How do you silence text Messages on Android?

This article will explain the various methods available on Android devices to silence or mute text message notifications. Getting distracted by constant notifications can disrupt productivity and concentration. Silencing text notifications allows you to focus without the disturbance of incoming texts. Users can customize which apps to silence, when to mute notifications, and tailor sounds and visuals to reduce distractions. Control over notifications also helps minimize phone addiction and compulsive checking.

Check Notification Settings

The first step to silence text notifications on Android is to open the main Settings app and navigate to the Notifications section. Here are the steps:

Open the Settings app on your Android device. This is typically found in the app drawer or by swiping down from the top of the screen and tapping the gear icon.

In Settings, tap “Apps & notifications.” On some devices this may be listed as “Apps.”
Next, tap “Notifications” to enter the Notifications settings section. This shows you a list of all apps installed on your device that utilize notifications.

Once you’ve entered the main Notifications settings in the Settings app, you can manage notifications for each individual app as described in the sections below.

Source: Control notifications on Android

Silence Specific Apps

To silence notifications from specific apps on Android:

Open the Settings app and tap Notifications. Here you will see a list of apps that have notification access. Tapping on an app will open a screen where you can enable or disable all notifications, as well as customize which notification categories you want to receive from the app.

For example, tapping on the Facebook app allows you to turn off all notifications, or just disable certain notification types like Promotional and Activity notifications. This provides more granular control to customize which alerts you receive from each app.

According to Google’s Android help guide, you can also press and hold on a notification, then tap the gear icon to access the notification settings for that particular app.

There are also apps like Notification Manager that provide an centralized interface to control notifications across all apps installed on your Android device. This can be an easier way to quickly disable notifications as needed on a per-app basis.

Set Priority Notifications

You can allow certain contacts to bypass your notification settings and always show priority notifications. This is useful for ensuring you never miss an important message from select people.

To set up priority notifications on Android:

Open the Settings app and go to Notifications.

Tap Conversations.
Tap the toggle next to “Priority conversations” to enable it.
Tap “Priority conversations” to see your list of conversations.

Tap the “+” icon to add a new conversation.
Select the contact you want to set as priority.

Once enabled, notifications from the selected contacts will always make a sound and pop up on your screen, even if you have Do Not Disturb mode turned on. You can customize the notification sound and visuals for priority conversations as well.

According to ZDNet, prioritizing notifications from certain people helps you focus on the most important conversations. Leaving priority notifications on for too many contacts can be distracting though, so only enable it for your closest contacts.

Silence During Certain Times

One of the most useful features of Do Not Disturb on Android is the ability to automatically silence notifications during certain times of day or night. You can set Do Not Disturb to turn on automatically during your sleep hours so you aren’t woken up by calls or texts.

To enable this, open Settings and go to Sounds & vibration > Do Not Disturb. Tap on Schedules and select your sleep hours, such as 10pm to 7am. You can choose to allow exceptions for certain contacts like your family or close friends during this scheduled quiet time if you wish.

You can also set Do Not Disturb to activate during events in your calendar. Go to Settings > Sounds & vibration > Do Not Disturb > Schedules > Event-based exceptions. Toggle on “See calendar events” and any events in your calendar will automatically silence notifications while they are occurring. This is great for meetings, movies, dinners out, or any other event where you don’t want interruptions.

Schedules and automatic rules make it effortless to silence your phone during times when notifications would be disruptive or unwanted. Just set it once and Android’s Do Not Disturb mode will make sure you aren’t bothered when you want peace and quiet.

Silence in Certain Locations

You can set up location-based rules to automatically silence notifications when you are in specific places. This allows you to avoid disruptions when you are at home, work, or any custom location.

On Android, open the Settings app and go to System > Rules. Tap “Add rule” and select “Place.” Choose if you want it based on Home, Work, or a Custom place. Give the rule a name like “Silent at Home.”

Then select “Do Not Disturb” and choose how aggressive you want the silencing. You can block sounds and vibrations, allow exceptions for starred contacts, and more. Under Time, select the schedules when it should be enabled.

Now when your device detects you are at the set location, your notifications will automatically be silenced so you can avoid distractions. You can create multiple rules for each place you want automatically muted. According to ZDNet, these geo-fenced rules only work on Android 8.0 and higher.

Block Notifications Entirely

You can completely disable notifications for a specific app if you want to avoid all alerts from that app. To block notifications:

Go to Settings > Apps & notifications > Notifications.
Select the app and toggle off “Show notifications.”

This will prevent any notifications from the chosen app from appearing on your device. Be aware that blocking notifications can mean missing important alerts from apps, so use caution.

For example, blocking notifications from a messaging app would mean potentially missing incoming messages. Consider customizing notification settings instead of fully disabling if you still want to receive important alerts.

Customize Notification Sounds

You can customize the default notification sounds and vibrations for all of your apps on Android. Here’s how:

Go to Settings > Sound & vibration. Tap on Default notification sound. Here you will see the default notification sound selected. Tap on it to change it.

You will now see a list of preset notification sounds to choose from. Select the sound you want to set as the default. You can also select “None” if you don’t want any sound for notifications.

To add your own custom sound, tap on “Add ringtone” at the bottom. This will open up your phone’s internal storage. Navigate to the audio file you want to use and select it. The file will be copied to the notification sounds list and set as default.

To customize vibrations, go back and tap on Default notification vibration. You can choose from preset vibration patterns or create your own pattern.

If you want different notification sounds for each individual app, you can do that too. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications > Notifications > App notifications. Tap on an app. Then go to Sound and select a unique notification sound just for that app.

So in summary, you have full control over customizing default notification sounds and vibrations on Android. You can set a global default, per-app sounds, or even assign unique sounds for each contact.

Manage Notification Dots

Notification dots, also known as notification badges, appear as small colored dots on app icons to indicate there are notifications for that app. They were introduced in Android 8.0 (API level 26) as a way to provide at-a-glance information about pending notifications (1).

While notification dots can be useful, some users may find them distracting or unnecessary. Luckily, Android provides a few ways to disable notification dots if you don’t want them:

Go to Settings > Apps & notifications > Notifications. Tap the gear icon next to an app and toggle off “Allow notification dot” to disable dots for that specific app.

To disable dots for all apps, go to Settings > Apps & notifications > Notifications and turn off “Allow notification dots” at the top.
On Android 9 and above, dots can also be disabled by long pressing on an app icon and tapping the (i) icon. Toggle off “Show notification dot” in the app info screen.

With these steps, you can easily manage or fully disable notification dots on your Android device. Just toggle them on or off for individual apps or system-wide as desired.

Conclusion

Managing notifications on your Android device allows you to take control over when and how you receive alerts. By adjusting notification settings, silencing specific apps, setting priority modes, and customizing when and where notifications come through, you can avoid unnecessary distractions.

The key steps we covered include:

Checking overall notification settings to control which apps can send notifications and how alerts are displayed

Silencing alerts from specific apps you find distracting or spammy
Setting priority modes so only certain people or apps can get through
Customizing when notifications are silenced, such as at night or during work hours

Silencing alerts based on location, so they don’t disrupt you in places like work or school
Blocking notifications entirely for apps you don’t need alerts from
Personalizing notification sounds so alerts aren’t disruptive or annoying

Managing notification dots to reduce visual clutter

Taking charge of your notifications helps minimize distractions, avoid information overload, and take control of how and when you receive alerts. This allows you to stay focused on your priorities and only be notified about things that truly matter.