Text Message Notification Sound not Working on iPhone

Some notifications are more important than others and the focus of recent iOS releases was managing these priorities. Text Messages are, usually, at the top of the list and you should, by default, always get sound notifications for all incoming text messages on your iPhone. However, some users report that the iPhone is not making a sound for text messages. If you are having trouble with this, make sure to check the steps we listed below.

Why My iPhone Not Playing Notification When I Get a Text?

There are multiple reasons why your iPhone is not making sound for text messages. Firstly, make sure that the DND is disabled and the Silent Switch is not set to Silent.

After that check Notification and Sound Settings and individual contacts settings. If those steps fail, consider resetting all settings on your iPhone.

1. Disable DND and Silent Switch

The first thing you need to do is to disable the DND and Silent Switch. The Do Not Disturb mode will automatically disable sound for incoming notifications and calls. Chances are that you enabled it by accident from the Control Center and that’s exactly where you can disable it. Just look for the crescent moon icon and toggle it off.

In addition, make sure to check the physical Silent Switch. Make sure that the switch is set to Ring and not on Silent or Vibrate modes. If that didn’t help and the iPhone is still not making sound for text messages, continue to the next step.

2. Check Notification Settings

The next thing you need to check is Notification Settings for Messages. There’s a chance that the sound notifications are disabled and you need to change that in system settings.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Open Settings.
2. Select Notifications.
3. Choose Messages from the list.
4. Make sure that all 3 options are enabled (Lock Screen, Notification Center, and Banners). More importantly, make sure that there’s a ringtone under Sounds. Any ringtone will do.

• How to Bypass Android Lock Screen

If the problem occurs only for certain senders, navigate open their profile from the Messages app and make sure that they are not muted. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open Messages.
2. Expand a message from a sender for which you weren’t notified.
3. Tap on the sender name at the top and select Info.
4. Make sure that the Hide Alerts option is off.

3. Check Sound Settings

Moving on. If the issue persists, we recommend checking the Sound Settings, as well. Chances are that the volume is low or that the notification tone you are using is not available so you can try changing it.

Follow these instructions to tweak sound settings on your iPhone:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Sounds.
3. Make sure that the Ringer and Alerts slider is set to high volume.
4. Also, select Text Tone and choose any local tone from the list.

In case your iPhone is still not making sound for text messages, try the last step we explain below.

4. Reset All Settings on your iPhone

Finally, if none of the previous steps worked for you, you can go for the settings reset. Conveniently, this option won’t delete any of your data but simply reset all settings to their default values. Still, you might need some configuring to do afterward but it’s still much better than restoring all your data from iCloud.

Here’s how to Reset All Settings on your iPhone:

1. Open Settings.
2. Select General.
3. Scroll down and select Reset.
4. Tap Reset All Settings.
5. Enter the PIN/Password when prompted.
6. Confirm and reset all settings.

That should do it. We thank you for reading and don’t shy away from commenting in the comments section below. Your questions or feedback are always welcome and we’ll make sure to respond when possible.