How To Fix Not Getting Notifications on an iPhone

If you’re waiting for an important message, it’s frustrating when your iPhone doesn’t give you notifications. A single notification going astray could mean you miss something crucial about your work or family life.

Thankfully, there are several things you can do to fix the issue of not getting notifications on your iPhone.

Method No. 1 – Restart Your iPhone

The classic method of turning your device on and off again can help to fix your notifications issue. The exact process you follow varies depending on the model of the iPhone you have.

Do the following for an iPhone 8 Plus or earlier:

1. Hold the side button until the power slider appears.
   
   
   
2. Drag the power slider to the right to turn your iPhone off.
   
   
   
3. After the iPhone shuts off, hold the side button down to turn it back on.
   
   

Those with the iPhone X or later have a slightly different process to follow:

1. Hold the side button, volume up button, and volume down button simultaneously.
   
   
   
2. Drag the power slider to the right when it appears.
   
   
   
3. Hold the side button down to turn your phone on after it shuts off.
   
   

Method No. 2 – Check Your Notification Settings

You may not be getting notifications because you accidentally turned them off. You can reactivate your notifications using these steps:

1. Open the “Settings” app.
   
   
   
2. Select “Notifications.”
   
   
   
3. Tap “Show Previews” at the top of the screen.
   
   
   
4. Select “Always” to state you wish to receive notifications regardless of whether your iPhone is locked or unlocked.
   
   

You can also use the “Notifications” settings to create permissions for different apps:

1. Open the “Settings” app and select “Notifications.”
   
   
   
2. Navigate “Notification Style.”
   
   
   
3. Select the app you wish to tweak.
   
   
   
4. Use the “Allow Notification” option to toggle notifications on or off for this app.
   
   

Method No. 3 – Disable Focus Mode

Previously known as the iPhone’s “Do Not Disturb” mode, Focus Mode allows you to silence your iPhone at any time. When silenced, your phone won’t receive notifications, letting you focus on your activity without worrying about repeated buzzing or chimes.

Focus Mode is great for keeping your iPhone silent when you’re sleeping or working on an important project. However, you may not be receiving notifications because you forgot to turn it off or you’ve enabled it by accident.

Here’s how to solve that problem:

1. Bring up the “Control Center” by swiping down from the top right of your phone’s screen.
   
   
   
2. Tap the crescent moon icon to disable Focus Mode.
   
   

You can also use these steps to activate Focus Mode. Your iPhone should display text next to the crescent moon icon letting you know Focus Mode’s current status.

Method No. 4 – Set Exceptions in Focus Mode

You may wish to keep Focus Mode active while still allowing certain people or apps to send notifications. If this is the case, turning Focus Mode off may not solve your notification issues the way you want to solve them.

The good news is that you can set exceptions in Focus Mode so you only receive the notifications you want to see:

1. Select “Settings” and tap “Focus.”
   
   
   
2. Select the specific “Focus” you wish to adjust.
   
   
   
3. Navigate to “Allowed Notifications”, where you’ll see two options:
   
   • People
   • Apps
     
     
4. Under the “People” option, select the people from whom you wish to receive notifications.
   
   
   
5. Using the “Apps” option, choose the apps you’ll allow to notify you.
   
   

With these settings applied, you’ll receive notifications from your selected people and apps even when Focus Mode is active.

Method No. 5 – Turn On Mobile Data

Some apps require access to the internet before they can provide notifications. If you’re not connected to a local Wi-Fi network, you need to turn mobile data on before you can receive these notifications:

1. Open the “Settings” app and select “Cellular.”
   
   
   
2. Use the “Cellular Data” toggle to turn your mobile data on or off.
   
   • The toggle is turned on when it’s green.
     
     

Note that having mobile data active leads to your phone consuming data for any active apps or when it sends notifications. If you reach your mobile data limit, follow the above steps and toggle the “Mobile Data” option off.

Method No. 6 – Disable Notification Summary

The introduction of iOS heralded several new features. Notification Summary is one of them. You can use this feature to schedule specific times when you’ll receive notifications. However, doing so means you won’t receive notifications during unspecified times, which could lead to you missing important messages.

Disable Notification Summary ensures you receive notifications immediately:

1. Open “Settings” and navigate to “Notifications.”
   
   
   
2. Locate “Scheduled Summary” and select new times for receiving notifications.
   
   

If you want to receive 24/7 notifications, you can toggle “Scheduled Summary” off.

