Whether you are walking into an important meeting, sitting down to watch a movie at a theater, or simply trying to get a good night’s sleep, constant pings and vibrations from your iPhone can be incredibly disruptive. The “Do Not Disturb” feature allows you to instantly silence all calls, texts, and app notifications, sending them quietly to your lock screen to be dealt with later.
How to Turn On Do Not Disturb via Control Center
The fastest way to activate Do Not Disturb is through the Control Center, which can be accessed from any screen, even when your iPhone is locked.
- Open Control Center:
- If your iPhone has Face ID (no home button), swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen.
- If your iPhone has a Home button, swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen.
- Look for the button labeled Focus. It usually has a crescent moon icon next to it.
- Tap directly on the crescent moon icon (the left side of the button).
- The moon icon will turn solid white, indicating that Do Not Disturb is now active. A small moon icon will also appear at the top of your screen near the battery indicator.
How to Turn It Off
When your meeting or movie is over, you must remember to turn the feature off, or you will continue to miss incoming calls.
- Open the Control Center again.
- Tap the highlighted Do Not Disturb button (the moon icon) to toggle it off.
- The button will go dark, and your phone will resume ringing and vibrating normally.
How to Schedule Do Not Disturb for Specific Times
Instead of manually toggling the feature on and off every day, you can tell your iPhone to automatically enter Do Not Disturb mode for a specific duration, such as during a one-hour meeting.
- Open the Control Center.
- Instead of tapping the moon icon, tap the word “Focus” (the right side of the button).
- A menu of different Focus modes will appear. Locate “Do Not Disturb”.
- Tap the three small dots (…) located to the right of “Do Not Disturb”.
- A small sub-menu will appear with several convenient options:
- For 1 hour: Automatically turns off after 60 minutes.
- Until this evening / Until tomorrow morning: Automatically turns off at the next major time block.
- Until I leave this location: Uses GPS to keep your phone silent until you physically leave your current address (perfect for a movie theater or church).
- Tap your desired option. Your phone will handle the rest!