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Use your phone’s notification settings to decide which apps may alert you. Open Settings > Notifications > App notifications, select an app, and turn its notifications on or off. If your phone shows notification categories, you can allow some alert types and block others. For a temporary rule that applies only during Do Not Disturb or another mode, use that mode’s app filter instead.

Understand the three notification controls

Android offers several controls that look similar but operate at different scopes. Choosing the right one prevents you from blocking an app permanently when you only wanted quiet hours, or from silencing every alert when you only wanted to remove one type.

Control What it changes When to use it
App notifications A standing permission for one app to post notifications You always want or do not want alerts from that app
Notification categories Individual kinds of alerts within an app, where the phone and app provide them You want to keep important alerts but suppress promotional, social, or other less useful types
Mode or Do Not Disturb app filter Which apps may notify while a selected mode is active You want a temporary or scheduled exception for work, sleep, driving, or another mode

These controls can coexist. An app that is allowed in general can still be blocked by an active mode, and an app that is blocked at the app level cannot be restored merely by adding it to a mode’s allowed-app list.

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“Settings can vary by phone.” — Google Android Help

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Manufacturers, Android versions, and individual apps can use different labels or expose different options. Treat the paths below as the standard starting point rather than a guarantee that every Android phone will look identical.

Turn notifications on or off for an app

This is the permanent, app-level choice. It applies whether or not a mode is active.

  1. Open the phone’s Settings app.
  2. Tap Notifications, then App notifications.
  3. Find the app under Most recent. If it is not listed, change the list to All apps and browse or search for it.
  4. Tap the app’s name.
  5. Turn the app’s notification switch on or off.

Turning the switch off blocks that app’s notifications until you return to this screen and turn it on again. The app itself is not uninstalled, stopped, or prevented from performing other work; this setting controls its notification messages.

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If you are setting up a new phone, review All apps rather than relying only on Most recent. The recent list is useful for finding an app that just alerted you, but it is not a complete inventory of apps installed on the phone.

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Use an existing notification as a shortcut

You do not have to navigate through Settings when the unwanted alert is already visible.

  1. Swipe down from the top of the screen to open the notification shade.
  2. Touch and hold the app’s notification.
  3. Tap the notification settings control that appears.
  4. Turn off all notifications for the app, or change the notification types shown on that screen.

This shortcut is especially useful when a manufacturer has renamed a menu or moved it to a different section. It takes you to the controls for the app that produced the alert, so check the app name before changing anything.

If the notification disappears before you can press it, open Settings > Notifications > App notifications and look under Most recent. You can also use the Settings search field and enter notifications to locate the relevant menu.

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Choose individual notification categories when available

Some Android phones and apps divide notifications into categories. A messaging app, for example, might expose separate controls for direct messages, group activity, calls, or service notices. A shopping app might separate order updates from marketing alerts. Categories let you keep the alerts that matter without granting the app unrestricted access to your notification shade.

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  1. Open Settings > Notifications > App notifications.
  2. Select the app.
  3. Look for a list of notification categories or notification types below the main switch.
  4. Turn individual categories on or off, or open a category to adjust its available behavior.

Category controls are not universal. Their names and number depend on both the app and the phone’s software. If you see only one master switch, that app or device is not offering more granular controls in that location. Do not assume that a category shown for one app will exist for another.

Use the master switch when you want a simple all-or-nothing decision. Use categories when you need a durable split, such as allowing security alerts while blocking an app’s general announcements.

Allow or block apps during a mode

Modes and Do Not Disturb provide a conditional rule. Instead of changing whether an app can notify at all times, they determine which apps may break through while a particular mode is active. This is useful for sleep, meetings, driving, or focused work.

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Google’s mode guidance covers these app filters on Android 14 and later. On supported phones, use this route:

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  1. Open Settings.
  2. Tap Modes.
  3. Select the mode you want to configure.
  4. Open Notification filters, then Apps.
  5. Choose which apps may send notifications while that mode is active.

