Change the audio and notification settings on your Apple Watch

Find out how to set your watch's volume, mute your watch or turn on Do Not Disturb. You can also adjust the strength of the taps and vibrations your Apple Watch uses for alerts and notifications.

Turn your Apple Watch volume up or down

  1. On your Apple Watch, open the Settings app.

  2. Scroll down, then tap Sounds & Haptics.

  3. Tap the volume down buttonvolume down button to decrease the volume or tap the volume up buttonvolume up button to increase it. You can also tap the slider, then turn the Digital Crown.

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Mute your Apple Watch

  1. To open Control Centre, press the side button (for watchOS 9 or earlier, touch and hold the bottom of the screen, then swipe up).

  2. Tap the Silent Mode buttonSilent Mode button . This will turn on Silent Mode. You can still receive haptic notifications.

    watchos-10-series-8-control-center-mute

To silence an alert or notification when it makes a sound, rest your palm on the display for at least three seconds or until you feel a tap. If it doesn’t work, make sure the Cover to Mute setting is turned on: on your iPhone, open the Apple Watch app, go to the My Watch tab, then tap Sounds & Haptics.

With watchOS 9.4 and later, wake-up alarms are not silenced with the cover to mute gesture to avoid accidental cancellations during sleep.

Adjust notifications and alerts

Find out how to manage notifications and alerts. You can change when and how you receive alerts and how loud the alert will be, but you can't change how it will sound.

Manage Apple Watch Haptic Alerts

  1. Open the Settings app.

  2. Scroll down and tap Sounds & Haptics.

  3. Turn Haptic Alerts on or off.

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  4. To add extra emphasis to haptic alerts, tap Prominent. This feature will add an additional haptic tap that pre-announces some of your other haptic alerts.

You can also change the settings for specific apps from your iPhone. On your iPhone, open the Apple Watch app, go to the My Watch tab, then tap Sounds & Haptics.

If you're wearing your Apple Watch and can't feel a tap when you adjust the slider, contact Apple Support. For the best haptic results, the back of your Apple Watch needs skin contact. Use a tight, but comfortable fit.

Turn on Crown Haptics for the Apple Watch Digital Crown

  1. On your Apple Watch, open the Settings app.

  2. Tap Sound & Haptics, then turn Crown Haptics on or off.

    watchos-10-series-8-settings-sounds-haptics-crown-haptics

The Crown Haptics setting is available only on Apple Watch Series 4 or later.

Turn on Taptic Chimes

Your Apple Watch can chime at different intervals, making it easy to track time without looking.

  1. Open the Settings app.

  2. Scroll down and tap Accessibility.

  3. Scroll down and tap Chimes.

  4. Turn Chimes on.

  5. Tap Schedule and set the chimes to play on the hour or every 30 or 15 minutes.

  6. Tap Sounds and change the chime to Birds or Bells.

You can also adjust these settings from your iPhone. On your iPhone, open the Apple Watch app, go to the My Watch tab, tap Accessibility, then tap Chimes.

Turn on Do Not Disturb

  1. To open Control Centre, press the side button (for watchOS 9 or earlier, touch and hold the bottom of the screen, then swipe up).

  2. Tap the Do Not Disturb buttonDo Not Disturb button , then choose an option. You can turn off Do Not Disturb manually or set it for a period of time so it turns off automatically.

    watchos-10-series-8-control-center-do-not-disturb-options

Do Not Disturb prevents calls and alerts (except for alarms) from making a sound or lighting up the screen. When enabled, the Do Not Disturb iconDo Not Disturb icon appears at the top of the screen.

Change settings from your iPhone

On your iPhone, open the Apple Watch app, go to the My Watch tab, then tap Sounds & Haptics.

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