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. Menu names can differ slightly on an iPhone running an older version. 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.
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap Notifications. You see a list of apps under Notification Style.
- Tap Messages. Check that Allow Notifications is on at the top.
- Scroll to the bottom of the screen and tap Customize Notifications.
- Tap Repeat Alerts.
- Tap the number of repeats you want, then leave Settings. The choice applies to the next text you receive.
Apple documents 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.
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.
- 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.
Repeated notifications and a vibration pattern are different controls. Our guide to text-message vibrations on iPhone explains changing the pattern or turning its pulses off while keeping visual alerts.
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, see how to adjust message-alert volume; repeating an alert does not increase its loudness.
- Show it everywhere. Under Alerts, select the Lock Screen, Notification Center, and banners. To see message text on a locked phone, see how to show messages on the Lock Screen.
- 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 covers it in Flash the iPhone screen or indicator light for notifications, and we have step-by-step help for turning on LED flash for alerts.
- Give one person a special tone. In a one-to-one conversation, tap the contact icon at the top, then tap Info, Edit, Edit Contact Info, and 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.
- Allow Notifications is off. Turn it on in Settings > Notifications > Messages. With it off, you get no message notifications at all.
- Sounds is set to None. Tap Sounds on the same screen and choose a text tone.
- The iPhone is in Silent mode or the volume is low. Apple notes that you only hear message alerts when the iPhone is not in Silent mode and the volume is audible. You can raise it in Settings > Sounds & Haptics.
- A Focus is on. Do Not Disturb, Sleep, and other Focus modes hold back notifications unless Messages or the sender is allowed. Apple explains the choices in Allow or silence notifications for a Focus.
- 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.
- 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.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my iPhone alert me twice for every text?
Repeat Alerts is probably set to Once, which plays one reminder two minutes after the original alert. Open Settings > Notifications > Messages > Customize Notifications > Repeat Alerts and tap Never.
Can I change how often the alert repeats?
No. Apple’s guide says alerts repeat at two-minute intervals, and there is no setting for a different gap. You can only change how many reminders you get.
Can I get repeat alerts for only one person?
No. Repeat Alerts covers every conversation in Messages. To make one person stand out, give that contact a custom text tone or turn on Emergency Bypass for them, and mute threads you do not need reminders for with Hide Alerts. Here is how to set a text tone for a contact on iPhone.
Do repeat alerts work for other apps, like Mail or WhatsApp?
Apple documents Repeat Alerts as a Messages setting. Other apps may show a Customize Notifications option with different choices, or none at all, so check each app’s own notification settings.
Is there an Android version of this?
Yes, on some phones. See how to turn on notification reminders on Android.
Can I see unread text counts on the icon?
Yes. Turn on Badges in Settings > Notifications > Messages to show a red number on the Messages icon. See what badges are on iPhone.
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.
Matthew Burleigh is the founder, head writer, and editor of Solve Your Tech, which he launched in 2012. He has written technology tutorials since 2008 and worked in IT since 2003, including small-business support, IT management, and consulting. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science from Arizona State University.
Matthew writes practical guides for Windows, iPhone and iPad, Microsoft Office, Outlook, Google apps, and Android. Solve Your Tech’s guides are checked step by step against the device or app maker’s own documentation and tested on his own devices whenever he has the hardware or software, with clear steps, sources, and update dates.
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