What Does Hide Alerts Mean On iOS?

The “Hide Alerts” feature on your iPhone or iPad helps you mute notifications from certain chats or group messages. It's useful for reducing distractions without turning off all notifications.
It allows you to decide which messages you want to receive notifications for and which ones you don't.
What does Hide Alerts mean?
The feature ‘Hide Alerts' on iPhone gives you control in the following ways:
- Unlike Do Not Disturb or Focus, it only silences chosen chats.
- Skipped alerts show up in the Notification Center.
- Red badge icons still appear for unread messages.
Turning on ‘Hide Alerts' helps manage screen time and keep iPhone use private.
What Happens When Hide Alerts is turned on?
Turning on ‘Hide Alerts' for iMessage or SMS chats applies to all your Apple devices linked with the same Apple ID.
A crescent moon icon shows up next to the chat on iPhone 13, iPad, or Mac, indicating it's muted. iMessage syncs this setting across devices, ensuring privacy remains consistent no matter which device you use.
- On iPhone 13, muted conversations show a crescent moon icon.
- On iPad, muted conversations display similar icons on message threads.
- On Mac, settings stay the same when using the Messages app.
How to Keep Alerts Hidden?

Here's how you can hide alerts for a conversation:
- Open the Messages app on your device.
- Find the conversation you want to silence.
- Swipe left on the conversation.
- Tap the bell icon that appears.
How to Show Alerts Again?

To unhide alerts, follow these steps:
- Open the Messages app.
- Locate the conversation with hidden alerts.
- Swipe left on the conversation.
- Tap the bell icon again.
Difference Between Hide Alerts With Do Not Disturb
Feature | Do Not Disturb | Hide Alerts |
Scope | Applies to the entire device | Applies to specific chats or group messages |
Notifications | Blocks all notifications | Notifications appear silently in the Notification Center |
Badge Icons | Badge icons may be hidden depending on the settings | Badge icons still show |
“Hide Alerts” lets you keep important messages while managing interruptions effectively.

Jim's passion for Apple products ignited in 2007 when Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone. This was a canon event in his life. Noticing a lack of iPad-focused content that is easy to understand even for “tech-noob”, he decided to create Tabletmonkeys in 2011.
Jim continues to share his expertise and passion for tablets, helping his audience as much as he can with his motto “One Swipe at a Time!”