How to turn off vibration on your iPhone

Those $0.99 ringtones were trendy in the early 2000s, but now you're more likely to hear iPhones® buzzing than blaring Flo Rida. But sometimes, even that's too much. Maybe you're trying to focus on a project, but it feels like there's a hornet's nest in your pocket. Or, you're tired of constant buzzing every time someone sends you a gift on Pokémon Go.

At Asurion, our smartphone experts can help with everything from setting up a new iPhone to comparing tech care plans. Here's our guide on how to turn off vibration on iPhone. 

Adjust vibration for calls and alerts

Tired of your phone buzzing nonstop—or from apps you don’t even use? Constant vibrations can be distracting and even drain your iPhone® battery.

To turn off vibrations completely:

1. Open Settings and tap Sounds & Haptics.
2. Tap Haptics > Never Play.

This stops your iPhone from vibrating for calls, texts, and most alerts. (Emergency alerts will still cause your phone to buzz.)

If you’d rather not turn vibrations off for everything, you can customize them:

In Sounds & Haptics, choose how you want to receive each type of alert. For example, keep vibrations on for Calendar reminders so you don’t miss meetings, but turn them off for Messages if your group chat never stops.

Adjusting these settings individually helps you strike a balance between total silence and constant buzzing. Still can’t find the right setup? Asurion’s tech support team can help you troubleshoot iPhone vibration settings.

Turn off vibration using Accessibility settings

Want to learn how to switch off phone vibration on iPhone completely? You can enjoy blissful silence with these steps: 

1. In the Settings app, tap Accessibility. 
2. Choose Touch, then turn off vibration. 

This process disables vibration alerts for iPhone, so you won't feel alerts for hurricanes and other emergencies. Consider using the haptics settings instead if you're concerned about missing one of these notifications. 

How does vibration work in Silent Mode and Focus Mode?

You might assume that iPhone's Silent Mode doesn't have vibrations—buzzing isn't exactly silent, right?—but that's not true. The phone won't play sounds, but it can still vibrate. That may catch you off guard if you thought you had disabled alerts for an exam or concert, only to have your device start shaking. 

If you want your phone to be completely still during Silent Mode, you'll need to customize your iPhone notification settings: 

1. In the Settings app, tap Sounds & Haptics. 
2. Under Ringtone and Alerts, tap Haptics. 
3. Change the setting from Play in Silent Mode to Never Play.

You'll also need to manually manage iPhone vibrations for Focus Mode: 

1. In the Settings app, tap Focus. 
2. Design a mode by selecting Personal, Sleep, or Work. 
3. Tap People > Silence specific people. This allows you to choose which contacts (if any) you want to receive notifications from while you're in the zone. Your child's school? Definitely allow. Your college roommate who loves to share TikTok videos? Silence. 
4. To turn off vibration for apps on iPhone, tap Apps > Silence specific apps. For example, you might not want to get interrupted by Snapchat or Fortnite notifications during work. Don't be afraid to experiment with these settings to see what works best. 

Why do some system alerts still vibrate?

So, you've followed these steps to switch off phone vibrations on your iPhone, but the occasional buzz still jolts you. 

Critical alerts may bypass your haptics settings. That's a good thing if your area is about to experience an earthquake or a nearby wildfire. If you don't want to feel these potentially life-saving notifications, it's possible to turn them off. Go to Settings > Notifications > Government Alerts. You can turn off Emergency Alerts, Public Safety Alerts, and other notifications.