How to Get Repeat Text Message Alerts on iPhone

To have your iPhone remind you about a new text message, open Settings, tap Notifications, tap Messages, tap Customize Notifications, then tap Repeat Alerts and pick how many times the alert should repeat. Apple says the alerts repeat at two-minute intervals. Choose Never to go back to a single alert.

These steps follow Apple’s iPhone User Guide for iOS 27, the current version, and the same path works in iOS 26, iOS 18, and other recent versions. On an older iPhone 6 or iPhone 6s, the menu names can differ slightly. Repeat Alerts applies to the Messages app, which handles both iMessages and regular SMS or RCS texts.

Turn on repeat alerts for texts

You only need the Settings app. Nothing here deletes or changes your messages.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Notifications. You see a list of apps under Notification Style.
3. Tap Messages. Check that Allow Notifications is on at the top.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and tap Customize Notifications.
5. Tap Repeat Alerts.
6. Tap the number of repeats you want, then leave Settings. There is no save button, and the choice applies to the next text you receive.

Apple covers this setting in Stop, mute, and change message notifications on iPhone. Its Change notification settings page explains that Customize Notifications only appears for apps that support it. Messages is one of them.

Notification settings and Messages settings are in different places. In recent versions of iOS, the general Messages options such as iMessage and Send & Receive are under Settings > Apps > Messages, but Repeat Alerts is always under Settings > Notifications > Messages.

What the Repeat Alerts choices mean

The number you pick is the count of extra alerts after the first one. Once means two alerts in total: the original, then one reminder two minutes later. The choices are Never, Once, Twice, 3 Times, 5 Times, and 10 Times. At 10 Times, one text keeps reminding you for about 20 minutes.

Choice	Total alerts for one text	Reminders last about
Never	1	No reminders
Once	2	2 minutes
Twice	3	4 minutes
3 Times	4	6 minutes
5 Times	6	10 minutes
10 Times	11	20 minutes

• The two-minute gap is fixed. Apple does not offer a setting to shorten or lengthen it.
• There is no option to repeat forever. The alerts end after the number you chose.
• There is no setting to make a repeat louder or longer than the first alert.
• The reminders stop once you open the message or view the notification.

Which number should you pick? If you usually keep your phone nearby, Once or Twice is enough to catch a text you missed while busy. If you often leave the phone in another room, a higher number gives you more time to hear it, but every text then reminds you that many times. If you are waiting on one important message, raise the number for the day and lower it again afterward.

Repeated notifications and a vibration pattern are different controls. To change the pattern or turn its pulses off while keeping visual alerts, read about text-message vibrations on iPhone.

If your texts make no sound at all, the steps for fixing silenced notifications on iPhone cover Focus, Silent Mode, and muted chats.

Make the alert easier to notice

Repeating a quiet alert only helps so much. These settings work alongside Repeat Alerts.

• Pick a stronger tone. In Settings > Notifications > Messages, tap Sounds and choose a longer or sharper text tone. If the tone is too quiet, adjust the message-alert volume; repeating an alert does not increase its loudness.
• Show it everywhere. Under Alerts, select the Lock Screen, Notification Center, and banners. Message text can also show on the Lock Screen so it’s readable while the phone is locked.
• Keep the banner on screen. On the same screen, tap Banner Style and choose Persistent. A persistent banner stays at the top of the screen until you deal with it, instead of sliding away after a few seconds. This only helps while you are looking at the phone, so pair it with Repeat Alerts if the phone is often out of reach.

• Add a light. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio & Visual > Flash for Alerts to make the LED on the back, the screen, or both blink for notifications. Apple’s Flash the iPhone screen or indicator light for notifications page has the details, and there’s a walkthrough for turning on LED flash for alerts.
• Give one person a special tone. Open the Contacts app, tap the person, tap Edit, then tap Text Tone. The same screen has Emergency Bypass, which lets that contact’s messages alert you even when a Focus is on.

Check that it worked, or turn it off

Go back to Settings > Notifications > Messages > Customize Notifications. The Repeat Alerts row shows the current choice. To test it, lock the iPhone, have someone send you a text, and leave the phone alone. A second alert should arrive about two minutes after the first.

To undo the change, open Repeat Alerts again and tap Never. You still get the first alert for every text; only the reminders stop.

If repeat alerts do not work

A repeat alert follows the same rules as the first alert. If the first one is silent, the reminders are silent too. Work through this list in order.

1. Allow Notifications is off. Turn it on in Settings > Notifications > Messages. With it off, you get no message notifications at all.
2. Sounds is set to None. Tap Sounds on the same screen and choose a text tone.
3. The iPhone is in Silent mode or the volume is low. Message alerts only play when the iPhone is not in Silent mode and the volume is audible. You can raise it in Settings > Sounds & Haptics.
4. A Focus is on. Do Not Disturb, Sleep, and other Focus modes hold back notifications unless Messages or the sender is allowed. Apple’s Allow or silence notifications for a Focus page lays out the choices.
5. The conversation is muted. A thread with Hide Alerts turned on does not alert you at all. See why there’s a bell or moon next to a text. If you want the opposite, here is how to mute a text conversation on purpose.
6. You cannot find Customize Notifications. Scroll to the very bottom of the Messages notification screen. Very old iOS versions may list Repeat Alerts directly on that screen instead.
7. You wear an Apple Watch. When your iPhone is locked and you are wearing an unlocked Apple Watch, Apple sends notifications to the watch instead of the phone, so the alert may tap your wrist rather than sound on the iPhone.

Getting double alerts you did not ask for

Sometimes the problem is the reverse: every text seems to alert twice. Check these causes before anything else.

• Repeat Alerts is on. This is the most common reason. Set it to Never with the steps above. Remember that Once still adds a second alert.
• The same messages reach several devices. If your iPad or Mac uses the same Apple Account in Messages, each device can sound for the same text. Go to Settings > Apps > Messages > Send & Receive to see which phone numbers and email addresses receive messages, and check Text Message Forwarding on iPhone to see which devices get your SMS texts.
• A software glitch. Restart the iPhone, then check Settings > General > Software Update and install any update that is waiting.

Frequently asked questions

Next step

Set Repeat Alerts to a low number first, and raise it only if you still miss texts. If the reminders become a distraction, switch back to Never at any time.