Three Ways to Silence Apple Watch

  1. 1

    Control Centre — toggle Silent Mode

    Swipe up from the bottom of the watch face to open Control Centre (swipe up from the very bottom edge). Tap the bell icon. When Silent Mode is on, the bell shows a line through it. The watch still vibrates for notifications but makes no sounds.

  2. 2

    Cover the display with your palm

    When a notification arrives and you want to dismiss the sound quickly, cover the watch face completely with your opposite palm and hold for 3 seconds. This mutes the current alert immediately. Enable this feature: Settings → Sounds and Haptics → Cover to Mute → toggle on.

  3. 3

    Do Not Disturb

    Swipe up to Control Centre → tap the crescent moon icon for Do Not Disturb. This silences all notifications entirely — no sounds and no haptics. Turn off by tapping the moon icon again, or set it to turn off automatically after a set time.

Through iPhone Settings

Watch app on iPhone → My Watch → Sounds and Haptics. Here you can: adjust the alert volume slider, toggle Silent Mode, toggle Haptic Alerts (vibration) on or off, and set Haptic Strength. You can also enable Prominent Haptic which adds a pre-haptic before each notification to draw your attention.

Theatre ModeSwipe up to Control Centre → tap the masks icon for Theatre Mode. This turns off the raise-to-wake feature (the screen stays dark unless you tap it) and silences sounds, while still letting you read notifications by tapping the screen. Ideal for movies, meetings or anywhere you need the screen to stay dark.

Frequently Asked Questions

Settings app on your Apple Watch → Sounds and Haptics → toggle off Haptic Alerts. Or in the Watch app on iPhone → My Watch → Sounds and Haptics → toggle off Haptic Alerts. Note: this turns off ALL vibration alerts, which means you may miss notifications entirely if you also have Silent Mode on.
No — iPhone and Apple Watch notification settings are independent. Silencing the watch does not affect the iPhone. However, if your iPhone is unlocked and nearby, notifications are typically delivered to the iPhone only (not the watch), so you may hear them on the phone regardless of watch settings.