On iOS 26 and earlier, iPhone alarms don’t have their own volume control. They play at the Ringtone and Alerts level, so open Settings > Sounds & Haptics and drag that slider left to make alarms quieter or right to make them louder. Pressing the volume buttons while music or a video is playing changes media volume instead, which is why an alarm can surprise you.
On iOS 27, released in September 2026, alarms can finally have a separate level. In Settings > Sounds & Haptics, turn off Match Ringtone Volume under Alarms and Timers, then set the slider that appears. Sleep schedule wake-up alarms are the exception on every version: they keep their own volume, which you set in the Clock or Health app.
Which volume controls your alarm?
| Alarm type | iOS 26 and earlier | iOS 27 |
|---|---|---|
| Regular alarm made in the Clock app | Ringtone and Alerts slider | Alarms and Timers slider (or the ringtone level if Match Ringtone Volume is on) |
| Sleep schedule Wake Up alarm | Its own slider in the alarm’s settings | Its own slider in the alarm’s settings |
| Timer | Ringtone and Alerts slider | Alarms and Timers slider |
Not sure which version you have? Go to Settings > General > About and look at iOS Version.
How to change alarm volume on iOS 26 and earlier
Because alarms share the ringer level here, anything you do to this slider also changes how loud calls ring.
- Open Settings.
- Tap Sounds & Haptics.
- Under Ringtone and Alerts, drag the slider. Your iPhone plays a sample sound at the new level as you move it.
- Turn Change with Buttons on or off (see below).
Should Change with Buttons be on or off?
With Change with Buttons on, pressing the volume buttons when nothing is playing moves the ringer and alarm level. That’s handy, but it’s also how people accidentally turn tomorrow’s alarm down to a whisper. Turn it off if you want the alarm level to stay exactly where you set it; the buttons will then only control media, calls and other audio that’s playing.
If the buttons don’t seem to change anything at all, our guide to turning the volume up on an iPhone explains which button controls which sound.
How to set a separate alarm volume on iOS 27
iOS 27 splits sounds into three groups: Ringtone, Alarms and Timers, and Alerts and System Sounds. Alarms follow your ringtone level until you unlink them.
- Open Settings and tap Sounds & Haptics.
- Scroll to Alarms and Timers.
- Turn off Match Ringtone Volume. A volume slider appears.
- Drag the slider to the level you want. A sample plays so you can hear it.
Now you can keep your ringer low during the day without making your alarm quieter. The same setting covers timers, so a timer will ring at your alarm level too. The switch is on by default after updating, so alarms behave the old way until you change it.
How to change the volume of a sleep schedule wake-up alarm
If you set a bedtime with a sleep schedule, the Wake Up alarm at the top of the Clock app’s Alarms tab has its own volume slider. Changing the system settings above won’t affect it, which catches out many people.
- Open the Clock app and tap Alarms.
- Next to Sleep | Wake Up, tap Change.
- Scroll to Alarm Options and drag the volume slider under Sounds & Haptics.
- Tap Done.
That change applies to the next wake-up alarm only. To change it for every day on the schedule, open the Health app, tap Browse > Sleep, edit your schedule under Your Schedule, and adjust the alarm’s volume there. Apple explains the full setup in its Sleep on iPhone support article.
Other settings that make an alarm too quiet or silent
The Ring/Silent switch (or the Action button’s Silent mode), Do Not Disturb and other Focus modes don’t mute alarms, according to Apple’s alarm support page. If your alarm is quiet or doesn’t make a sound, check these instead:
- The sound is set to None. In Clock > Alarms, tap Edit, tap the alarm, then tap Sound and pick a tone. A soft tone can also seem quieter than a sharp one at the same level.
- The volume slider is near the left. Even the lowest non-zero level can be hard to hear across a room.
- Attention Aware Features is on. On iPhones with Face ID, this lowers the volume of some alerts when you’re looking at the screen. It’s in Settings > Face ID & Passcode. If your alarm drops in volume as soon as you pick up the phone, this is why.
- The alarm is a sleep schedule alarm. Raise its own slider as shown above.
Alarms that only vibrate are usually set to a sound of None with haptics on. If you want the opposite, a buzz without sound for other alerts, see how to set up vibration on an iPhone.
Can you give each alarm its own volume?
No. Regular Clock alarms all share one level, whether that’s the ringer level (iOS 26 and earlier) or the Alarms and Timers level (iOS 27). The only alarm with an individual slider is the sleep schedule Wake Up alarm. If you want a gentler first alarm and a louder backup, use the wake-up alarm for one and a regular alarm for the other, or choose a quieter tone for the first.
Test the new volume before you rely on it
- In Clock > Alarms, tap the Add (+) button.
- Set a time two minutes from now and tap Save.
- Lock your iPhone, put it where it normally sits overnight, and listen.
- Stop the alarm, then swipe left on the test alarm and tap Delete.
On iOS 26.1 and later, you stop an alarm by dragging a slider instead of tapping Stop. If you’d rather have a single tap, turn on Prefer Single-Touch Actions in Settings > Accessibility > Touch. For different tones rather than different volumes, see how to change the ringtone and alert sounds on an iPhone.
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.