How to Turn Off Low Motivation Notifications in Pokémon GO

To turn off low motivation notifications in Pokémon GO, tap the Poké Ball at the bottom of the map, tap Settings at the top right, find the Notifications options, and tap the circle next to Low Motivation to clear it. The game stops sending a phone alert when a Pokémon you left at a Gym is getting weak. The Pokémon itself is not affected, and it can still be knocked out of the Gym.

This guide covers the in-game setting on iPhone and Android, the phone-level switch that silences every Pokémon GO alert, how to confirm the change and turn it back on, and what to try if the alerts keep coming.

What you need before you start

• Pokémon GO installed and signed in. The in-game 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 rearranged over the years. An older version may show the notification options under a different heading.
• Every device you play on. Phone-level notification settings belong to one device, so check each phone or tablet separately.

Two terms help here. Motivation is the game’s measure of how willing a Pokémon is to keep defending a Gym. A push notification is an alert an app sends to your phone’s Lock Screen or notification list when you are not using the app. The low motivation alert is a push notification about a Pokémon whose motivation has dropped.

Turn off low motivation alerts in the game

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 at the bottom center of the map. The main menu opens.
3. Tap Settings at the top right of the menu. It has a gear icon.
4. Find the notification options. Niantic’s help pages refer to them as Settings > Notifications. On some versions the list sits farther down the Settings screen under a Push Notifications heading.
5. Look for Low Motivation in the list. Each entry has a circle next to it. A check mark in the circle means the alert is on.
6. Tap the circle next to Low Motivation. The check mark should clear.
7. Leave Settings. There is no separate Save button.

Niantic does not publish a full list of the notification entries, so the exact wording and order can differ from what you see here. If you cannot find an entry called Low Motivation, look for one that mentions Gyms or motivation. Niantic does confirm the location and the tap-the-circle control in its Earning the Defender Bonus article, which describes a neighboring entry named Pokémon’s Return.

Low Motivation and Pokémon’s Return are different alerts

The two Gym alerts sit in the same list, and it is easy to switch off the wrong one.

Alert	What it tells you	What you can do about it
Low Motivation	A Pokémon you left at a Gym is getting weak but is still there.	Give it a Berry to raise its motivation, or let it be.
Pokémon’s Return	A Pokémon has left a Gym and come back to you.	Check how many PokéCoins it earned, and place a Pokémon at a Gym again if you want.

If you only want fewer interruptions while a Pokémon is still defending, turn off Low Motivation and leave Pokémon’s Return on. You still learn when a Pokémon comes home. If you want no Gym alerts at all, clear both circles.

What low motivation means

Niantic explains in Battling at Gyms that every Pokémon on a Gym has motivation. It drops gradually over time, and it drops when the Pokémon loses a battle against a Trainer from another team. As motivation falls, the Pokémon’s CP (Combat Power, the number that shows how strong its attacks are) temporarily decreases, so it becomes easier to beat. When motivation reaches zero, the Pokémon leaves the Gym and returns to you the next time it loses a battle.

A returning Pokémon is not all bad news. Niantic’s Defender Bonus page says a Pokémon brings back the PokéCoins it earned while defending, with a daily limit of 50 PokéCoins no matter how many Pokémon return that day. Niantic notes that the limit can change. This is why some players are happy to let a Pokémon lose motivation and come home.

To see how your own Gym battles add up, check your battle medals in Pokémon GO. If you attack Gyms often, you can also create a battle party in Pokémon GO so you do not pick six Pokémon by hand each time.

What changes after you turn the alert off

• You stop getting the push alert. Your phone no longer tells you that a defender is weak.
• Motivation keeps dropping. The setting changes the notification only. It does not protect the Pokémon or pause the Gym.
• You have to check on defenders yourself. Without the alert, the game does not prompt you to feed them.
• Other alerts keep working. Gift, friend, raid, and event notifications each have their own entry.

Before you turn it off, decide whether you want to keep a specific Gym. If you do, the alert is the only automatic reminder to feed your Pokémon there.

Check on your Gym Pokémon without the alert

You can look up your defenders whenever you want. Niantic documents these places:

• Today View. Niantic says you can see which Pokémon are currently defending a Gym, and their remaining CP, in the Today View. It also shows your progress toward the daily PokéCoin limit.
• The Gym itself. Visit a Gym your team controls. Each Pokémon there has a motivation meter.
• Your Pokémon list. Tap the Poké Ball, tap Pokémon, and tap a Pokémon that is assigned to a Gym. Tap Go to Gym to give it a Berry from a distance. Niantic notes that treats are less effective from far away.
• Your Gym Badge. Niantic’s tip is that you can check a Pokémon’s motivation meter at any time by viewing your Badge for that Gym.

