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How to Group Notifications on Your Phone

Tap your device to see how to set it up.

iPhone

Go to Settings β†’ Notifications, select an app, and set Notification Grouping to Automatic (grouped by topic or thread), By App (one single stack), or Off to see every alert separately.

Android

Go to Settings β†’ Notifications, select an app, and turn on the option that bundles that app's alerts into a single group in the notification shade.

Expand a grouped stack

Swipe down on a grouped notification, or tap it, to see every individual alert inside; swipe back up or tap again to collapse it.

Why is this useful?

Grouping notifications from the same app keeps a busy notification screen readable at a glance instead of scrolling past dozens of separate alerts one by one.

iPhone gives you three grouping styles

Automatic groups notifications by topic or conversation thread within an app, By App collapses everything from that app into one single stack regardless of topic, and Off shows every notification as its own separate entry -- so it's worth trying each one to see which keeps your lock screen most readable.

Want a deeper dive into Android notification groups?

This guide covers the basic setup on both platforms. If you use Android and want to go further -- fine-tuning notification channels per category, marking a conversation as priority, or silencing a whole group at once -- see the dedicated Android notification groups guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I set grouping differently for each app?

Yes -- on both iPhone and Android, notification grouping is configured per app, so you can group a busy messaging app while leaving a quieter app ungrouped.

Does grouping mean I miss individual messages?

No -- grouping only changes how notifications are displayed together. Expanding a group still shows every individual alert, so nothing is hidden or deleted.