Take control of Android notifications and limit them on your phone

Phone notifications can become so frequent they are an irritation and disturb what you are doing. Take control of notifications, limit them and stop the annoyances from your Android phone.

Apps on the phone can produce many notifications and examples include a weather app displaying the latest weather forecast, a news app displaying the latest headlines, a step counter telling you that you have reached today’s target, or a calendar warning of an upcoming appointment. Some notifications are useful, but some are not.

If you think Android has a confusing notification system that at first sight does not seem to make sense, if you are confused about the functions and features, this guide shows how it all works.

Trying to show anything in Android is complicated by the many different versions and 6, 7, 8 and 9 are all in use in varying numbers. They are all similar, but different versions and the customisation applied by phone manufacturers mean that your menus may not be exactly like these. However, they will be similar, so look for the features in the Settings app if you need to.

1 Open Android Settings

Open the Settings app on your Android phone and look for the Notifications section. Tap it to open it.

2 Enable and disable notifications

Near the top of the screen is a master on/off switch for notifications and if it is on, turn it off. This enables each app to be configured individually. Turn off the notifications switch for any apps you can live without. For example, do you really need Facebook notifications?

Disable notifications for all but the most essential apps and you will already begin to see fewer distractions and annoyances.

3 Configure app notifications

For those apps that you allow notifications, tap each one and configure it. For Google Calendar for example, there is a Show silently notifications option so there is no sound and no vibration. You may find this less distracting.

There is also an option to Set as priority. We will see later how to set Do Not Disturb mode to block notifications, such as at night when you are asleep, and the Set as priority switch determines whether notifications from this app overrides that. The best setting for most apps is off, but you may want an important app to still show notifications. Choose the setting for each app.

4 Choose lock screen notifications

Press On lock screen and choose whether notifications from this app appear on the phone's lock screen. With messages and emails, you might want to select Hide content in case someone picks up your phone and reads them. Only brief details are shown, but you may not want others to see them.

There is also a Do not show notifications option to prevent all notifications appearing on the lock screen. Choose the setting you prefer for each app that has notifications enabled.

5 Avoid phone distractions

Do Not Disturb is an Android feature that prevents notifications, calls and other things from distracting you during meetings or waking you up in the middle of the night. It may depend on your version of Android, but on some phones this is in Settings > Sounds and vibration > Do not disturb.

There is a manual on/off switch to enable it right now, such as when you enter a meeting or some other time you don't want to be disturbed. Tap it to open the DND settings. Turn on Enable as scheduled and then choose the days, start and end time to enable it. For example, set it to start when you normally go to bed and end when you normally wake.

It is not a good idea to block everything and you might want some exceptions, so tap Allow exceptions.

6 Do Not Disturb exceptions

No exceptions is too severe for many people and Alarms only is a good choice. This allows an alarm to wake you in a morning even though Do Not Disturb is set. The Custom option is also useful. Let's take a look.

7 Custom DND exceptions

There are several options, like allowing repeat callers and calls from family or friends in case of emergencies, but here we are looking at notifications. Go to the bottom and tap Priority app notifications. All the apps on the phone are listed and you can choose apps that are given priority, in other words, they can show notifications even when DND is enabled.

8 Lock screen notifications

There are still more notifications settings and if you go to Settings > Lock Screen and Security there is a Notifications section. Press it to configure it.

9 Set lock screen notifications

This is more or less a duplication of settings elsewhere. At the top is a Content on lock screen setting and tapping it enables you to set a global Show content, Hide content or Do not show notifications. there are also individual enable/disable switches for apps too.

No more phone distractions

If you have never configured notifications on your Android phone, then configuring all the apps is a lot of work. When a new app is installed, remember to enable or disable the notifications for it and disable them unless they are essential. It is nice not to have distractions or beeps, dings and chimes in the middle of the night.