Control notifications on your Pixel phone

Depending what notifications you want, you can change settings for certain apps or for your whole phone. Notifications show when you swipe down from the top of your screen. Some notifications can also show on your lock screen and home screen.

Important: Some of these steps work only on Android 11 and up. Learn how to check your Android version.

Use notifications on your phone

Important: Do Not Disturb can block notifications. Learn how to use Do Not Disturb.

Clear notifications

• To dismiss one notification, swipe it left or right.
• To clear all notifications, scroll to the bottom of your notifications and tap Clear all.
• To clear all silent notifications, next to "Silent notifications," tap Close 

Tip:

• You can clear some notifications only when they're done. For example, you can clear a music player notification after you stop the music.
• If you can’t dismiss a notification on your lock screen or through the "Clear all" option, individually dismiss it.

Snooze notifications

Turn on snoozing

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Notifications.
3. Turn on Allow notification snoozing.

Snooze a notification 

To snooze a notification, tap the down arrow and then tap Snooze . To change the snooze time, tap the down arrow .

Reply, archive, expand & more

• To expand a notification, tap the Down arrow . Then, to act directly from a notification, tap an action, like Reply or Archive.
• Some apps show a dot when you get a notification. Touch and hold the app with the dot to see the oldest notification. Then, clear each to show the next.

Show your recent and snoozed notifications

If you clear or snooze your notification, you can go to your notification history to view them again.

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Notifications Notification history.
3. Turn Use notification history on or off.

Control emergency broadcast notifications

 

You can turn alert types on or off, find past alerts, and control sound and vibration.

1. On your phone, open the Settings app.
2. Tap Notifications  Wireless emergency alerts.
3. Choose how often you want to receive alerts and which settings you want to turn on.

Choose how you're notified on your phone

Change notifications for your device

On your Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, activate Google Assistant and ask, "How do I reduce the amount of notifications?" Learn more about Pixel support on Assistant.

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Notifications Notifications on lock screen.
   • Choose your notification defaults:
     • Show conversation, default, and silent
     • Hide silent conversations and notifications
     • Don't show any notifications
   • To update more notification preferences, under "General," turn notifications on or off:
     • Hide silent notifications in status bar
     • Allow notification snoozing
     • Notification dot on app icon
     • Enhanced notifications

Tip: On some phones, you can have your screen wake when you get a notification. Learn how to turn on ambient display.

Turn notifications on or off for certain apps

Option 1: In your Settings app

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Notifications App settings.
3. Under "Most recent," find apps that recently sent you notifications.
   • To find more apps, in the dropdown menu, tap All apps.
4. Tap the app.
5. Turn the app's notifications on or off.
   • You can turn off all notifications for a listed app or choose from specific categories.

Option 2: On a notification

1. To find your notifications, from the top of your screen, swipe down.
2. Touch and hold the notification, and then tap Settings .
3. Choose your settings:
   • To turn off all notifications, turn off All notifications.
   • Turn on or off notifications you want to receive.
   • To allow notification dots, turn on Allow notification dot.

Option 3: In the certain app

You can control many app notifications from a settings menu in the app. For example, an app could have a setting to choose the sound that app's notifications make. To make these changes, open the app and search for the settings menu. 

Turn notification dots on or off

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Notifications.
3. Turn Notification dot on app icon on or off.

Choose if notifications interrupt you or stay silent

You can choose what kind of notifications an app sends you:

• Alerting: You'll hear a sound, get a message on your lock screen, and find an app's icon in the status bar.
• Silent: You won't hear a sound . But the notification will show up when you swipe down from the top of your screen.

Option 1: In your Settings app

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Notifications App settings.
3. Under "Most recent," find apps that recently sent you notifications.
   • To find more apps, in the dropdown menu, tap All apps.
4. Tap the app.
5. Tap a type of notification.
6. Choose your options. Different apps have certain types of notifications you can turn on or off.

Option 2: On a notification

1. From the top, swipe down.
2. Touch and hold the notification.
3. Turn on Default or Silent.
4. Tap Apply.

Turn bubbles on or off

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Notifications Bubbles.
3. Turn on Allow apps to show bubbles.

Turn bubbles on or off for a specific app or conversation

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Tap See all apps. Then, tap the app you want to change.
4. Tap Notifications Additional settings in the app Bubbles.
5. Choose your notification settings:
   • All conversations can bubble.
   • Selected conversations can bubble: Tap a person. Then, turn on Bubble.
   • Nothing can bubble.

Control how notifications show on your phone's lock screen

Important: If you pick this option as your default, the setting applies to all apps. To block notifications from certain apps only, .

1. Open your device's Settings app.
   
2. Tap Notifications Notifications on lock screen.
   
3. Select an option:
   • Show conversations, default, and silent: Display all notifications on the lock screen.
   • Hide silent conversations and notifications: Display alerts on the lock screen.
   • Don't show any notifications: Block all notifications from the lock screen. You will only get notifications when you unlock your device.
     

Show sensitive content on your phone's lock screen

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Notifications.
3. Under "Privacy," turn Sensitive notifications on or off.

Tip: If you turn off this option, you can still restrict certain apps to "Don't show notifications" on your lock screen.

Choose which notifications you get | Pixel

Related resources

• Learn how to use lockdown
• Change volume, sound & vibrate settings
• Change where Now Playing notifications show
• Silence your phone with Do Not Disturb
• Find your chats and messages quickly