How do I silence my phone calls at night?

Why You May Want to Silence Calls at Night

Receiving phone calls late at night can cause sleep disturbances, leading to serious short- and long-term health consequences. According to research from the Sleep Foundation, interrupted sleep inhibits the body’s ability to go through the full sleep cycle properly, causing daytime sleepiness and cognitive impairments. A 2017 study from the National Center for Biotechnology Information also indicated that short-term effects of interrupted sleep include increased stress responses, somatic pain, and reduced quality of life.

Silencing calls at night prevents disruptions that lead to fragmented sleep. It allows you and anyone else in your home to sleep soundly through the night without being awoken unexpectedly. Whether you want to avoid interruptions to your own sleep or prevent phone calls from disturbing a partner, child, roommate, or pet, silencing your phone at night helps maintain an uninterrupted sleep environment.

Using Do Not Disturb Mode

One of the easiest ways to silence calls at night is to use your phone’s Do Not Disturb (DND) mode. This allows you to mute sounds and notifications during set times so your sleep isn’t disrupted.

On an iPhone, you can turn on DND by going to Settings > Focus > Do Not Disturb. From there you can schedule DND during certain times, like overnight while you sleep. See Apple’s support article for step-by-step instructions.

On Android, open the notification shade and tap the Do Not Disturb option to enable it. Go to Settings > Sound > Do Not Disturb to customize the schedule and exceptions. See Google’s help article for more details.

The major benefit of Do Not Disturb is that you can allow exceptions, like repeats calls or favorites, to still reach you in case of emergency. This ensures only important calls will disturb your slumber.

Blocking Calls

If there are specific numbers you want to block from calling or texting your phone, you can easily block them. On an iPhone, go to Settings > Phone > Call Blocking & Identification, tap the plus sign and enter the number you want to block (source). You can also block recent callers by going to Recents in the Phone app, tapping the “i” icon next to a number, and selecting Block this Caller.

On Android, open the Phone app, tap the three dots in the top right, select Settings > Block numbers, then tap the plus icon to add a number to block (source). You can also long-press a recent caller and select Block number. This prevents any calls or texts from coming through.

Both iOS and Android also allow you to automatically block unknown callers or numbers not in your contacts. On an iPhone, toggle on Silence Unknown Callers in Settings. For Android, enable Block unknown callers in Phone app settings. This is useful for blocking nuisance calls and spam.

Turning Off Notifications

One of the easiest ways to silence your iPhone at night is by turning off notifications completely. This will mute sound and vibration alerts and disable any notification pop-ups from appearing on your lock screen or home screen.

To turn off notifications on your iPhone:

Open the Settings app

Tap “Notifications”
Under “Allow Notifications,” toggle off any apps you want to disable notifications for. This will mute sounds/vibrations and remove pop-ups.
You can also tap an app and select “None” to turn off all notifications.

For calls, toggle “Phone” off to disable call notifications and mute rings/vibrations.

Turning off notifications is an easy “blanket” approach to silencing your iPhone overnight. Just remember to toggle them back on when you wake up! You can also selectively mute using Do Not Disturb mode for more customization.

Using Airplane Mode

Putting your phone in airplane mode is one quick way to silence all calls, notifications, and alerts at night. When you switch on airplane mode, it disables all wireless connections, including cellular data, WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS. This means you won’t receive any calls or notifications until you turn airplane mode off again.

According to an article on Shield Your Body, using airplane mode during sleep helps eliminate your phone’s EMF radiation emissions, which can disrupt sleep. The article recommends refraining from electronic device use for at least two hours before bed.

Airplane mode is an easy switch to make at night and ensures you won’t be woken up by calls. Just remember to turn it off in the morning so you can receive calls and notifications as usual during the day.

Third-Party Apps to Silence Calls

Using third-party apps is one of the most effective ways to silence calls on both iPhones and Android devices. These apps give you granular control over blocking calls and customizing exactly which calls to silence.

For example, RoboKiller uses AI to screen calls and can block known spam numbers automatically. You can create customizable block lists and allow calls from contacts or certain area codes. RoboKiller also allows you to forwarding spam calls to their answering machine.

