How to Set Up Do Not Disturb to Silence Your Phone at Night

Do Not Disturb is a built-in feature on every iPhone and Android phone that silences calls, texts, and app notification sounds — while keeping your phone fully on and available. You will not be woken up at midnight by a news alert or a late-night text. But you will still be reachable in an actual emergency if you set it up correctly.

Many people keep their phone on the nightstand in case of emergencies, but then get their sleep interrupted by notifications all night. Do Not Disturb solves this. You can also use it during church services, doctor appointments, important meetings, or any time you need quiet without turning your phone off entirely.

This guide explains how to turn it on manually, how to schedule it to activate automatically every night, and — most importantly — how to make sure emergency calls still get through.

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What Do Not Disturb actually does

When Do Not Disturb is on:

• **Notification sounds are silenced.** Texts, app alerts, emails, and social media notifications do not make noise or cause your screen to light up.
• **Calls go to voicemail silently** — the phone does not ring audibly (though you can change this, as explained below).
• **Your phone stays on and fully functional.** You can still use it normally. Anyone who calls you can still leave a voicemail. Alarms still go off at the time you set.
• **The screen stays dark.** Your phone will not light up every time a notification comes in.

What Do Not Disturb does **not** do:

• It does not turn your phone off.
• It does not stop calls from going to voicemail.
• It does not affect alarms you have already set — your morning alarm will still ring.
• It does not block emergency alerts (Amber Alerts and weather warnings are sent through a separate system and bypass Do Not Disturb by default).

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Part 1: Turning Do Not Disturb on manually

On iPhone:

The fastest way is through Control Center — the quick-access panel on your iPhone.

1. 1**Swipe down from the top-right corner** of your iPhone screen. (On older iPhones with a Home button, swipe up from the very bottom of the screen.) This opens Control Center.
2. 2Look for the **moon icon**. It is a crescent moon shape. Tap it once.
3. 3The moon turns white or highlighted to show Do Not Disturb is now on. A crescent moon icon will also appear at the top of your screen (near the clock), confirming it is active.
4. 4To turn it off, open Control Center again and tap the moon icon a second time.

On Android:

1. 1**Swipe down from the top of your screen** once or twice to open the Quick Settings panel — the area with tiles for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other settings.
2. 2Look for a tile labeled **"Do Not Disturb"**. It usually has an icon that looks like a circle with a line through it, or a minus sign inside a circle. On Samsung phones it may have a slightly different appearance but is labeled the same.
3. 3Tap it once to turn Do Not Disturb on. The icon will change to show it is active, and a small Do Not Disturb indicator will appear in your status bar at the top of the screen.
4. 4Tap it again to turn it off.

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Part 2: Scheduling Do Not Disturb to turn on automatically every night

Manually turning it on is useful in the moment, but scheduling it means you never have to think about it. It turns on at your bedtime and off in the morning automatically, every night.

On iPhone — scheduling via Settings → Focus:

1. 1Open the **Settings** app.
2. 2Tap **Focus**.
3. 3Tap **Do Not Disturb** from the list. (Focus is Apple's name for the feature that includes Do Not Disturb, Sleep mode, and others — Do Not Disturb is the one you want for silencing at night.)
4. 4Tap **Add Schedule** (or **Turn On Automatically** on some iPhone versions).
5. 5Tap **Add Schedule** → **Time**.
6. 6Set your start time — for example, **10:00 PM** — and your end time — for example, **7:00 AM**.
7. 7Choose which days this schedule applies. For every night, tap **Every Day** or select all days individually.
8. 8Tap **Done** to save the schedule.

From now on, Do Not Disturb will turn on automatically at your chosen time each night and turn off each morning. You do not need to remember to do it manually.

