What to Know

Learn how to put a contact on Do Not Disturb without using Focus modes or blocking them.
Certain contacts can be muted by swiping from right to left on the thread in the Messages app.

Do you have a person in your Contacts you'd like to silence for a while without blocking them or turning on Do Not Disturb mode? We will cover how to silence notifications on iPhone from a specific contact or contacts, everyone else will be able to text you and you will get all other alerts.

Can You Put One Person on DND?

Yes, you can. But there are a few ways to do it. Do Not Disturb is part of a larger set of Focus modes that allow you to customize which notifications, calls, and messages you receive. If you're looking to silence a group of contacts or apps, learning how to turn on a Focus mode can be your best option. If needed, you can also block a number if you no longer want to hear from a specific contact ever again. However, sometimes, you simply need to know how to mute notifications for a contact or a specific message thread. In this case, follow the steps below to learn how to mute a contact on iPhone. To learn more about ways to increase your productivity on your iPhone, such as how to put your iPhone on silent, sign up for our Tip of the Day newsletter.

How do You Silence Notifications for Certain Contacts in Messages

Here’s how to how to silence a specific contact or entire text thread on iPhone in the Messages app without blocking them or customizing Focus modes:

Open the Messages app and tap the conversation you want to silence.
Tap the contact's name.
Toggle on Hide Alerts.
Tap Done.
Now you'll see an alarm bell with a slash to the right of the thread in Messages.
Alternatively, you can swipe left on the conversation in Messages and tap the purple alarm bell icon to turn alerts on or off.
Another option is to long-press a conversation and select Hide Alerts.

Pro Tip

It's important to note that all Message notifications from this contact in any message thread will be muted until you turn off Do Not Disturb for this contact.

That's all there is to it! Now you can easily mute and unmute specific message threads whenever needed. If you often use Focus modes, you can check out this article to learn more about whether Do Not Disturb mode blocks alarms.

FAQ:

Can you silence a number on iPhone without blocking? There are a few ways to silence a particular contact without blocking them. You can set up a specific Focus and add people to silence, or you can follow the steps above to mute their messages.
Can you tell if someone has Do Not Disturb on? Often, people will have the notification enabled so that contacts who try to message you can see that your notifications are silenced. However, if that feature has not been enabled, you will not know whether the person has their notifications silenced or if their phone is dead or out of service.
What happens to texts when Do Not Disturb is on? The text will still be delivered and ready to view when you open the Messages app, it just will not alert you by showing a banner notification, a badge, or make any noise upon delivery.
Can you silence calls for one person? If you're wondering how to silence calls on iPhone without blocking, you'll need to set this up in Focus. Once you've created a Focus you want to use, go to People, choose "Silence Notifications From," and then select the contact. This is the only way to silence a person's calls without blocking them. Learn how to find out if someone blocked you.

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