How to Turn Off Activity Notifications on Apple Watch

To turn off Activity notifications on Apple Watch, open Settings on the watch, tap Activity, and switch off the reminders and alerts you no longer want. To stop the daily nudges about your rings, turn off Daily Coaching on that screen. To silence the Activity app completely, open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone and go to My Watch > Notifications > Activity > Custom > Notifications Off.

None of these changes stops your watch from counting movement. Your Move, Exercise and Stand rings keep filling in the Activity app, and you can turn every alert back on later.

The steps below follow the current Apple Watch User Guide, mainly Track daily activity with Apple Watch and Change notification settings on Apple Watch.

What You Need Before You Start

• An Apple Watch with a recent version of watchOS. Apple publishes these instructions for watchOS 27 and watchOS 26, and the same Activity settings appear in the guides for older versions. Menu wording can differ slightly on an older watch. If you are not sure what you have, see how to check your watchOS version and update your Apple Watch.
• Your paired iPhone, for the methods that use the Apple Watch app. The watch-only methods do not need the phone nearby.
• A minute to decide what bothers you. Activity alerts come from several places, so the right switch depends on the alert. The table below helps you pick.

Which Setting Stops Which Alert

Alert you want to stop	Where to change it
Reminders and progress updates about your rings	Watch: Settings > Activity
Daily coaching messages	Watch: Settings > Activity > Daily Coaching
Every alert from the Activity app	iPhone: Apple Watch app > My Watch > Notifications > Activity
A friend closing rings or finishing workouts	Watch: Activity app > Sharing > friend > Mute Notifications
Breathe and Reflect reminders	Watch: Settings > Mindfulness
Everything, for a meeting or a movie	Watch: Control Center > Do Not Disturb or Silent Mode

How to Turn Off Activity Notifications on the Watch

This is the shortest route, and it lets you keep the alerts you like while removing the rest.

1. Press the Digital Crown to see your apps, then open Settings (the gear icon).
2. Scroll down and tap Activity.
3. Go through the list of switches and turn off each notification you do not want. A switch is off when it is gray.
4. Press the Digital Crown to leave Settings. The change is saved as soon as you flip a switch.

Result: Your watch stops sending the alerts you switched off. Everything else about the Activity app works as before.

Apple’s guide tells you to configure the notifications on this screen but does not name every switch, and the list has changed between watchOS versions. Depending on your version you may see separate switches for things like stand reminders, goal completions and special challenges. Read each label on your own watch instead of relying on a fixed list.

Turn Off Daily Coaching

Daily Coaching is the setting Apple names for the reminders that tell you whether you are on track or falling behind your goals. To suspend it, open Settings on the watch, tap Activity, and turn off Daily Coaching. Turn the same switch back on whenever you want the reminders to return.

How to Change Activity Notifications From Your iPhone

The same switches are available on the larger iPhone screen, which is easier if you want to review all of them at once.

1. Open the Apple Watch app on the iPhone that is paired with your watch.
2. Tap the My Watch tab.
3. Tap Activity. Apple’s guide describes this in two ways, My Watch > Activity and My Watch > Apps > Activity, so check under Apps if you do not see it right away.
4. Turn off the notifications you do not want, including Daily Coaching.

Result: The settings sync to the watch, so you do not need to repeat them there.

How to Turn Off All Activity Notifications at Once

If you would rather hear nothing from the Activity app, use the notification settings for the watch instead of the individual switches.

Before you do this: turning notifications off also hides the alerts some people want to keep, such as ring completions and competition updates. Consider Send to Notification Center in step 4 if you only want the alerts to stop interrupting you.

1. Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Tap My Watch, then tap Notifications.
3. Tap Activity, then tap Custom.
4. Choose Notifications Off. Or choose Send to Notification Center, which delivers alerts quietly without the watch making a sound or displaying them.

Result: With Notifications Off, the app sends no notifications. Apple says the options on this screen can vary from app to app, so use the closest choice if yours is worded differently.

The same screen works for other apps. For those steps, see how to turn off notifications for other apps on Apple Watch.

How to Mute Activity Alerts for an Hour or a Day

You can quiet an app directly from one of its notifications. This is useful on a rest day, when you do not want to change your settings for good.

1. Touch and hold the top of the watch face, then swipe down to open Notification Center. This is the list of notifications you have not cleared yet.
2. Find a notification from Activity and swipe left on it.
3. Tap the More button (three dots).
4. Tap Mute 1 hour or Mute for Today.

Result: For that period, notifications from the app go straight to Notification Center without a sound or an alert on screen. To undo it early, swipe left on a notification from the app, tap More, and tap Unmute.

The same menu can include Turn off, which stops the app’s notifications until you allow them again on your iPhone. Apple notes that the choices in this menu depend on the app.

How to Mute an Activity Sharing Friend

If you share activity with friends or family, Apple says you can get notifications when they meet their goals, finish workouts and earn achievements. You can silence one person without ending the sharing.

1. Open the Activity app on your watch.
2. Tap the Sharing button.
3. Tap the friend, then scroll down.
4. Tap Mute Notifications.

The same screen has Hide my Activity, which stops that friend from seeing your progress, and Remove Friend, which ends sharing with that person. Removing a friend is a bigger step than muting, so try muting first.

How to Turn Off Breathe (Mindfulness) Reminders

Reminders to breathe or reflect come from the Mindfulness app, not from Activity, so the Activity switches do not affect them.