Hiya is another top-rated spam call blocker for both iOS and Android. It identifies suspicious callers and gives you the option to block or allow each call. You can easily block entire area codes and see details on unknown callers. Hiya also has a feature to warn contacts that you may not answer unknown calls.

The key benefit of third-party spam blocking apps is the ability to fully customize which calls to block or allow. This lets you silence unwanted calls while still permitting calls from important contacts to reach you.

Answering Machine Options

Letting calls go to voicemail is a simple way to silence calls at night. You can customize your voicemail greeting to indicate you are unavailable during nighttime hours. Some ideas for nighttime greetings include:

“Hi, you’ve reached [your name]. I’m away from my phone right now. If you need to reach me urgently, please send a text message. Otherwise, leave your name and number and I’ll get back to you in the morning. Have a good night!” (Source)

“Hello, this is [your name]. I’m not available to take your call during the night. Leave me a message with your name and number, and I’ll call you back during normal business hours. Sleep well!” (Source)

Recording a voicemail greeting designated for nighttime hours lets callers know you are unavailable and gives them the option to leave a message. This allows you to silence calls without missing anything urgent. Be sure to update your greeting in the morning so callers know you are available again.

Informing Contacts

Letting the people who may need to reach you know about your sleep hours is an important way to reduce disruptive calls at night. Set clear expectations with close contacts, so they know you won’t be available during certain nighttime hours.

For family members, significant others, close friends, and important business contacts, it may be helpful to proactively let them know your sleep schedule. Send a text or email specifying the hours you won’t be available for calls in order to get adequate rest. You can say something like: “Just wanted to let you know I turn my ringer off from 10pm to 7am daily so I can get enough sleep. If it’s urgent, feel free to call multiple times in a row.”

Make it clear that you aren’t ignoring them, but prioritizing sleep. Most people will understand and adjust their calling patterns accordingly. Setting these expectations can go a long way toward avoiding unwanted disruptions without hurting relationships.

You can also set up an away message or voicemail greeting that informs callers of your sleep hours. For example: “You’ve reached John. I turn my ringer off nightly from 10pm to 7am to get proper rest. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you in the morning!” This quickly lets people know why you aren’t answering.

With close contacts informed of your unavailability during set sleep hours, you can feel confident putting your phone on silent at night knowing only emergency calls will come through.

Exceptions for Priority Calls

Although you may want to silence most calls at night, you likely still want to be able to receive calls from certain important contacts. There are a couple ways to allow calls from priority contacts to come through even when your phone is silenced:

Allow calls from favorite contacts
You can set your iPhone to allow calls from contacts you have marked as favorites. To do this:
– Open the Settings app and tap “Do Not Disturb”

– Toggle “Do Not Disturb” on
– Under “Allow Calls From,” tap “Favorites”
– Any contacts you have added to your Favorites list will still be able to call and notify you even when Do Not Disturb is on.
(Source: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7192344)

Set up emergency bypass

You can also allow specific contacts to be able to call you even when your phone is silenced by setting up an emergency bypass. To do this:
– Go to the contact you want to allow emergency bypass
– Tap “Edit” in the upper right corner

– Under Ringtone, tap “Emergency Bypass”
– This will allow calls from that contact to always notify you even in Do Not Disturb.
(Source: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7696995)

Achieving Quality Sleep

Getting quality sleep is crucial for both your physical and mental health. Having a consistent bedtime routine is one of the most important things you can do to achieve better sleep. A relaxing bedtime routine helps transition your body and mind into sleep mode.

It’s best to start your bedtime routine 1-2 hours before your target bedtime. Some relaxing activities to incorporate into your routine include:

Taking a warm bath or shower to relax your muscles

Reading a book or listening to calm music
Practicing meditation or light yoga
Dimming the lights to trigger melatonin production

Avoiding stressful activities like work or screens

Winding down with relaxing rituals will clear your mind, reduce anxiety, and make it easier to fall asleep. Over time, consistently following a bedtime routine trains your body to relax and prepare for sleep at around the same time each night.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, sticking to a bedtime routine can help you fall asleep faster, sleep more soundly, and wake up more refreshed.