How do I stop my phone from notifying me of texts?

Understanding Phone Notifications

Phones display various types of notifications to alert you about incoming calls, texts, app updates, and more. The main notification types include:

• Text messages – You’ll get notifications when receiving new SMS or MMS messages.
• Phone calls – Missed call alerts and incoming call screens are notifications for voice calls.
• App notifications – Apps like email, social media, news, etc. display notifications to inform you about new messages, timeline updates, breaking stories, and other app activity. These are triggered by the app and can be customized.
• System notifications – Your phone’s OS sends notifications about OS updates, battery status, calendar events, and more.

Notifications appear in different ways depending on your phone model and OS. On Android they show up in the notification shade and notification log. On iPhones they appear as banners and in the notifications center. Most notifications also trigger sounds, vibrations, or visual cues.

Customizing Text Notifications

You can customize your text notification settings to mute notifications for specific conversations or senders while still allowing calls to come through. On Android, open the Messages app and tap the three-dot menu in the upper-right corner. Select “Settings” and then “Notifications.”

From here, you can toggle notifications on or off for different categories like “Messages” to disable notifications for all texts. You can also select “Conversations” to customize notifications for specific chats. Toggle off “Notifications” to mute an individual conversation.

On Samsung devices, open the Messages app and tap the three horizontal lines menu > “Settings.” Select “Notifications” to mute notifications for all texts or tap “Conversation notifications” to customize per chat. Toggle off notifications for each conversation you want to mute.

This allows you to silence distracting group chats or unnecessary senders while still receiving notifications from important contacts. You can also typically set your phone to “Priority only” to only allow calls and notifications from certain favorite contacts.

Disabling Notifications Entirely

You can turn off all notifications from your Android device’s settings menu. This will disable notifications globally, preventing any apps from sending you notifications.

To disable all notifications:

1. Open your Settings app.
2. Tap “Notifications”.
3. Toggle the switch next to “Allow notifications” to the off position.

With notifications disabled, you will no longer receive any banners, sounds, or vibrations when notifications come in. Apps cannot override this setting.

According to Google Support, disabling notifications prevents apps from “alerting you, appearing in the status bar, or peeking onto the screen.” (source)

While this option completely silences all notifications, it may be overly restrictive if you just want to limit notifications from certain apps. We’ll cover per-app notification controls in the next section.

Silencing Notifications at Certain Times

One way to stop receiving text notifications during certain times is to use your Android device’s Do Not Disturb feature. This allows you to silence notifications for set periods of time, such as overnight while you’re sleeping.

To enable Do Not Disturb on Android and create a schedule:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Sound & vibration > Do Not Disturb.
3. Tap Schedules.
4. Tap Add schedule.
5. Choose the days and times you want Do Not Disturb to be enabled.
6. Tap Done.

Do Not Disturb will now automatically silence notifications during the scheduled times. You can customize multiple schedules, like one for nighttime and another for weekends. [1]

On Samsung devices, the process is similar:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Notifications > Do Not Disturb.
3. Tap Turn on as scheduled.
4. Add your desired schedules.

This prevents interruptions from texts without completely disabling all notifications. You can still allow exceptions for calls or alarms. Overall, Do Not Disturb scheduling is an easy way to mute notifications during your chosen times. [2]

Disabling Notifications Per App

You can customize notifications on a per-app basis to stop notifications from specific apps on your Android phone.

To disable notifications for a single app:

1. Open the Settings app on your Android phone.
2. Tap “Apps & notifications.”
3. Select “See all ### apps.”
4. Tap the app you want to disable notifications for.
5. Turn off “Show notifications” to disable all notifications, or customize which notification categories to disable.

This will stop that individual app from sending you notifications without affecting your notifications from other apps. It gives you granular control to mute annoying apps. According to SlashGear, this is an effective way to silence notifications selectively.

You can also long-press a notification and select “Turn off notifications” to disable notifications for that app specifically. And on Samsung Galaxy phones, you can tap the three dots menu in the notifications panel for an app and select “Turn off notifications.”

Automated Rules and Routines

Many Android phones allow you to set up automated rules and routines to control when notifications are enabled or disabled. For example, on Samsung Galaxy devices, you can access the Routines feature in Settings. This lets you create custom routines like “Night Mode” that will automatically enable Do Not Disturb and turn off all notifications from a certain time until you wake up [1].

