How to use Do Not Disturb mode on Android

 

Our smartphones have increasingly become our portals to the outside world. They keep us in close contact with friends and family even when we're thousands of miles apart and give us access to the latest breaking news. But at some point, one must take a break from the meme stream and get a bit of peace and quiet from their device. Fortunately, Android devices have a Do Not Disturb (or DND) mode built right into them, so you can silence your phone for those moments where you don't need the distraction.

Turning on Do Not Disturb mode

First things first: if you want to set your phone to DND, you'll need to find it in the settings. Assuming you know your way around your device, this isn't tricky, but it's in slightly different places on different phones.

ANDROIDPOLICE VIDEO OF THE DAY On Pixel phones

Below the Turn on now button, you'll also find options for making exceptions to your DND rules. Tap on each option and then select the contacts, conversations, or apps, if any, that you'd like to be able to interrupt your DND when it's active.

On Samsung phones

Below your list of schedules, you'll find options for making exceptions to your DND rules. Tap on each option and then select the contacts, conversations, or apps, if any, that you'd like to be able to interrupt your DND when it's active.

Using DND schedules

If you want to automatically mute your phone's notification pings and buzzes during set hours, you're able to do this with the Schedules option within your phone's DND menu.

On Pixel phones

To customize these schedules, tap the settings cog next to the one you'd like to modify. From here, you'll be able to tweak, for example, the times you want your phone to be silent so you can sleep, or which calendars' events you want to trigger Do Not Disturb mode.

On Samsung phones

On Samsung phones, your DND schedules are visible right on the Do not disturb page in device settings.

By default, there's only one — to silence your phone from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Tap this pre-existing schedule to change the days and hours it's active. If you'd like to add more schedules, read on.

Creating new DND schedules

If you'd like to silence your phone at different times on different days (to sleep in on weekends, for example), you can create additional schedules.

On Pixel phones On Samsung phones

Just like that, you've automated the silencing of your smartphone. Now, go enjoy that uninterrupted sleep you've been craving. You deserve it.

Looking for more handy Android how-tos? We've got you covered with guides on how to find nearby AirTags with your Android, how to prevent apps from 'sleeping' in the background, and how to back up your SMS text messages, among others.

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About The Author Chris Jecks (10 Articles Published)

Chris has been a passionate Android fan since the Samsung Galaxy S5 days. Since then, he's long championed the Google Pixel line of phones and believes they're the best Android phone you can get. Having left his full-time job back in 2016, Chris has been writing about games and technology for over 5 years around the web. In his spare time, he can be found drowning in a backlog of games, catching up on the latest Netflix craze, or snapping photos in the great outdoors.

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Go to Settings -> Sound & Vibration -> Do Not Disturb.

Tap the Turn on now button at the top of the menu. This will immediately enable Do Not Disturb mode, which will remain active until you manually turn it off.

There's also a DND quick settings option that can be used to easily toggle the setting on and off. This is accessed by swiping down from the top of your screen and tapping the Do Not Disturb button. A long press of this quick settings button will also take you to the full DND settings.

Go to Settings -> Notifications -> Do not disturb.

Tap the toggle next to Do not disturb at the top of the menu. This will enable DND mode. The For how long? option just below lets you set how long you'd like DND to be active. By default, it will stay on until you manually turn it off.

There's also a DND quick settings option that can be used to easily toggle the setting on and off. This is accessed by swiping down from the top of your screen and tapping the Do not disturb button. A long press of this quick settings button will also take you to the full DND settings.

Go to the Do Not Disturb menu and tap Schedules.

You'll be greeted with a list of different named schedules. Check the box next to any you want to enable.

Sleeping: Silences notifications during manually set hours.

Event: Silences notifications during calendar events.

Gaming: Silences notifications while you're playing games on your phone.

Flip to Shhh: Silences notifications when you place your phone face down.

Pixel Stand: Silences notifications when your Pixel is charging on a Pixel Stand.

Bedtime mode: Similar to Sleeping, silences your phone during hours you choose. Can be configured to turn off your phone's always-on display at night, automatically end at the time of your next alarm, and more.

Driving Mode: Silences notifications when your phone detects you're driving.

Tap the Add more option at the bottom of the Schedules screen in the Do Not Disturb settings.

Choose either Event or Time and give your new schedule a name.

Event schedules are the same as the ones mentioned in the previous section: they dictate how your notifications will work during events on your phone's calendar. If you have multiple calendars (like a personal and a work calendar), this option can be used to configure different notification behavior for each.

Time schedules are self-explanatory: they make your phone silent during the times you say. This can be useful if you want different sleep schedules on different days of the week, et cetera.

Go to Settings -> Notifications -> Do not disturb.

Tap Add schedule under the Schedule heading.

Give your schedule a name and choose which days and what times it'll be active.