Do Not Disturb vs. Silent Mode on iPhone: The Difference and When to Opt for Each Setting

There are plenty of reasons you might want to temporarily silence your iPhone notifications, such as if you’re in an important meeting or just need a break from the screen. Luckily, there are two easy ways to do this in iOS: Silent Mode and Do Not Disturb.

Here’s the difference between each and when it might be better to go with one configuration over the other.

Silent mode

The usual method for silencing your phone is usually the switch above the volume buttons on the left side of the device. Move that switch down and the phone will silence any pings or incoming calls. You’ll see a confirmation pop-up on the screen or, if you have a Dynamic Island phone, text indicating that you’ve activated Silent mode.

If you have an iPhone 15, the toggle switch has been replaced by the Action button, which you can press and hold until you feel haptic feedback. (You can also customize the Action button for other commands, like launching the camera or recording audio.)

While the Ring/Silent switch silences all alerts and notifications (along with sound effects and game audio), your iPhone may vibrate when you receive a call and your screen may light up when a phone call or text message arrives. You can stop your iPhone from vibrating when it’s on silent mode by going to Settings > Accessibility > Touchthen press the switch next to Vibration to turn it off. (Note that this also disables vibrations for earthquakes, tsunamis, and other emergency alerts.) But you can’t stop the screen from lighting up, which brings us to the next section.

Do not disturb

When Do Not Disturb is on, your iPhone will remain silent and the screen will be off, but there are some exceptions and customizations you should be aware of.

But first, let’s look at the two ways to enable Do Not Disturb. The easiest way is to open the Do Not Disturb app on your phone. Control Center — Swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen if you have an iPhone X or newer, or up from the bottom edge of the screen if you have an iPhone SE and iPhone 8 or earlier. Then tap the crescent moon button to activate focus mode. You can also go to Settings > Focus > Do not disturb.

The great thing about Focus modes is that you can customize them for different purposes and times of day. Want to block notifications from TikTok and Instagram while you’re at work to avoid distractions? You can set it to a Work Focus mode, so you only get important notifications from work-related apps, for example. Want to make sure you only get calls from family members when your Personal Focus mode is on? You can customize that, too. Sleep Focus mode is great for automatically silencing all notifications to get you ready for bedtime and not be tempted to stare at your screen.

When Do Not Disturb is on, you can also customize who you receive calls from: Everyone, Allowed Callers Only (you select), Favorites, or Contacts Only.

You can also press the button next to Allow repeat calls If you want to turn on that setting, it will ring your device if the same person calls again within 3 minutes so you don’t miss any potential emergencies.

When to choose Silent mode vs. Do not disturb mode

The key factor that distinguishes Silent mode from Do Not Disturb mode is how quiet you want your phone to be. If you want to silence notifications, calls, and texts but still have them come through, then turning on Silent mode is probably your best bet. But if you want to completely block all pings and prevent your phone’s screen from lighting up for a while, then you’ll want to opt for Do Not Disturb mode.

If you normally keep your iPhone out of the house (in your hand, on your lap, on a table or desk), then Do Not Disturb is the best option to ensure that your screen suddenly lights up and doesn’t distract other moviegoers, your classmates (or, more specifically, your teacher or professor), or those around you at a church service, for example. It’s also a great way to avoid the temptation to pick up your phone every time a notification comes in.