To change Do Not Disturb on an iPhone, open Settings > Focus > Do Not Disturb. That one screen controls who can still reach you (People), which apps can still notify you (Apps), when it turns on by itself (Set a Schedule), and how your Lock Screen looks while it’s on.
To just switch it on or off, or change how long it lasts, use Control Center: swipe down from the top-right corner, tap Focus, then tap Do Not Disturb. Since iOS 15, Do Not Disturb has been one of several Focus modes, which is why it lives under Focus rather than as its own setting.
How to turn Do Not Disturb on or off, or change how long it lasts
- Swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen to open Control Center. On an iPhone with a Home button, swipe up from the bottom edge.
- Tap Focus.
- Tap Do Not Disturb to turn it on now. Tap it again to turn it off.
- To set an end time instead, tap the three dots (…) next to Do Not Disturb and choose an option such as For 1 hour, Until this evening or Until I leave this location.
A moon icon appears in the status bar and on the Lock Screen while it’s on. You can also touch and hold that icon on the Lock Screen to turn it off, or ask Siri to “turn off Do Not Disturb.”
How to change who can reach you during Do Not Disturb
- Go to Settings > Focus > Do Not Disturb.
- Under Allow Notifications, tap People.
- Choose Allow Notifications From to let only the people you pick through, or Silence Notifications From to block only certain people and let everyone else through.
- Tap Add People and pick contacts from your list.
- Tap Allow Calls From to decide whose phone calls ring, for example Favorites, All Contacts or only the people you allowed.
- Leave Allow Repeated Calls on if you want a second call from the same number within three minutes to ring through. It’s meant for emergencies.
Note: Alarms you set in the Clock app still go off during Do Not Disturb. It silences calls and notifications, not alarms.
How to change which apps can notify you
- In Settings > Focus > Do Not Disturb, tap Apps.
- Pick Allow Notifications From or Silence Notifications From, then tap Add Apps to choose the apps.
- Turn on Time Sensitive Notifications if you want urgent alerts, such as a delivery at the door or a reminder you marked urgent, to break through.
Silenced notifications aren’t lost. They wait in Notification Center, and you’ll see them when Do Not Disturb ends. To mute one noisy chat all the time rather than only during Focus, see how to silence text notifications.
How to change the Do Not Disturb schedule
A schedule turns Do Not Disturb on and off by itself, every day or only on the days you choose.
- Go to Settings > Focus > Do Not Disturb.
- Under Set a Schedule, tap Add Schedule. To change an existing schedule, tap it instead.
- Choose what triggers it: Time, Location (for example, when you arrive at work) or App (when you open a certain app).
- For a time schedule, set From and To, then tap the days you want under Repeat.
- Tap Done.
To stop a schedule without deleting it, tap it and turn off the switch at the top. To delete it, tap it and choose Delete Schedule at the bottom. If you want Do Not Disturb every night at bedtime, the Sleep Focus may suit you better; our guide on Sleep Focus and sleep mode explains how the two differ.
How to change what your screen shows during Do Not Disturb
In Settings > Focus > Do Not Disturb, scroll to Customize Screens to choose a Lock Screen or Home Screen page that appears only while it’s on. Below that, Focus Filters can limit some apps to certain content, like showing only work calendars.
Tap Options for three more choices:
- Show on Lock Screen shows silenced notifications on the Lock Screen instead of only in Notification Center.
- Dim Lock Screen darkens the Lock Screen while it’s on.
- Hide Notification Badges removes the red number badges from app icons on the Home Screen.
Stop Do Not Disturb from syncing to your other devices
If Do Not Disturb keeps turning on by itself, your iPad, Mac or Apple Watch is often the cause. By default, turning a Focus on one device turns it on for all devices that use your Apple Account.
- Go to Settings > Focus.
- Turn off Share Across Devices.
On the same screen, Focus Status controls whether apps like Messages can tell people you have notifications silenced. When it’s on, someone texting you can choose Notify Anyway for something urgent.
Do Not Disturb still not working the way you want?
- It turns on by itself: check Set a Schedule for time, location or app triggers, check Share Across Devices, and look at Sleep and Driving in the Focus list, which can start automatically too.
- Some calls still ring: the caller is in your allowed people, Allow Calls From covers them, or they called twice within three minutes with Allow Repeated Calls on.
- A contact always gets through: Emergency Bypass may be turned on in that person’s contact card (under their ringtone or text tone), which overrides Do Not Disturb. Edit the contact in Contacts to turn it off.
- You’re missing calls when it’s off: check the Ring/Silent switch or Action button. Silent mode is a separate setting; see how silent mode and vibration work.
Do Not Disturb vs. Silent mode
| Do Not Disturb | Silent mode | |
|---|---|---|
| How to turn on | Control Center > Focus | Ring/Silent switch, Action button or Control Center (on Action button models) |
| Calls and notifications | Hidden and silenced, except people and apps you allow | Still appear on screen, just without sound (they can still vibrate, depending on your Haptics setting) |
| Can run on a schedule | Yes | No |
| Alarms | Still sound | Still sound |
Common questions
Can I let one person’s calls through Do Not Disturb?
Yes. Add them under People with Allow Notifications From selected, and they can reach you while everyone else stays silenced.
Does Do Not Disturb stop my iPhone from waking me up?
No. Clock app alarms ring through Do Not Disturb. If you want someone to be able to reach you in an emergency at night, keep Allow Repeated Calls on.
Matthew Roberts is the founder and editor of ARS Digitech. He started the site to answer the iPhone questions his friends and family kept asking him, and it has grown into a library of iPhone and iOS how-to guides. Matthew writes and maintains every tutorial on the site, checking steps and menu names against Apple’s official support documentation and updating guides when an iOS release moves a setting.