How to Mute Your iPhone in a Few Simple Steps

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Silence sounds on your phone with this simple guide

Written by Hannah Dillon

Last Updated: November 5, 2025 Fact Checked

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Muting Your iPhone

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Muting Yourself During a Call

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Enabling Do Not Disturb

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Video

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Q&A

Muting your iPhone is, thankfully, a very easy process, but it varies depending on which model of iPhone you have. Whether you're trying to silence your ringer or mute your microphone during a phone call, we've got you covered! Read on to learn more.

Easy Instructions to Mute Your iPhone

To quickly mute your iPhone, toggle the switch or press the Action Button (depending on the model). You can mute alarms by turning them off, or mute music and videos by pressing the Volume Down button until there is no sound. Temporarily mute all phone sounds by enabling a focus mode.

Section 1 of 3:

Muting Your iPhone

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1
Quickly silence your phone by using the switch or button on the side. Depending on your iPhone model, you'll either have a switch or a button on the side. Activating this switch/button will silence your phone (as long as the Action Button is set to mute your device).^{[1]
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Research source} Note that this only mutes the ringer and notifications. It will not mute any other sounds your iPhone may make, such as music or alarms.
- iPhone 15 family, 16 family, 17 family, and Air: Press the Action Button on the left side of your device. If the Action Button is set to mute your phone, your phone will be silenced.
  - To change what the Action Button does, open your Settings app and tap Action Button. Then, scroll through the options until you find Silent Mode.^{[2]
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    Research source}
- Other iPhone models: Toggle the switch on the left side of your device. When you move the switch, you'll see some red behind the switch. This means your iPhone has been silenced.
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Mute alarms by turning them off. Putting your iPhone on Silent mode by using the switch will not affect any alarms you have set. The alarm's volume is connected to your ringtone volume, so you can turn it down with the Volume buttons, but you can't mute it.^{[3]
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Research source}
- You can turn alarms off by opening the Clock app, selecting the Alarms tab, and then toggling the alarm off.
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Mute music by turning it down while playing. Music is not affected by the mute switch, so you'll need to turn it down using either the Volume buttons or the volume slider in the app that's playing the music. Turning the music all the way down will mute it.
- When music is playing, the Volume buttons will affect the music volume and not the ringtone volume.

Section 2 of 3:

Muting Yourself During a Call

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You can mute any phone call using your iPhone.
This will allow the screen to light up, as it is turned off when the iPhone detects that it's being held to your ear to prevent accidental button presses.
The "Mute" button looks like a microphone with a slash through it. Muting the call will turn off your iPhone's microphone. You'll still be able to hear the other person, but they won't be able to hear you.
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Press and hold the "Mute" button to hold the call. This will put the call on hold, allowing you to browse your phone or add another person to the call.
- Not all mobile networks support call holding.
Once you are unmuted, the other person will be able to hear you again.

Section 3 of 3:

Enabling Do Not Disturb

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If you want to temporarily mute all sounds on your phone and stop all notifications from coming through, you can enable Do Not Disturb (also called Focus Mode). To start, you'll need to open the Control Center by swiping down from the upper right corner of your screen.^{[4]
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Research source}
It's near the middle of your screen, on the left-hand side, and it has an icon of a moon. It's directly to the left of the dials to adjust your phone's brightness and volume.
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Tap Do Not Disturb at the top of the screen. You'll see that this option has a note that says "Silence all notifications." When Do Not Disturb is active, you won't see or hear any notifications or phone calls. You will, however, still hear any alarms you have turned on. Once Do Not Disturb is turned off, you'll see all the notifications you missed.
- If you want to specify how long you want to enable Do Not Disturb, tap the three-dot icon on the Do Not Disturb button and choose how long you want to enable it. You can also choose to enable Do Not Disturb until you leave a specific location (such as your home).

Community Q&A

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Question

What do I do if my phone is not ringing when I receive a call?

Community Answer

Go into your settings and find the option for "Sounds." From there, you can change your vibration settings, your ringer and alert volume, and your ring tone. Also, look at the side of your phone where the volume buttons are. Right above that, there is a little switch. If you want your ringer on, you should make sure the switch is closer to the front of the phone. If you want it off, make sure it is towards the back. Some cases may cover up the ringer button.

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Question

How do I mute the sound on an iPhone when watching a video?

Community Answer

Either turn the volume down all the way or hit the mute switch on the left side of the phone.

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