Control app notifications on your Galaxy phone or tablet

App notification settings on Galaxy S22 ultra

Instead of constantly sifting through your notifications, select which apps send alerts and which ones don't. You can also customize the way your favorite apps send alerts, such as notifications, sounds, and vibrations. To make things even better, you can snooze notifications or access an app's notification settings from the Lock screen.

Note: Available screens and settings may vary by wireless service provider, software version, and device model.

View notifications

Did you just receive an important email? To view your notifications, swipe down from the top of your phone's screen using one finger. Notifications will be displayed under the Quick settings panel.

  • To open the full content of a notification, tap the down arrow. From here, you can take further action by selecting a response to a notification like "reply to a text."

  • To clear all notifications, tap Clear.

  • To close the Notification panel, swipe up or tap Back.

  • To customize your notifications, tap Notification settings at the bottom of the panel; the App notifications screen will open. You can tap the switch next to an app to enable or disable the app's notifications.

Notifications on the Quick settings panel with options on top and below

Use the following steps if you'd like to see which apps have recently sent notifications:

  1. Navigate to and open Settings, then tap Notifications, and then tap App notifications.

  2. From here, you can tap the drop-down menu at the top to select All, Most recent, Most frequent, or Notifications turned off. Tap Most recent.
    Note: The drop-down menu will be set to All by default.

  3. If you'd like to customize your notifications further, please see our guide for controlling notifications.

Block app notifications

You can block notifications you don't want, so they'll be out of your hair.

  1. From Settings, tap Notifications, and then tap App notifications.

  2. Tap the switch(es) next to the app(s) that you would like to block notifications for.

  3. To view what apps you've blocked, tap the drop-down menu, and then tap Notifications turned off.
    Note: The drop-down menu will be set to All by default.

Down arrow icon highlighted on a Galaxy phone

Customize notification categories for an app

Every app will send you notifications about different things. For example, a social media app may send you notifications about a new video someone posted or a message your account received. You can customize which specific notifications you get, so you're not bogged down with ones you don't want.

  1. From Settings, tap Notifications, and then tap Advanced settings.

  2. Tap the switch by Manage notification categories for each app to turn it on.

  3. Tap Back, and then tap App notifications. Next, tap an app you'd like to customize.

  4. Next, tap Notification categories, and then tap the switch next to your desired categories to enable or disable them.

  5. Note: The available options may vary depending on the app, and many apps may have additional options for notifications in the app itself.

A list of notification settings under Notification categories

App icon badges

App icon badges are the little dots that appear next to your apps when they receive a notification. You can adjust whether your apps display App icon badges or not.

  1. Navigate to and open Settings, tap Notifications, and then tap Advanced settings.

  2. Tap App icon badges, and then tap the switch at the top to turn the badges on or off. You can also choose Number or Dot for your Badge style. Tap the switch next to Notifications on app icons if you'd like to touch and hold an app icon to view your notifications.

    Notifications on app icons switched on with Number chosen
  3. To adjust App icon badges for individual apps, navigate back to Settings, and then tap Apps.

  4. Select your desired app, and then tap Notifications.

  5. Tap the switch next to Allow notifications to turn them on. You can repeat this process for additional apps.

Status bar settings

If a bunch of notifications are clogging up your status bar, you can hide them all or only show a couple.

  1. Navigate to and open Settings, and then tap Notifications.

  2. Tap Advanced settings.

  3. Tap Show notification icons, and then adjust your desired settings. For example, you can choose to show all notifications, your 3 most recent notifications, or so on.

Show notification icons highlighted on a Galaxy phone

Flash notifications

If you are busy or on the go, it can be easy to miss notifications. To make your notifications more noticeable, turn on flash notifications. When this feature is enabled, your phone will flash every time a notification is received. Now you won't miss any important notifications, like an email from your boss or a text from a family member that needs help.

Flash notification switched on with a Galaxy phone

Snooze notifications

If you need to temporarily silence notifications or save them for later, you can set up a snooze option.

  1. Navigate to and open Settings, and then tap Notifications.

  2. Tap Advanced settings, and then tap the switch next to Show snooze button.

  3. To silence a notification temporarily, swipe down from the top of your screen to open your notifications, and then tap the down arrow on a notification.

  4. Tap the Snooze icon (it looks like a bell), and then choose your desired option, such as 15 minutes or 1 hour. Tap Save.

A notification with the Snooze icon highlighted on a Galaxy phone

Note: The Snooze option may not be available on all software versions.

Suggest actions and replies

You can ask your phone to offer suggestions when checking your notifications. This makes checking them easier if you’d like to perform an action without opening the app.

  1. To turn this on, navigate to and open Settings, and then tap Notifications.

  2. Tap Advanced settings.

  3. Tap the switch next to Suggest actions and replies for notifications.

Switch highlighted next to Suggest actions and replies for notifications

Use the fingerprint sensor

Note: This option is not available on devices with the in-screen fingerprint reader.

Here's a fun way to open or close the Notification panel: just swipe your finger up and down on your device's fingerprint sensor.

  1. To turn on this function, navigate to and open Settings, and then search for and select Finger sensor gestures.

  2. Tap the switch next to Open notification panel to turn it on.

  3. After the feature is turned on, give it a try by swiping your finger up and on the fingerprint sensor.

A list of settings with Finger sensor gestures

Turn on Notification history

Have you ever accidentally closed a notification you were trying to read? With the Notification history feature, you can view your recent notifications exactly as they appeared. Now you'll never miss any important alerts, like system updates.

  1. Navigate to and open Settings.

  2. Tap Notifications, and then tap Advanced settings.

  3. Tap Notification history, and then tap the switch at the top of the page. Your notification history will appear here from now on.

  4. If you don't currently see anything on this page, come back later after you've received some new notifications.

On button highlighted in Notification history setting
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