To turn off Activity notifications on Apple Watch, open Settings on the watch, tap Activity, and turn off the notifications you don’t want. To stop the daily activity reminders, turn off Daily Coaching. Breathe reminders are separate: turn them off in Settings > Mindfulness.
Every step here comes from the Apple Watch User Guide: Track daily activity, Reflect and Breathe, Share your activity, Activity ring goals and notification settings. Toggle names that Apple doesn’t list are credited to How-To Geek.
How to Turn Off Activity Notifications
- Press the Digital Crown and open Settings.
- Tap Activity.
- Turn off the notifications you don’t want.
Result: Your watch stops sending the alerts you turned off. The Activity app still tracks your rings.
Apple doesn’t list every switch on this screen, and the options can change between watchOS versions. How-To Geek documented switches such as Stand Reminders, Goal Completions, Achievements, and Weekly Summary.
Turn Off Daily Coaching
Apple’s steps for suspending activity reminders: open Settings on the watch, tap Activity, and turn off Daily Coaching.
Change the Settings From Your iPhone
Open the Watch app on your iPhone, tap My Watch, then tap Activity and make the same changes. Apple’s guide shows both My Watch > Activity and My Watch > Apps > Activity, so look for either one.
How to Turn Off All Activity Notifications
To silence the app completely, use the iPhone’s notification settings for the watch:
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
- Tap My Watch > Notifications.
- Tap Activity, tap Custom, and choose Notifications Off if it’s offered.
Apple notes that the options vary by app. Send to Notification Center is a middle ground that delivers alerts silently, without a sound or a screen on the watch.
How to Mute an Activity Sharing Friend
If you share activity with friends, you get notifications when they close their rings, finish workouts, or earn awards. To silence one person, open the Activity app on the watch, tap the sharing button, tap the friend, scroll down, and tap Mute Notifications.
How to Turn Off Breathe (Mindfulness) Reminders
- Open Settings on the watch and tap Mindfulness.
- Under Reminders, turn off Start of Day and End of Day, and remove any extra reminders you added.
- Or turn on Mute for today to skip them just for today.
You can also turn off the Weekly Summary in the same screen.
How to Take a Break Without Turning Everything Off
If you’re sick, traveling, or resting, Apple lets you pause your rings for up to 90 days without breaking your award streak.
- Open the Activity app on your watch.
- Tap the rings, then tap Pause Rings.
- Choose a duration, or tap Custom.
To start again, tap the rings and tap Resume Rings.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will turning off Activity notifications stop my watch from tracking activity?
No. These settings only control alerts. Your watch keeps tracking movement, exercise and stand time in the Activity app.
Can I mute notifications for just today?
Yes. Swipe left on any notification, tap the more button, and choose Mute for Today. Notifications from that app go straight to Notification Center for the rest of the day. For Mindfulness, use the Mute for today switch in Settings.
Related Guides
- How to change your Move goal on Apple Watch
- How to turn off notifications for other apps on Apple Watch
- How to turn off heart rate tracking on Apple Watch
Matthew Burleigh has been writing tech tutorials since 2008. His writing has appeared on dozens of different websites and been read hundreds of millions of times.
After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites.
His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well.