Where to find push notification settings on your iPhone

Push notifications on iPhone are controlled in one place: the Settings app. Open Settings, tap Notifications, then find the app you want to allow notifications from. Tap the app name, then toggle Allow Notifications to the on position (the switch will turn green). That's the core action — everything else is deciding which apps get them and what kind of alerts you see.

If you've never allowed notifications from an app before, you may see a prompt the first time you open that app asking for permission. You can tap Allow right there, or you can go through Settings instead. Both routes do the same thing. If you tap Don't Allow on that prompt, you can still change your mind later by going to Settings > Notifications and turning the app on.

Key Takeaways

  • Push notifications are turned on per app in Settings > Notifications, not globally for your whole phone.
  • When you first open an app, it usually asks permission to send notifications — you can allow it then or change it later in Settings.
  • Turning on Allow Notifications is the first step; you can then choose whether alerts appear as banners, sounds, badges, or lock screen messages.
  • If you've blocked notifications from an app and want them back, go to Settings > Notifications, find the app, and toggle Allow Notifications on again.

Choosing how notifications appear once you've allowed them

Once you've turned on Allow Notifications for an app, you get to decide how those notifications actually reach you. In the same app settings screen, you'll see options for Alerts, Sounds and Haptics, Badges, and Lock Screen. You don't have to use all of them — you can pick and choose.

Alerts controls whether notifications show up as banners at the top of your screen, as a list in Notification Center, or both. Sounds and Haptics lets you turn on a sound or vibration when a notification arrives. Badges puts a red number on the app icon showing how many unread items you have. Lock Screen controls whether notifications appear on your lock screen when your phone is locked. You can turn any of these on or off independently — for example, you might want badges and lock screen notifications but no sound.

Allowing notifications for apps you've already blocked

If you previously tapped Don't Allow when an app asked for permission, or if you turned notifications off for an app you now want to hear from, the process is the same. Go to Settings > Notifications, scroll down to find the app name, tap it, and toggle Allow Notifications on.

Some apps appear in the Notifications list only after you've opened them at least once. If you don't see an app you're looking for, open the app first, then go back to Settings. The app should now appear in your Notifications list.

Notifications that bypass your settings

A few types of notifications ignore your per-app settings and come through anyway. Critical Alerts from apps like Health or Emergency SOS are designed to reach you even if you've turned off all other notifications from that app. These are rare and only used for genuinely urgent situations — your health app alerting you to a dangerous reading, for example.

Phone calls and text messages from your Contacts also have their own rules separate from push notifications. You control those in Settings > Phone and Settings > Messages, not in the Notifications section. If someone is calling or texting you and you're not seeing it, check those settings instead.

Turning off notifications from an app without deleting it

You don't have to delete an app to stop its notifications. Go to Settings > Notifications, find the app, and toggle Allow Notifications off. The app stays on your phone and works normally — it just won't send you alerts anymore. You can turn them back on anytime by toggling the switch back on.

If you want to be more selective, you can leave Allow Notifications on but turn off individual features like sounds, badges, or lock screen alerts. This way the app can still notify you, but in a quieter way that doesn't interrupt you as much.

Organizing notifications by time and focus modes

If you want notifications from certain apps only during specific times, you can use Focus modes. Go to Settings > Focus, create or edit a Focus (like Work, Sleep, or Personal Time), and choose which apps are allowed to notify you while that Focus is active. When you turn on a Focus, only the apps you've selected will send notifications.

This is different from turning off notifications entirely — the app still has permission to send them, but your phone filters which ones actually reach you based on your Focus. For example, you might allow work email notifications during Work Focus but silence them during Sleep Focus, all without changing the app's notification settings.

What to do if an app won't let you allow notifications

Occasionally you'll find an app that doesn't appear in your Notifications settings, or the Allow Notifications toggle is grayed out. This usually means the app hasn't requested notification permission yet. Open the app and look for a settings or preferences section within the app itself — some apps have their own notification controls separate from iOS settings.

If the app still doesn't show up in Settings > Notifications after you've opened it, try closing the app completely (swipe up from the bottom of the screen to close it) and then opening it again. If the app still doesn't request permission or appear in settings, contact the app's support team — there may be a bug or the app may not support notifications on your version of iOS.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I allow notifications from one app but not others?

Yes. Each app has its own notification settings in Settings > Notifications. You can allow notifications from some apps and block them from others. You can also customize how each app notifies you — one app might have sounds on while another has only badges.

What's the difference between allowing notifications and turning on sounds?

Allowing notifications means the app can send you alerts at all. Turning on sounds means those alerts will include an audio or vibration. You can allow notifications but turn off sounds if you want to see alerts without hearing them.

If I don't allow notifications when an app first asks, can I change my mind later?

Yes. Go to Settings > Notifications, find the app, and toggle Allow Notifications on. You don't need to delete and reinstall the app or do anything else — changing it in Settings is all you need.

Do I need to allow notifications for every app, or is there a way to allow them all at once?

iOS doesn't have a global "allow all notifications" button. You turn notifications on per app in Settings > Notifications. However, most apps ask for permission the first time you open them, so you can allow them one by one as you use each app.

Why am I not seeing notifications from an app even though I allowed them?

Check that Allow Notifications is actually toggled on in Settings > Notifications for that app. Also check your Focus mode — if a Focus is active, it may be blocking that app's notifications. Finally, make sure the app itself isn't muted in its own settings, as some apps have notification controls within the app as well as in iOS Settings.