How to Turn Off Gift Notifications in Pokémon GO

To turn off gift notifications in Pokémon GO, tap the Poké Ball at the bottom of the map, tap Settings at the top right, tap Notifications, and tap Gift Received to clear its check mark. Friends can still send you Gifts. Your phone just stops alerting you each time one arrives.

This guide covers the in-game setting on iPhone and Android, the phone-level switch that silences every Pokémon GO alert, how to check that the change worked, and what to do if gift alerts keep showing up.

What you need before you start

• Pokémon GO installed and signed in. The steps are the same on iPhone and Android because the setting lives inside the game.
• A current version of the game. The Settings menu has been reorganized over the years, so an old version may show different labels or positions.
• Each device you play on. Phone-level notification settings belong to one device. If you play on a phone and a tablet, plan to check both.

A push notification is an alert an app sends to your phone’s Lock Screen or notification list, even when the app is closed. That is the kind of alert this setting controls.

Turn off gift notifications in Pokémon GO

This is the shortest route, and it leaves the game’s other alerts alone.

1. Open Pokémon GO and wait for the map to load.
2. Tap the Poké Ball icon at the bottom center of the map. The main menu opens.
3. Tap Settings at the top right of that menu. It has a gear icon.
4. Tap Notifications. The list includes Pokémon’s Return, Low Motivation, the friend request alerts, Gift Received, and Events, Offers, and Updates.
5. Tap Gift Received. The check mark next to it clears.
6. Leave Settings. There is no separate Save button to tap.

Niantic’s Earning the Defender Bonus article uses the same Settings > Notifications path. The Pokémon Company’s Pokémon GO Plus + Technical FAQs also starts from the Poké Ball icon and Settings in the top right.

What changes and what stays the same

Turning off the gift notification only changes whether your phone alerts you. It does not block Gifts, and it does not tell your friends anything.

• Gifts still arrive. Niantic’s help page says friends who have sent you a Gift show a Gift icon next to their Trainer photo in your Friend List, with a note about when you received it.
• Friends are not told. The setting is a choice about alerts on your own device.
• Other alerts keep coming. Each entry in the notification list is separate, so turning off one leaves the rest as they were.
• Messages inside the game may still appear. The setting is aimed at alerts sent to your phone. Banners shown while you are playing may not be affected.

Silence all Pokémon GO notifications on your phone

Use this if you want no alerts from the game at all, or if the in-game setting does not seem to hold. Before you do this: the phone-level switch stops every Pokémon GO notification, not just Gifts. That includes alerts you may want, such as a raid invitation or a notice that a Pokémon has returned from a Gym.

iPhone

1. Open the iPhone Settings app.
2. Tap Notifications.
3. Under Notification Style, tap Pokémon GO.
4. Turn off Allow Notifications.

Apple documents these steps in Change notification settings on iPhone. On the same screen you can keep notifications on but make them quieter, for example by turning off Sounds or choosing where alerts appear.

Android

1. Open your phone’s Settings app.
2. Tap Notifications, then App notifications.
3. Find Pokémon GO. If it is not in the recent list, open the dropdown menu and choose All apps.
4. Turn the app’s notifications off.

Google notes in Control notifications on Android that these steps can vary by phone, so a Samsung or other brand may use slightly different menu names. Google also says you can touch and hold a notification when it arrives and tap Settings to jump straight to that app’s notification options.

Which method to use

Method	What it stops	Best for
Gift option in Pokémon GO Settings	Gift alerts only	Players with many friends who still want raid and Gym alerts
Allow Notifications off (iPhone)	Every Pokémon GO alert on that iPhone	Taking a break from the game without deleting it
App notifications off (Android)	Every Pokémon GO alert on that Android phone	Taking a break, or when the in-game setting does not hold

How to confirm it worked and turn alerts back on

Go back to Poké Ball > Settings > Notifications and look at the gift entry again. It should still be off. The real test is the next Gift a friend sends: it should appear in your Friend List without an alert on your Lock Screen.

