How to Access the Notification Center on an iPhone

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A simple guide to viewing your notifications on any iPhone

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: May 31, 2022 Tested

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This wikiHow teaches you how to view the news, alerts and notifications that you've enabled on your iPhone.

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Accessing Notification Center

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1
Turn on your display. Do so by pressing the button on the top-right of your iPhone's case. On older models it's on the top; on newer models it's on the right side.
- Notification Center is available when your screen is locked, but only notifications that you've enabled to display on the Lock Screen will appear.
Enter your Passcode or press your finger on the Home button for Touch ID.

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Start at the top edge of the screen and swipe downward. This opens the Notification Center .
4
View notifications from the last week. The list of Recents contains notifications from apps that you've allowed to send you notifications. Items such as news alerts, social media notifications, and message alerts may be included in this section.
- You may need to scroll down to view all of your notifications.
- Swipe left on an individual notification and tap Clear to remove it from Recents .
5
Swipe right on the "Recents" screen. This displays the "Today" screen, which displays all of the notifications relevant today, like calendar items, reminders, and today's news alerts.
- Swipe left to return to Recents .
- Press the Home button to close the Notification Center .

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Adding Apps to the Notification Center

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It's a gray app on the home screen that contains gears (⚙️).
It's near the top of the menu, next to a red icon containing a white square. A list of all the apps able to send notifications is displayed in alphabetical order.
Select an app from which you'd like to receive notifications.
It's at the top of the screen and will turn green. This allows the app to send you notifications.
5
Slide the button next to "Show in Notification Center" to the "On" position. Now alerts from the app will appear in the Notification Center .
- Enable Sounds to hear audio alerts when you receive content.
- Enable Badge App Icon if you'd like to see a red circle containing the number of unseen alerts in the upper-right corner of the app icon.
- Enable Show on Lock Screen to show alerts on the screen when your device is locked.
6
Tap an alert style. This allows you to choose the type of alert you see when your device is unlocked.
- Tap None for no visual notifications.
- Tap Banners for notifications that appear briefly at the top of your screen and then go away.
- Tap Alerts for notifications that you have to manually clear from the top of your screen.
- Now you'll receive alerts from the app in your Notification Center .

Community Q&A

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Question

How do I set notification center in iPhone 6s?

Community Answer

Swipe down from the top.

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How do I delete the weather app from my iPhone?

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You can only delete the weather app if you're in iOS 10. If you are, just tap and hold on it until it starts shaking, and hit the X.

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How do I get the screen to change from vertical to horizontal?

Community Answer

Start by making sure the rotation lock is off. Bring up the notification center and tap the padlock icon with an arrow around it to allow your phone to rotate. Then, just turn your phone vertically or horizontally to view the screen using that method.

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Tips

If you have linked your Facebook and Twitter accounts to your iPhone, you can tweet or update your Facebook status from within Notification Center

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Notification Center works in portrait orientation on the iPhone Home screen and in both portrait and landscape orientation when using an app

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Some apps have additional Notification Center settings such as the number of items that are shown at once on the list

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Warnings

Too many apps included in Notification Center may make it difficult to navigate. Make sure to only include important applications to keep the list clean. You can, however, scroll up and down the Notification Center list to view more apps.

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How to Access the Notification Center on an iPhone

Steps

Accessing Notification Center

Adding Apps to the Notification Center

Community Q&A

Tips

Warnings

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