On Android — scheduling via Settings → Digital Wellbeing:

The path varies slightly by phone brand, but the general steps are:

1. 1Open the **Settings** app.
2. 2Tap **Digital Wellbeing & Parental Controls** (on Google Pixel phones). On Samsung phones, tap **Digital Wellbeing** or search for "Do Not Disturb" in the Settings search bar and look for a Schedule option.
3. 3Tap **Do Not Disturb** (it may be under a section called "Focus" or listed directly in Digital Wellbeing).
4. 4Tap **Schedules**.
5. 5Tap **Sleeping** or **Add Schedule** — then set a start time and end time.
6. 6Set the days (choose Every Day or specific days).
7. 7Save the schedule.

Alternatively, on many Android phones you can set a schedule directly from the Do Not Disturb tile in Quick Settings: long-press the Do Not Disturb tile → look for a "Schedules" or "Turn on automatically" option.

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Part 3: Making sure emergency calls still get through

This is the most important part of setting up Do Not Disturb correctly. By default, when Do Not Disturb is on, calls go to voicemail silently. But you can allow calls from specific people — your family, your doctor — to ring through normally.

On iPhone — "Allow Calls From" setting:

1. 1Open Settings → Focus → Do Not Disturb.
2. 2Under **Allowed Notifications**, tap **People** (or **Calls From**).
3. 3Tap **Allow Calls From**.
4. 4Choose one of these options:
5. 5 - **Everyone:** All calls ring through normally (only notifications are silenced). This is the most open setting.
6. 6 - **Contacts Only:** Only people saved in your contacts can reach you. Unknown callers go to voicemail silently.
7. 7 - **Favorites:** Only people you have marked as Favorites in your Phone app can ring through. This is the tightest setting.
8. 8 - **No One:** No calls ring through. For most people this is not recommended overnight unless you are certain no emergency will require a call.
9. 9For most seniors, **Contacts Only** or **Everyone** is the safest overnight setting.

On iPhone — the Repeated Calls exception:

In the same settings area, look for an option called **Repeated Calls**. When this is turned on, if the same person calls you twice within 3 minutes, their second call will ring through even if calls are otherwise silenced. This is designed for genuine emergencies — if a family member really needs to reach you urgently, calling twice will get through. Turn this on for extra peace of mind.

On Android — allowing calls through Do Not Disturb:

1. 1Open Settings → Do Not Disturb (search for it in Settings if needed).
2. 2Look for **Exceptions**, **Allowed Contacts**, or **People** depending on your phone.
3. 3Tap **Calls** → choose **From contacts only**, **From starred contacts** (your favorites), or **From anyone**.
4. 4Also look for a **Repeat callers** setting and turn it on — same as iPhone, this allows a second call within 3 minutes to ring through.

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A note on 911 and emergency alerts

No matter what Do Not Disturb settings you use, **calling 911 always works from any phone**. Do Not Disturb never blocks outgoing calls, including to 911.

Government emergency alerts — such as Amber Alerts (missing children), wireless emergency alerts for severe weather, and Presidential alerts — are sent through a separate emergency broadcast system. These bypass Do Not Disturb entirely and will sound an alarm regardless of your settings. You do not need to do anything special to receive these.

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Does Do Not Disturb affect phone calls I make?

No. Do Not Disturb only affects incoming calls and notifications. You can still make calls, send texts, and use any apps normally while Do Not Disturb is on.

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What about the star (*67) trick?

Some people have heard that dialing *67 before a number hides your caller ID. This does NOT bypass Do Not Disturb. Someone calling you with *67 will still go to voicemail silently if their number is not in your contacts and you have set calls to "Contacts Only." Star codes have no effect on Do Not Disturb settings.

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Recommended setup for most seniors

Here is a simple, safe nightly Do Not Disturb setup that silences your phone without cutting you off from real emergencies:

1. 1Schedule Do Not Disturb from **10:00 PM to 7:00 AM** (or adjust for your actual sleep hours).
2. 2Set "Allow Calls From" to **Contacts Only** or **Everyone**.
3. 3Turn on **Repeated Calls**.
4. 4Make sure your family members are saved in your phone's contacts.

With this setup, random notifications will not wake you, but if your son or daughter calls twice in three minutes because of an emergency, the second call will ring through. That is exactly the balance most people are looking for.