For people that text a lot, the Messages app can be one of the most active applications on the device. Our tutorial below discussed a hide alerts iPhone setting that you can use when you want to reduce the number of notifications by stopping them entirely for specific conversations.
How to Hide Text Message Alerts and Notifications on an iPhone
Our article continues below with additional information on the hide alerts iPhone setting, including pictures for steps on adjusting that setting. Customizing notifications and settings is important when you are trying to optimize your iPhone experience. If you receive a lot of text messages, particularly from one or a few specific conversations, then you might be interested in learning what the “Hide Alerts” setting means for the Messages app on your iPhone. Have you been exploring and experimenting with the menus and options in your iPhone’s Messages app and found a setting called “Hide Alerts?” This is a helpful option for your text message conversations that lets you mute the alerts and notifications that you would typically receive when you get a new text message. The alerts that it hides include any notifications that would pop up for the conversation, as well as any audio that would play to indicate the arrival of a new message. This is particularly useful for conversations that are very active, such as those from a group text message conversation. Our tutorial below will show you how to enable the Hide Alerts option for an iPhone text message conversation, as well as how to show alerts again for a conversation where they are hidden. We will also discuss customizing the notification settings for your messages, as well as address some common questions that arise concerning the use of the Hide Alerts feature. If you have other muted notifications then you may want to check out our how to turn off do not disturb on iPhone 7 article and see if that setting is activated.
What is the iMessage Hide Alerts Option?
In previous versions of iOS, there used to be a button that you could tap that said Hide Alerts. This appeared when you swiped to the left on a text message conversation, and it looked like the picture below. The Hide Alerts option on an iMessage or text message conversation meant that you wouldn’t get alerts or notifications about that specific text message conversation. I use this all the time for active group text message conversations where you might not want to see a large number of notifications that are likely to happen when you have multiple people are responding in the same message. In newer versions of iOS, this has been replaced with a bell icon, which looks like the image below.
Both of these items do the same thing. The interface just changed a little bit.
How Can I Tell If I Have Enabled the “Hide Alerts” option for an iPhone Text Message?
If you aren’t certain whether or not you have turned this setting on, then a simple way is to look for a small bell icon with a line through it in your conversation list. I have muted the indicated conversation in the picture below. You can also swipe to the left on a conversation. If you see the bell icon with a diagonal line through it, like in the picture below, then you haven’t muted the conversation. If you see a bell icon without a line through it, then you have muted the conversation. You can always tap that button to change whether or not the alerts are currently being hidden for that conversation. The next section will show you how to mute notifications for one of your iPhone conversations.
How to Hide Alerts for a Text Message Conversation on an iPhone 7
The steps in this article were performed on an iPhone 7 Plus in iOS 11.4.1. These steps will also work on other iPhone models using the same version of iOS. If you don’t see the Hide Alerts or Show Alerts button, or a purple bell with a line through it, in the sections below, then you may be using an older version of iOS. Now that you have completed the hide alerts iPhone process, you may be wondering how to re-enable them if you wish to start receiving notifications for this conversation again in the future. You can read our how to turn on group messaging on iPhone article for more information about using group texting on your iPhone.
How to Stop Hiding Alerts for Text Messages on an iPhone
If you have previously hidden alerts for a text message conversation, or if you suspect that you may have hidden them accidentally, then follow the steps in this section to start showing those alerts again.
Step 1: Open the Messages app.
Step 2: Swipe to the left on the text message conversation for which you want to show alerts.
Step 3: Tap the Show Alerts button.
If you don’t want to use the iPhone hide alerts option, but you would still like to change your text message or iMessage notification behavior, then the next section will show you where to find these settings.
How to Customize Notification Settings for Text Messages on an iPhone
If you don’t want to hide alerts for your conversations, but you do want to choose the types of notifications that you receive, you can follow the steps below.
Step 1: Open the Settings app.
Step 2: Choose the Notifications option.
Step 3: Scroll down and select the Messages option.
Step 4: Modify the settings on this menu to control the types of notifications you receive for new text messages.
If you select the Allow Notifications option at the top of this menu, you can completely turn off notifications for all text messages on your iPhone. This option isn’t just available for muting notifications for text messages. You can mute another app’s notifications as well if you go to Settings > tap Notifications > then scroll down and choose another option. Note that the steps that we discussed above are only for hiding notifications on your iPhone. This isn’t going to hide iMessage conversations, nor will it be able to prevent anyone who wants to find hidden text messages from simply choosing to tap Messages on your Home screen and scroll through your messages list.
- Open the Messages app.2. Choose the conversation for which you want to hide alerts.3. Tap the i button at the top-right of the screen.4. Touch the button to the right of Hide Alerts. In older versions of iOS this option might be called Do Not Disturb instead. This will also be disabling notifications for other messages that you might receive in that conversation, like a picture message or a video message. In newer versions of iOS this icon looks like a bell with a diagonal line through it instead. In this case, it’s usually best to restart the iPhone by holding down the Power button for a few seconds, then moving the slider on the screen to the right to turn off the device. You can then restart the iPhone after it has shut down by pressing and holding the Power button again for a few seconds. If you don’t wish to hide message alerts from the lock screen then you will need to toggle “Hide Alerts” off and adjust the notification alerts from the Settings > Notifications > Messages menu instead. However, it is possible to make it a little more difficult for someone to see specific messages on your phone aside from choosing to hide notifications. If you go to Settings > Messages > Unknown & Spam > you will find a Filter Unknown Senders option. Enabling this option will split your messages between those from contacts, and those from unknown numbers. Suppose you want a conversation to appear in the Unknown Senders tab instead of the regular message list. In that case, you can choose the Delete Contact option on their contact card so that your iPhone thinks they are an unknown sender whenever they send you a text message or an iMessage. Are you running out of space on your iPhone? Read our guide on ways to free up space on your iPhone if you don’t have enough room for music, movies, or new apps.
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