WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. While WhatsApp makes it easy to stay connected with friends and family, the constant notifications can sometimes become overwhelming or distracting.
If there is a particular contact you want to mute notifications from, WhatsApp provides an easy way to disable notifications for that specific chat. You can turn off notifications for an individual contact’s messages, group messages, or calls on both iPhone and Android devices.
Turning Off Notifications for an Individual Contact on iPhone
Follow these steps to mute notifications from a specific person on iPhone:
- Open the WhatsApp app and go to the Chats tab.
- Swipe left on the chat with the contact you want to mute.
- Tap on the “More” option.
- A menu will appear – tap on the “Mute” option.
- You will see options for muting notifications for 8 hours, 1 week, or to always mute. Select your preferred option.
Once you mute a chat, you will no longer receive notifications for new messages from that contact. The notifications will remain muted for the time period you select.
To unmute the chat and start receiving notifications again, follow the same steps and select “Unmute” in the menu.
Turning Off Notifications for an Individual Contact on Android
The process is very similar on Android devices:
- Open WhatsApp and go to your Chats.
- Tap and hold the chat with the contact you want to mute.
- Tap on the mute icon at the top of the screen. It looks like a speaker with a line through it.
- Select how long you want to mute notifications – 8 hours, 1 week, or always mute.
This will mute notifications from this specific contact. You can unmute at any time by holding the chat and tapping the unmute icon.
Muting Notifications for a Group
If you are part of a busy WhatsApp group but don’t want constant notifications, you can mute group notifications:
- Open WhatsApp and go to the Chats tab.
- Tap and hold the group chat you want to mute.
- Tap the mute icon at the top.
- Choose how long to mute – 8 hours, 1 week, or always.
You can still open the group chat to read messages, but you will not receive sound/vibration alerts for new messages until you unmute.
Turning Off Notifications for Voice and Video Calls
If you find WhatsApp call notifications intrusive, you can disable them:
- Go to WhatsApp Settings.
- Tap Notifications.
- Under “Notifications,” tap Calls.
- Toggle off the notifications for voice and video calls.
This will prevent call notifications from popping up. However, calls will still come through as long as you have an internet connection.
Disabling All Notifications for WhatsApp
For those who want to disable ALL WhatsApp notifications temporarily, it’s possible through your device’s Settings:
On iPhone
- Go to iPhone Settings > Notifications.
- Scroll down and select WhatsApp.
- Toggle off “Allow Notifications.”
This turns off all notifications from the app until you re-enable them.
On Android
- Open Android Settings.
- Tap Apps & Notifications.
- Select WhatsApp > Notifications.
- Toggle off “Show notifications” and any other notification options.
Again, this disables notifications app-wide until you turn them back on.
Customizing Notification Settings
Beyond just muting chats and calls, WhatsApp allows you to customize notification settings:
- Notification Tone – Set a custom sound for WhatsApp notifications.
- Vibrate – Toggle vibration on/off for messages.
- Popup Notification – Enable pop-up previews for new messages.
- Light – Flash notification light for new alerts.
- Show Preview – Show message previews on lock screen.
Adjust these settings to control how discreet or obvious you want WhatsApp notifications to be.
Troubleshooting WhatsApp Notification Issues
If you are having issues with WhatsApp notifications not coming through correctly, here are some troubleshooting tips:
- Confirm Do Not Disturb mode is disabled in your device settings.
- Check that you have internet connection and WhatsApp is updated.
- Force close and restart the WhatsApp app.
- On Android, clear WhatsApp cache and data.
- Uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp.
- Restart your phone.
This should resolve most notification problems. If not, contact WhatsApp support for further help.
Conclusion
WhatsApp makes it simple to manage notifications from specific contacts or groups without affecting your notifications from everyone else. Using the muting and custom notification settings, you can take control of your WhatsApp notifications and disable disruptive alerts.
Muting notifications from a particular contact can help reduce distractions and customizing notification sounds/vibrations can make sure you only receive alerts that are important. With billions of users, WhatsApp has become the world’s messenger and these notification controls keep it from taking over your device.