iPhone Focus Modes: Silence Distractions at Work and Sleep

By Ammar Aslam · Updated September 29, 2026 · 3 min read

Focus modes let you decide which people and apps can notify you at different times. You might want only family calls at night, and only work apps during office hours. Here's how to set them up.

Find Focus settings

Go to Settings → Focus. You'll see built-in modes like Do Not Disturb, Sleep, Personal and Work, and you can create your own.

Set up a Focus

Tap a Focus, such as Work.
Under Allow Notifications, choose People who can reach you (like your manager and family).
Choose Apps allowed to send notifications (like Mail, Teams or Slack).
Optionally allow Time Sensitive notifications, such as deliveries or security alerts.

Turn on automatically

Tap Add Schedule to activate a Focus by time, location (when you arrive at the office) or when you open a specific app.

Customise screens

Link a Focus to a specific Lock Screen and Home Screen pages. For example, Work Focus shows only your work apps; Sleep Focus shows a dark lock screen.

Focus filters

Focus filters change what apps show. For instance, Calendar shows only your work calendar during Work Focus, and Safari shows work tab groups.

Emergency calls get through

Turn on Allow Repeated Calls in Do Not Disturb settings. If someone calls twice within three minutes, the second call rings. This helps in emergencies.

When on, Share Focus Status lets apps like Messages show contacts that you have notifications silenced.

Sleep Focus

Set a sleep schedule in the Health app or Clock app's alarm. Sleep Focus dims the Lock Screen and silences notifications during your wind-down time.

Try this: a "Study" Focus that allows only calls from family and hides social apps from your Home Screen.

Example Focus setups

Focus	Allowed people	Allowed apps	Schedule
Work	Manager, family	Mail, Calendar, Teams/Slack	Weekdays 9–5, or arriving at office
Study	Parents	Notes, Calendar, class app	When opening study apps
Sleep	Favourites only	Alarms, Health	Bedtime schedule
Driving	Family	Maps	When connected to car Bluetooth
Prayer / Family time	Emergency contacts	None	Custom times

Driving Focus for safety

The Driving Focus can turn on automatically when your iPhone connects to your car's Bluetooth or detects driving motion. It silences notifications and can auto-reply to messages saying you're driving. People can still break through by replying "urgent". This small setting can prevent dangerous distractions on the road.

Focus across devices

With Share Across Devices on, turning on a Focus on your iPhone also turns it on for your iPad and Mac. That way your laptop doesn't buzz with the notifications your phone has silenced.

Troubleshooting

If an app still notifies you during a Focus, check whether its notifications are marked Time Sensitive and turn that off in the app's notification settings. If calls aren't coming through when they should, check the "Allowed People" list and Allow Calls From settings.

Android user? See Digital Wellbeing for similar tools.

Frequently asked questions

Will I miss alarms during Focus?

No, alarms always sound.

Why am I still getting some notifications?

Check allowed people and apps, and whether Time Sensitive notifications are allowed.

Ammar Aslam
Ammar writes clear, practical tech guides that help everyday users fix problems, stay safe online and get more from their devices.