To feed a Pokémon in person, visit the Gym, tap the Pokémon, and tap a Berry. According to Niantic, every kind of Berry raises motivation by the same amount except the Golden Razz Berry, which restores it fully.

Silence all Pokémon GO notifications on your phone

Use this route if you want the game completely quiet, or if the in-game entry is missing. Warning: this turns off every Pokémon GO alert on that device, including raid invitations, Gifts, and Adventure Sync alerts about Eggs and your Buddy. It does not switch off only the low motivation alert.

iPhone

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Notifications.
3. Tap Pokémon GO in the list of apps.
4. Turn off Allow Notifications.

Apple describes these options in Change notification settings on iPhone. On the same screen you can leave notifications on and turn off only Badges, the red count on the app icon. Here is how to turn off the badge app icon for the Dunkin’ app as an example of that switch.

Android

1. Open the 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 tap All apps.
4. Turn the app’s notifications off.

These steps come from Google’s Control notifications on Android page. Google warns that settings vary by phone, so a Samsung or other brand may use slightly different names. Google also says some apps list notification categories that you can switch off one at a time. If Pokémon GO shows categories on your phone, you may be able to turn off a single type there.

Confirm the change, or turn the alert back on

To confirm the in-game change, go back to Poké Ball > Settings and look at the notification list again. The circle next to Low Motivation should be empty. For the phone-level change, open the Pokémon GO notification screen in your phone’s Settings app and check that notifications are off.

To undo it, repeat the same steps and tap the circle again so the check mark returns, or turn Allow Notifications (iPhone) or the app’s notifications (Android) back on. Nothing is lost by switching the alert off and on.

If low motivation alerts keep coming

• Check the setting again. Open the notification list and make sure the circle is still clear. Look again after a game update, since menus are sometimes rearranged.
• Check every device. If you play on two devices, an alert may be arriving on the one you have not changed. The phone-level switch applies to one device only.
• Tell the alerts apart. A message that a Pokémon has come back is the Pokémon’s Return alert, not Low Motivation. Clear that circle too if you do not want it.
• Update the game. Install the latest version from the App Store or Google Play, then check the notification list again.
• The entry is missing. Scroll the whole Settings screen, including any Notifications or Push Notifications heading. If there is no such entry in your version, use the phone-level switch.
• The phone setting is greyed out or missing. On a child’s device or a managed phone, parental controls or a work profile can limit what you can change. The person who manages the device has to adjust it.
• You see messages inside the game. The in-game setting is described as a push notification option. Niantic does not say it removes messages shown while you are playing, so you may still see those.

Turn off other Pokémon GO alerts

• Turn off gift notifications in Pokémon GO
• Turn off raid invitations
• Turn battle challenges from friends on or off
• Buddy and Egg alerts that come from Adventure Sync
• Game music and effects: turn off sound in Pokémon GO

Frequently asked questions

Will my Pokémon still leave the Gym if I turn off the alert?

Yes. The setting only stops the notification. Motivation keeps dropping over time and after lost battles, and a Pokémon at zero motivation leaves the Gym the next time it loses.

Does turning off the alert affect my PokéCoins?

No. PokéCoins come from the time your Pokémon spends defending a Gym, and you receive them when it returns. Niantic lists a daily limit of 50 PokéCoins. The notification setting does not change any of that.

How do I feed a Pokémon in a Gym?

Visit a Gym your team controls, tap the Pokémon, and tap a Berry. To do it from a distance, open your Pokémon list, tap a Pokémon assigned to a Gym, and tap Go to Gym. Treats given from far away are less effective.

Can I still find out when a Pokémon comes back?

Yes. Leave Pokémon’s Return checked in the same notification list. Niantic also says you get an in-game notification with the PokéCoins earned, and you can tap Main Menu > News > Notifications to see the amount.

Is the setting different on iPhone and Android?

The in-game setting is the same on both. Only the phone-level steps differ, because each system has its own Settings app.

Does the setting follow my account to a new phone?

Niantic does not document whether in-game notification choices carry over to another device. After you sign in on a new phone, open Settings in the game and check the list. Phone-level notification settings never carry over, so set those again.

Next step

Open Pokémon GO now, clear the Low Motivation circle, and decide whether to keep Pokémon’s Return on. If Gifts are the next most frequent alert on your phone, turning off gift notifications uses the same list.