Method No. 7 – Deactivate Focus Mode Smart Automation

Even if you haven’t activated your iPhone’s Focus Mode yourself, you may find that it’s still active and preventing notifications from reaching you. That’s due to Focus Mode having a “Smart Automation” setting, which allows your phone to automatically enable it whenever it sees fit.

If you’ve deactivated Focus Mode only to find that it keeps activating itself, follow these steps to turn “Smart Automation” off:

1. Head to “Settings” and select “Focus.”
   
   
   
2. Choose the Focus you wish to adjust
   
   
   
3. Navigate to “Turn on Automatically”, tap each of the following, and toggle them off:
   
   
   
   • Smart Activation
     
   • Time
     
   • Location
     
   • Place
     
     

With “Smart Automation” deactivated, you don’t have to worry about your iPhone using Focus Mode to block notifications without your knowledge.

Method No. 8 – Check Your Wi-Fi Connection

If you’re connected to a private Wi-Fi network, you may find that your phone stops sending notifications for apps that require internet access. If this happens, the odds are that your Wi-Fi connection is to blame. Alternatively, you may not be connected to the Wi-Fi network in question.

Checking your Wi-Fi connection allows you to confirm that you have access to the internet:

1. Open the “Settings” app and tap the “Wi-Fi” option.
   
   
   
2. Use the toggle to turn Wi-Fi on if it’s currently turned off. Your phone may automatically connect to your Wi-Fi network if you’ve configured it to do so.
   
   
   
3. If your iPhone doesn’t automatically connect to a network, select the appropriate network from the list and enter the password required to connect to that network.
   
   

If your phone fails to connect to the network, you may have an issue with your router or internet service provider (ISP). If you suspect the latter, contact your ISP to check if there’s an internet issue. If you believe the problem is related to your router, reset the device and try to reconnect.

Method No. 9 – Check a Specific App’s Notification Settings

You may find that you’re getting notifications from almost everything you expect. However, there’s a single app that isn’t sending notifications, even though you use it regularly. If that’s the case, there may be an issue with the app’s notification settings, which you can resolve with these steps:

1. Launch the “Settings” app and select “Notification.”
   
   
   
2. Scroll down to the app you wish to check and tap it.
   
   
   
3. Toggle “Allow Notifications” if it’s currently deactivated.
   
   
   
4. Scroll down to “Alerts” and tap the “Lock Screen,” “Notification Center,” and “Banners” icons so they have check marks underneath them.
   
   

Setting your “Alerts” allows the app to send notifications even when you’ve locked your iPhone.

Method No. 10 – Update or Reinstall the App

Using an outdated or corrupted version of an app may prevent it from sending notifications to your iPhone. Sometimes, updating or reinstalling the app fixes the issue.

To update the app:

1. Locate the “App Store” icon in your App Library.
   
   
   
2. Press and hold the icon for a couple of seconds.
   
   
   
3. Select “Updates.”
   
   
   
4. Choose “Update All” or select the “Update” option next to the specific app you wish to update.
   
   

Follow these steps if you want to try reinstalling the app:

1. Locate the app’s icon on your Home Screen or in Your App Library.
   
   
   
2. Touch and hold the icon until a drop-down menu appears.
   
   
   
3. Select the “Remove App” option to delete the app from your phone.
   
   
   
4. Open the “App Store” and search for the app you just deleted.
   
   
   
5. Tap the “Get” button to redownload the app.
   
   

Method No. 11 – Reset Your iPhone’s Settings

If all else fails and you’re still not receiving notifications, resetting your iPhone’s settings may be the only option left. Note that this method deletes your preferences, passwords, and Wi-Fi networks from your phone. However, your phone keeps any apps, photos, text messages, and similar personal data.

1. Launch the “Settings” app and select “General.”
   
   
   
2. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and tap “Transfer or Reset iPhone.”
   
   
   
3. Select “Reset”, then tap “Reset All Settings” in the pop-up.
   
   
   
4. Enter your passcode to grant permission for resetting your settings.
   
   

Get Your iPhone Notifications Back

Nobody wants to miss an important text or call from a loved one. But it can happen, along with a host of other issues, if your iPhone isn’t sending notifications. The methods shared in this article help you to confront specific issues that may prevent notifications, ensuring you can resolve the problem quickly.

Is there a specific app that’s giving you notification issues? Has not getting notifications on your iPhone caused problems for you? Tell us all about it in the comments section below.