You can set conditions based on time of day, your location, or other triggers. The routine will then automatically adjust your notification settings as specified. This way you don’t have to manually toggle notifications on and off. You can have your phone automatically enable Do Not Disturb mode while you’re sleeping, disable work email notifications when you leave the office, and more.

Other Android manufacturers like Xiaomi and Oppo have similar functionality built into their Android skins. Look for “Automation” or “Rules” in your device’s Settings to find options for automatically enabling or disabling notifications based on triggers [2].

Using Focus Modes

A helpful feature on Android for limiting distractions from text notifications is Focus Mode (available on Android 9 and higher). Focus Mode allows you to customize profiles that restrict apps and notifications during set times so you can focus without interruptions.

Focus Mode has several preset options, like blocking apps and notifications while at work or at night while sleeping. You can also create custom Focus profiles to limit distractions from specific apps or contacts during chosen time periods.

To enable a Focus profile, go to Settings > Digital Wellbeing & parental controls > Focus Mode. Tap the “+” icon to make a new profile, choose which apps and contacts to pause, and set a schedule for when Focus should be on.

According to Google’s blog, Focus Mode makes it easy to minimize distractions for set blocks of time when you need to concentrate. Custom Focus profiles are useful for muting text notifications during work hours, study sessions, or other important times.

Trying a Minimalist Launcher

Another way to reduce distracting notifications is to try using a minimalist launcher on your Android phone. Launchers like Olauncher and Before provide alternative user interfaces with far fewer bells and whistles. Minimalist launchers strip away extra widgets, icons, and menus, resulting in a clean home screen focused on simplicity and minimizing distractions.

With less clutter on your home screen, there are fewer things popping up begging for your attention. Many minimal launchers also allow you to remove notification icons from your status bar, further reducing distractions. While minimal launchers do limit customization options, that constraint can be freeing if you find yourself constantly fiddling with configuration settings and layouts.

Many users on Reddit threads like r/digitalminimalism report minimal launchers help them focus on the essentials. If you feel overwhelmed by notifications and endless tweaking on your Android phone, trying a minimalist launcher could be worth a shot.

Third-Party Notification Manager Apps

In addition to the built-in notification management options on Android devices, there are various third-party apps that provide advanced controls for managing notifications.

Apps like FilterBox and Notification Manager allow you to create highly customized notification rules. For example, you can set rules to block or delay notifications during certain times of day, allow notifications only from selected contacts, filter notifications by app or keyword, and more.

These third-party apps provide notification management features not available in the standard Android settings. With advanced controls, you can fine-tune notifications to show only what’s important and avoid distractions. The apps run in the background and require minimal interaction once configured.

While Android offers basic notification settings, third-party apps take customization much further for those seeking granular control over their notification experience.

Troubleshooting Tips

If you are having issues with notifications not showing up properly on your Android device, here are some troubleshooting tips to fix common notification problems:

Check your Do Not Disturb settings – Go to Settings > Sound & vibration > Do Not Disturb and make sure it is turned off or set to allow exceptions. Having Do Not Disturb enabled will block notifications.

Verify app notification settings – Open the Settings app, go to Apps & notifications > Notifications and check that notifications are enabled for the problematic apps. You may need to enable them individually.

Restart your device – Sometimes a simple reboot can fix notification issues. Power your phone off completely and then turn it back on.

Clear app cache and data – For a stubborn app with notification problems, go to Settings > Apps & notifications > App info, select the app, then Clear cache and Clear storage. This resets the app.

Check OS and app updates – Install the latest Android OS and app updates, as these sometimes include notification fixes.

Use safe mode – Restart your phone in safe mode, which disables third party apps. If notifications work in safe mode, it points to a problematic app.

Reset app preferences – Go to Settings > System > Reset options > Reset app preferences. This resets defaults for apps and notifications.

Factory reset device – As a last resort, back up your data and do a factory reset, which will wipe your phone and reinstall the OS from scratch.

If none of these troubleshooting tips fix your notification issues, contact the device manufacturer or your carrier for further support.