How to Put an iPhone on Silent

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To mute the noises, vibrations, and lights coming from your iPhone, activate either "silent" or "do not disturb" mode. Silent mode quickly switches to vibrations instead of sounds, while "do not disturb" temporarily blocks all interruptions (including vibrations and lights) from getting through to you. Make sure you adjust and customize the settings of each in order get exactly what you want from your iPhone!

Method 1
Method 1 of 2:

Using Silent Mode

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    The iPhone's silent mode turns off the phone's sound for calls and notifications and causes the phone to vibrate instead. Silent mode is a fast and convenient way to (mostly) silence your phone. [1]
    • Note: an alarm set through the iPhone Clock app will ignore silent mode and go off at the appointed time. Alarms set with other apps may not.
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    This switch (also called a "Mute" switch) is located on the upper left side of the phone. Flipping the switch "down" (to silent) will cause the phone to vibrate and will reveal an orange stripe beneath the switch itself. [2]
    • The switch's “up” position means the phone's sounds are "on"
    • If you enter into silent mode when your iPhone's display is on, you will see a “Ringer Silent” notification on your screen.
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    To make your phone truly silent, you can stop it from vibrating while in silent mode by going to Settings > Sounds. Find the “Vibrate on Silent” toggle and change it to white (off). [3]
    • This setting will not prevent your screen from lighting up when notifications or calls come in.
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    If you're still hearing your keyboard keys make noise you can silence these in "Settings" > "Sounds". Slide the toggle next to “Keyboard Clicks” from green (on) to white (off). [4]
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    Your phone makes a noise when it shuts down regardless of whether it is in silent mode or not. To turn this sound off navigate to "Settings" > "Sounds" and find "Lock Sounds" at the bottom of the menu. Move the toggle from green (on) to white (off) to silence all lock sounds.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 2:

Using Do Not Disturb Mode

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    iPhone's "Do not disturb" mode temporarily blocks all noises, vibrations, and lights so you can be distraction-free. When your iPhone is in this mode, it will receive calls and messages as normal but will not vibrate, ring, or light up.
    • Note: Alarms set in the iPhone Clock app will still sound as normal when your phone is in "do not disturb" mode.
    • Many people place their phones in this mode overnight so that they are not woken up by unwanted vibrations, rings, or lights from their phones.
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    This brings up the iPhone control panel. [5]
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    This button, located in the upper portion of your control panel, enables "do not disturb" mode. If the button is white, "do not disturb" is on. Tap the button again (back to gray) if you'd like to disable "do not disturb". [6]
    • You can also access "do not disturb" by going to Settings > Do Not Disturb. Change to toggle next to "Manual" from white to green.
    • Control panel has another, similar icon which displays a crescent moon inside of a sun. This button enables a function called NightShift.
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    If the "do not disturb" mode is a feature you use daily, you may program your iPhone to automatically enter and exit this mode at specific times of day. Select Settings > Do Not Disturb. Move the toggle switch next to “Scheduled” from white to green, then manually set the “From” and “To” times. [7]
    • For instance, you may wish to input your normal working hours (9AM to 5PM) to avoid distractions while at work.
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    By default, "do not disturb" allows contacts that you've designated "Favorites" to get through and disturb you. You can customize these settings by going to Settings > Do not Disturb > Allow Calls From.
    • Click “Everyone,” “No One,” “Favorites,” or “All Contacts.”
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    By default, "do not disturb" is set up to allow a call through if it comes from the same person within a 3 minute window. This setting is designed with emergency situations in mind, but can be shut off.
    • Choose Settings > Do not Disturb.
    • Find the toggle next to “Repeated Calls”. Leave it green to keep this mode enabled or switch it to white to turn this option off.
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Community Q&A

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  • Question
    How do I silently dial on an iPhone?
    Community Answer
    Simply switch the ringer switch at the side of the iPhone to silent. On my iPhone 5s it is in the top left corner but it may differ on later models.
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    Thank you for your feedback.
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    Not Helpful 3 Helpful 5
  • Question
    How do I turn the volume all the way down on my iPhone
    Community Answer
    There are 2 buttons on the left side of the phone (when looking at the screen). Press the bottom one until the volume slider is all the way to the left. If this doesn't work, on iPhone 7 and later you can adjust the settings for volume in Settings > Sounds & Haptics. On earlier iPhone models, go to Settings > Sounds.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
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    Not Helpful 4 Helpful 1
  • Question
    How do I take my phone off silent?
    Community Answer
    Reverse the steps that you followed, or if you don't remember them, reverse the steps shown here.
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    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
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      References

      1. ↑ https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/the-difference-between-an-iphones-do-not-disturb-and-silent-modes/
      2. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-mide/HT203017
      3. ↑ https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/turn-off-vibration-iphd722c9100/ios
      4. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213404
      5. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204321
      6. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204321
      7. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204321

      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      1. Flip the hardware silent switch.
      2. Open Settings .
      3. Tap Sounds .
      4. Toggle off "Vibrate on Silent."

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        Nov 23, 2017

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