1. Open Settings on the watch and tap Mindfulness.
2. Below Reminders, turn off Start of Day and End of Day. Also check for any additional reminders that were created with Add Reminder.
3. To skip the reminders only for the rest of the day, turn on Mute for today instead.
4. Turn off Weekly Summary if you do not want the weekly mindfulness report.

You can make the same changes on your iPhone in the Apple Watch app under My Watch > Mindfulness. Apple lists these options in its Mindfulness guide.

How to Pause Your Rings Instead

If the real problem is that you are sick, injured or traveling, pausing your rings may suit you better than turning off alerts. Apple says you can pause your Activity rings for up to 90 days without breaking your award streak.

1. Open the Activity app on your watch.
2. Tap the Activity rings, then tap Pause Rings.
3. Tap a duration, or tap Custom to set your own.

To start again early, tap the rings and tap Resume Rings. To change the length of the pause, tap Edit Pause. Apple documents this in Adjust your Activity ring goals on Apple Watch, in the guides for watchOS 11 and later. If your goals simply feel too high, you can change your Move goal on Apple Watch instead.

How to Silence Every Alert for a While

For a meeting, a movie or a nap, you may want all alerts quiet, not just Activity. Press the side button to open Control Center, then pick one of these modes. Apple compares them in Silence notifications for extended periods on Apple Watch.

• Silent Mode: turns off sounds. You still feel haptics, which are the taps on your wrist, and notifications still appear on screen.
• Theater Mode: turns on Silent Mode and keeps the display dark when you raise your wrist. You still receive haptic notifications.
• Do Not Disturb: stops sound and haptic notifications. You can turn it on for 1 hour, until you leave a location, until an event ends, or indefinitely.
• Focus: works like Do Not Disturb, with a schedule and a list of notifications that are still allowed. You set these up on your iPhone.

Tap the same button again in Control Center to turn a mode off. For more detail on each one, see how to silence an Apple Watch.

How to Confirm the Change and Turn Alerts Back On

There is no test button for Activity alerts. To check your work, go back to Settings > Activity on the watch and confirm that the switches you changed are still off. Then give it a normal day and see whether the alerts you turned off have stopped arriving.

Every change in this guide can be reversed:

• Individual switches and Daily Coaching: return to Settings > Activity and turn them back on.
• Notifications Off: in the Apple Watch app, tap My Watch > Notifications > Activity, then tap Allow Notifications.
• Mute 1 hour or Mute for Today: the mute ends without any action from you, or you can tap Unmute from a notification.
• Paused rings: tap the rings in the Activity app, then tap Resume Rings.

Troubleshooting

I turned everything off, but the watch still taps me

Check where the alert comes from. Breathe and Reflect reminders belong to Mindfulness, a friend’s ring alerts belong to Activity Sharing, and prompts that appear during an exercise session come from the Workout app. Each has its own setting, covered in the sections above or in that app’s settings.

The Activity settings look different on my watch

The switches under Settings > Activity are not the same in every watchOS version, and Apple does not publish a full list. If a switch mentioned elsewhere is missing, your version probably does not have it. Turning off notifications for the whole app from your iPhone works regardless of which switches you see.

I cannot find Activity in the Apple Watch app

Make sure you are on the My Watch tab, then look for Activity both in the main list and under Apps. For the option that turns everything off, look under Notifications instead.

My watch does not mirror my iPhone settings

Apple says mirrored notification settings do not apply to an Apple Watch that you manage for a family member. On that kind of watch, change the Activity settings in Settings on the watch itself.

I turned alerts back on, but nothing shows up on the watch

According to Apple’s article Notifications on your Apple Watch, notifications appear on your watch or your iPhone, but not both. When your iPhone is unlocked, they go to the iPhone. They also skip the watch while it is locked, and Do Not Disturb or a Focus will hold them back.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will turning off Activity notifications stop my watch from tracking activity?

No. The settings in this guide only control reminders and alerts. Your Apple Watch keeps recording movement, exercise minutes and stand hours, and you can open the Activity app on the watch or the Fitness app on your iPhone at any time to see your rings.

How do I stop the stand reminders on Apple Watch?

Open Settings on the watch and tap Activity, then turn off the reminder for standing if your watchOS version shows one. Apple’s current guide does not name that switch, so the label may vary. If you do not see it, turn off Daily Coaching or turn off notifications for the Activity app from your iPhone.

Can I mute Activity notifications for just today?

Yes. Swipe left on a notification from the app in Notification Center, tap the More button, and choose Mute for Today. Notifications from that app then go to Notification Center silently for the rest of the day. Mindfulness has its own Mute for today switch in Settings > Mindfulness.

Does turning off notifications affect my awards or streaks?

Apple’s guide does not say that notification settings change your awards. Awards are based on the activity your watch records, and that recording continues. If you need time off without losing an award streak, Apple’s documented option is Pause Rings, which covers up to 90 days.

What is the difference between Notifications Off and Send to Notification Center?

Notifications Off means the app sends no notifications to your watch. Send to Notification Center still delivers them, but silently: the watch does not make a sound or show the alert, and you see it only when you open Notification Center.

Can I turn off alerts from one friend without removing them?

Yes. In the Activity app on your watch, tap the Sharing button, tap the friend, scroll down, and tap Mute Notifications. You stay connected and can still check their progress. Apple describes this in Share your activity from Apple Watch.

Next Step

Start with Daily Coaching and the individual switches in Settings > Activity, then live with the result for a day before turning off the whole app. If you also want less background health monitoring, see how to turn off heart rate tracking on Apple Watch.