How to Silence Notifications for a Contact on iPhone

What to Know

  • You can silence messages for a specific contact or a group chat.
  • You can also put certain contacts on mute by swiping from right to left on the message thread.

* This article is from our Tip of the Day newsletter. . *

Do you have a person in your Contacts you'd like to silence for a while? You can turn on Do Not Disturb mode on your iPhone for individual contacts without them being notified. We'll cover how to put someone on Do Not Disturb, while still receiving other needed notifications and messages. 

Jump To:

Can You Put One Person on DND? 

Yes, you can. But there are a few ways to do it. Do Not Disturb is part of a larger set of Focus modes that allow you to customize which notifications, calls, and messages you receive. If you're looking to silence a group of contacts or apps, learning how to turn on a Focus mode can be your best option. If needed, you can also block a number if you no longer want to hear from a specific contact. However, sometimes, you simply need to know how to mute notifications for a contact or a specific message thread. In this case, follow the steps below to learn how to mute a contact on iPhone.

iPhone Life
Discover your iPhone's hidden features
Get a daily tip (with screenshots and clear instructions) so you can master your iPhone in just one minute a day.

How to Silence a Contact on iPhone

To learn more about ways to increase your productivity on your iPhone, such as how to put your iPhone on silent, sign up for our Tip of the Day newsletter. Here’s how to how to silence a contact on an iPhone without blocking them:

  1. Open the Messages app and tap the conversation you want to silence.

    silent a contact on iphone
  2. Tap the contact's name.

    how to silence a contact on iphone
  3. Toggle on Hide Alerts. 

    how to mute a contact on iphone
  4. Tap Done.

    how to silence calls on iphone from one person
  5. Now you'll see an alarm bell with a slash to the right of the thread in Messages.

    how to silence a contact on iphone without blocking

It's important to note that all Message notifications from this contact in any message thread will be muted until you turn off Do Not Disturb for this contact. 

Pro Tip: If your computer notifications have been bothering you, check out how to turn off the ringer on your Mac.

How to Mute / Unmute a Contact on iPhone

Here’s the simplest way to mute and unmute a specific message thread on your iPhone so that you can choose whether to receive notifications from that chat. 

  1. Swipe left on the conversation in Messages.

    silencing a contact on iphone
  2. Tap the purple alarm bell icon to turn alerts on or off.

    how to mute someone's calls

That's all there is to it!Now you can easily mute and unmute specific message threads whenever needed. If you often use Focus modes, you can check out this article to learn more about whether Do Not Disturb mode blocks alarms.

FAQ:

  • Can you silence a number on iPhone without blocking? There are a few ways to silence a particular contact without blocking them. You can set up a specific Focus and add people to silence, or you can follow the steps above to mute their messages.
  • Can you tell if someone has Do Not Disturb on? Often, people will have the notification enabled so that contacts who try to message you can see that your notifications are silenced. However, if that feature has not been enabled, you will not know whether the person has their notifications silenced or if their phone is dead or out of service.
  • What happens to texts when Do Not Disturb is on? The text will still be delivered and ready to view when you open the Messages app, it just will not alert you by showing a banner notification, a badge, or make any noise upon delivery.
  • Can you silence calls for one person? If you're wondering how to silence calls on iPhone without blocking, you'll need to set this up in Focus. Once you've created a Focus you want to use, go to People, choose "Silence Notifications From," and then select the contact. This is the only way to silence a person's calls without blocking them. Learn how to find out if someone blocked you.
Master your iPhone in one minute a day: Sign up here to get our FREE Tip of the Day delivered right to your inbox.

Topics

Author Details

Conner Carey's picture

Author Details

Conner Carey

Conner Carey's writing can be found at conpoet.com. She is currently writing a book, creating lots of content, and writing poetry via @conpoet on Instagram. She lives in an RV full-time with her mom, Jan and dog, Jodi as they slow-travel around the country.