The exact labels and location can differ by manufacturer. If your phone does not show Modes, look for Do Not Disturb or a similarly named interruption-control menu. The Android-version qualification matters: the app-filter steps described by Google apply to supported Android 14-and-up mode controls, not automatically to every older phone.

A mode filter does not replace the app-level switch. Think of it as a temporary gate layered over your normal settings. When the mode ends, the phone returns to the ordinary app permissions; it does not permanently change them.

Which method should you use?

Your goal Use this setting Result
Never receive alerts from one app App notifications The app remains blocked until you turn it back on
Receive only selected alert types Notification categories Only the enabled categories can notify, if categories are available
Silence most apps during sleep or work but keep selected exceptions Mode or Do Not Disturb app filter The allowed-app list applies only while that mode is active
You are looking at an unwanted alert now Touch and hold the notification A shortcut opens that app’s notification controls

Start with the narrowest control that meets your goal. A category change preserves more useful information than disabling the whole app. A mode is narrower still when the interruption is unwanted only at certain times.

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Troubleshoot when the menu does not match

The app is missing from the list

Change Most recent to All apps. The recent view focuses on apps that have posted notifications lately, while the all-apps view is intended for reviewing installed apps. If you still cannot find the app, use Settings search for its name or for notifications.

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The phone uses different words

Android interfaces vary by phone maker and version. Look for a menu containing Notifications, an app list, and a per-app switch. When an alert is visible, touch and hold it and open its settings; that route often works even when the Settings hierarchy has been rearranged.

You cannot find notification categories

Categories are optional. Confirm that you opened the individual app page rather than only the top-level Notifications page. If no category list appears, the app or phone is providing only the master notification switch there. You cannot create categories from Android’s general settings when the app has not exposed them.

An allowed app stays quiet during a mode

First check the app’s permanent notification switch. A mode can allow an app only if the app is enabled at the app level. Then verify that the intended mode is actually active and that you edited that mode’s Notification filters > Apps list, not a different mode. On phones older than Android 14, the documented Modes app-filter interface may not be available.

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An app still interrupts you after you changed its setting

Reopen the app’s notification page and check both the master switch and any categories. If the problem occurs only during a scheduled period, inspect the active mode or Do Not Disturb rule. A mode may have its own app exceptions, so a setting that works outside the mode can behave differently while it is running.

Pixel-specific notes

Google’s Pixel help describes the same two practical routes: change an app from Settings > Notifications > App notifications, or touch and hold one of its notifications to open its controls. Pixel instructions are a useful example of the general Android approach, but they do not prove that every manufacturer uses identical labels or presents the same category and mode options.

What changing notification permission does—and does not do

  • It controls alerts: the app’s notifications can be shown or blocked according to the switch, categories, and any active mode.
  • It does not delete the app: the application and its stored data remain on the phone.
  • It does not change every in-app message: an app may still display information inside its own interface even when system notifications are disabled.
  • It does not make a mode permanent: mode filters apply only while the selected mode is active.
  • It does not guarantee identical behavior across apps: category names and available controls are supplied by the app and the device software.

If your goal is privacy on the lock screen rather than deciding which apps may alert you, look for the phone’s separate lock-screen notification settings. Those settings control what is visible when an alert arrives; they are distinct from allowing or blocking the app itself.

A practical setup checklist

  1. List the apps whose alerts you consider essential, useful only at certain times, or unnecessary.
  2. For permanent choices, open Settings > Notifications > App notifications and review each app.
  3. Use All apps for a complete review and Most recent when responding to a recent alert.
  4. Where categories appear, disable only the types you do not need.
  5. For sleep, work, or other scheduled quiet periods, configure the relevant mode’s Notification filters > Apps list on a supported Android 14-or-newer phone.
  6. Test the result by waiting for a normal alert or using an app action that ordinarily produces one, then revisit the same control if the behavior is not what you expected.

The key distinction is scope: app settings make a standing choice, categories make a selective choice within an app, and modes make a time- or situation-specific choice.

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