcase your personality and preferences.

As this article points out, personalized notifications can also be useful for businesses looking to increase user engagement and revisits.

Turn off popup notifications entirely

You can disable popup notifications for WhatsApp entirely, which will prevent the app from displaying banners or previews when new messages arrive. Note that while this disables the popups, you will still get notification badges and sounds.

To turn off popup notifications on an iPhone, go to Settings > Notifications > WhatsApp and toggle off “Allow Notifications.” On Android, go to Settings > Apps & Notifications > WhatsApp > Notifications and turn off “Popup notification.”

With popups disabled, you won’t see message previews or banners when receiving WhatsApp messages. The notifications will still appear in your notification shade and make sounds/vibrate if enabled. But you won’t get disruptive popups covering your screen.

This setting completely mutes popups if you find them distracting or want more privacy. Just keep in mind you’ll need to manually open WhatsApp to view new messages.

Sources:

https://faq.whatsapp.com/iphone/troubleshooting/how-to-manage-your-notifications

https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/disable-whatsapp-message-previews-iphone/

Customize notifications for individual chats

WhatsApp allows you to customize notifications for individual chats so you can control which conversations grab your attention. Here are some ways to customize notifications per chat:

Mute specific chats. When you mute a chat, you will no longer receive popup or sound/vibration notifications from that conversation. To mute a chat on Android, tap and hold the conversation, tap More, and select Mute notifications. On iPhone, open the chat, tap the contact name, select Mute, and tap Mute Alerts.

Customize notifications for VIP contacts. You can select specific contacts as “priority” so their messages always show as popups and override your Do Not Disturb settings. To do this on Android, open the contact, tap Custom notifications, and enable High priority notifications. On iPhone, open the contact, enable Priority notifications, and select Alerts Always from the Priority notifications menu.

Set custom tones. You can set a unique notification sound for individual chats so you know who is messaging without having to check your phone. On Android, open the chat, tap Custom notifications, and select the desired ringtone. On iPhone, open the contact, tap Custom Tone, and pick a unique tone.

With these customizations, you can fine-tune WhatsApp to prioritize the conversations that matter most to you.

Set custom notification tones

One of the most popular ways to customize popup notifications in WhatsApp is by setting custom notification tones for individual chats or contacts. This allows you to assign a unique sound for each conversation so you can easily identify who is messaging without having to look at your phone.

To set a custom notification tone on iOS ¹:

Open WhatsApp and select the chat you want to customize.

Tap the contact’s name at the top of the chat screen.
Scroll down and tap “Custom Notifications”.
Under Sound, tap on “Default” and select a new tone.

For Android ²:

Open chat and tap the 3 dots menu.
Select “More” then “Custom notifications”.

Tap “Select notification tone” and pick a sound.

You can also download additional notification tones from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. Some top apps for custom sounds include Zedge, Notification Sounds, and Custom Notifications.

Use Do Not Disturb mode

WhatsApp’s Do Not Disturb mode allows you to mute notifications for set periods of time (Source). This can be useful if you don’t want to be disturbed by WhatsApp notifications at certain times, like at night or during work hours.

To enable Do Not Disturb mode on WhatsApp:

Open WhatsApp and go to Settings > Notifications > Do Not Disturb
Toggle on “Use Do Not Disturb mode”

Set a schedule for when you want DND enabled (e.g. 10pm to 7am daily)

You can allow exceptions in DND mode for favorite contacts. This will let their messages come through even when DND is on:

Under “Allow exceptions”, toggle on “Favorites”

Add any favorite contacts you want to bypass DND

With this setup, you won’t get disturbed by WhatsApp notifications during your set DND hours, except for messages from your selected favorite contacts (Source).

Adjust notification privacy

You can control how much content from notifications is displayed on your lock screen or in notification popups. In WhatsApp settings, go to Notifications > Show Previews. From here, you have two options:

Show message previews – This will show a preview of the message content in notifications.
Hide sensitive notification content – Enable this to hide any potentially sensitive content from message previews. Only the sender name or group name will be displayed.

On Android, you can toggle these settings separately for the lock screen and notification popups. On iPhone, it’s one setting for both lock screen and notification previews.

Hiding sensitive content can help prevent messages from being visible if someone else looks at your phone. According to WhatsApp’s FAQ, previews of audio messages, videos, images, and stickers will always remain hidden from the lock screen, even with the “Show previews” setting enabled.

Manage notifications by conversation

You can manage notifications on a chat-by-chat basis in WhatsApp. This allows you to mute certain conversations while still receiving notifications from others.

To pin specific chats to the top of your chats list and receive priority notifications from them, open the chat, tap the contact’s name at the top, and select “Pin chat”. Pinned chats will have a small pin icon next to them in your chats list.

You can also archive conversations to mute notifications and remove them from your main chats list. Archived chats will be located under the Archived chats section in WhatsApp. To archive a chat, open the chat, tap the contact’s name, and select “Archive chat”.

Archiving conversations can help reduce notification overload by removing chats you engage with less frequently from your main chats list. You can always unarchive a chat later to restore it to your main chats list.

Sources:

https://faq.whatsapp.com/android/chats/about-archiving-chats/?lang=en

https://faq.whatsapp.com/general/chats/about-pinned-chats/?lang=en

Troubleshooting tips

If you are having issues with WhatsApp notifications on your device, there are some troubleshooting steps you can try:

Fixes for missing notifications

If you are not receiving any notifications from WhatsApp, try these fixes:

Make sure WhatsApp notifications are enabled in your device settings. On an iPhone, go to Settings > Notifications > WhatsApp and toggle alerts on.
Check that Do Not Disturb mode is disabled on your device. DND can block notifications.

Force close and restart the WhatsApp app to refresh it.
Update to the latest version of WhatsApp in case it’s a bug causing the issue.
On Android, clear WhatsApp’s cache and data to refresh the app.

As a last resort, uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp.

Dealing with unwanted notifications

If you are getting too many notifications from WhatsApp groups or chats:

Mute specific chats so you only get notifications from priority chats.

Use WhatsApp’s Do Not Disturb mode to pause all notifications for a set time.
Adjust notification settings for each individual chat.
Turn off group notifications if they are bothersome.

Set custom notification tones to identify important contacts.

If none of these fixes work, contact WhatsApp support for further help troubleshooting notifications.

Final thoughts

Customizing WhatsApp notifications allows you to take control over how you receive alerts from the app. The key steps covered in this guide include turning off popup notifications entirely, customizing notifications for individual chats, setting custom notification tones, using Do Not Disturb mode, adjusting notification privacy, and managing notifications by conversation.

There are a few additional customization options not covered above. You can control the notification LED light, vibrate settings, and preview message text in notifications. Android users can also block notifications during certain time periods. On iOS, you can enable Show Preview to see a snippet of the message in the notification banner. Overall, WhatsApp provides robust tools to manage notifications exactly how you want.