To undo the change, repeat the same steps and tap the gift entry again so it is checked or switched on. If you used the phone-level method, turn Allow Notifications back on for iPhone, or turn the app’s notifications back on for Android.

How to find Gifts without the alert

With alerts off, you check for Gifts yourself. Niantic’s Sending & Receiving Gifts page gives these steps:

1. In Map View, open your Trainer Profile.
2. Tap the Friends tab at the top to open your Friend List.
3. Look for friends with a Gift icon next to their Trainer photo.
4. Tap that friend, tap the Gift, then tap Open.

A few rules from the same page are worth knowing once you stop getting alerts:

• One Gift per friend per day. A friend cannot send you another Gift until you open the last one they sent.
• You can hold up to 20 Gifts to send, and they do not take up Bag space.
• You cannot open Gifts you collect. You find them at PokéStops, or your Buddy brings them, and you send them to friends.
• Gifts share a location. Each one includes a postcard of the PokéStop where it was collected, so the friend who receives it sees a place you visited. To hide your latest catch from friends as well, stop sharing recently caught Pokémon with friends.

Opening Gifts is also one of the activities that earns friendship points, so checking your Friend List once a day keeps your Friendship levels moving. Gifts can contain Pokémon Eggs, which you put in an incubator to hatch.

Troubleshooting

I can’t find a gift option in Settings

Open Settings > Notifications, where the entry is called Gift Received. Older versions of the game list it in a Push Notifications section at the bottom of Settings. If it is not there, update Pokémon GO from the App Store or Google Play and look again. If you still cannot find it, use the phone-level method above.

Gift alerts keep arriving after I turned them off

Reopen Settings and confirm the gift entry is still off. Then check any other phone or tablet signed in to the same account, because each device has its own notification permissions. On a device you no longer play on, you can sign out of Pokémon GO instead. If alerts continue, turn off notifications for Pokémon GO in your phone settings. That stops them at the system level regardless of what the game sends.

I turned alerts back on but nothing arrives

Check the phone-level setting first. On iPhone, Allow Notifications must be on for Pokémon GO. On Android, the app’s notifications must be on. A Focus or Do Not Disturb mode can also hold alerts back. And a friend can only send a new Gift after you open the last one from them, so an unopened Gift means no new alert from that friend.

My child’s account has no Gifts or Friends features

Niantic says a parent or guardian has to enable social features for child accounts through the Niantic Kids Parent Portal or Pokémon Trainer Central. If those features are off, there are no gift alerts to manage.

Other alerts you can turn off

• Raid invitations
• Low motivation alerts for Gym defenders
• Battle challenges from friends
• Game music and sound effects: turn off sound in Pokémon GO
• Snapshots filling your photo library: stop Pokémon GO from saving photos to your phone

Frequently asked questions

Will friends know I turned off gift notifications?

No. Turning off gift notifications only changes the alerts on your own phone. Friends can still send you Gifts, and nothing on their side shows that you changed the setting.

Do I lose Gifts if I don’t open them right away?

Niantic says you are not required to open a Gift right away. The catch is that a friend cannot send you another Gift until you open the one they already sent, so Niantic recommends opening Gifts daily.

Can I turn off gift notifications for just one friend?

Niantic’s help pages do not describe a per-friend notification setting. The gift option in Pokémon GO Settings applies to Gifts from all friends. If one person’s Gifts are the problem, removing that friend is the documented option.

How do I stop Gifts from people I don’t know?

Only Trainers on your Friend List can send you Gifts. To remove one, open your Friend List, tap the friend, and tap Remove Friend at the bottom of their profile. Niantic’s Controlling Your Experience in Pokémon GO page says the person is not notified, and that any bonuses between you no longer apply. You can also change your friend code so an old code posted online stops working.

Does turning off notifications stop the sounds in the game?

No. Notification settings control alerts sent to your phone. Music and sound effects inside Pokémon GO are separate settings in the same Settings menu.

Next step

Turn off the gift entry in Pokémon GO Settings first, then watch your Lock Screen the next time a friend sends a Gift. If an alert still shows up, switch off Pokémon GO notifications in your phone settings and check your Friend List once a day instead.