How to Stop Notifications Popping Up on Screen on Android (2026)

Q: What are the pop-up notifications on Android called?

They're called heads-up notifications (or 'peeking' notifications). They slide in at the top of the screen over whatever you're doing — handy for calls and alarms, annoying for every group chat ping.

You're watching a video or in the middle of a game and a notification slides in over the top, blocking what you're doing. Those are heads-up (or "peeking") notifications. You can kill the interruptions without muting the app completely — so you still get the alert, just quietly in the shade.

What these pop-ups are

Heads-up notifications are the floating banners Android shows for high-priority alerts (calls, alarms, sometimes chat pings). They're useful in theory but noisy in practice when every app claims "urgent". The fix is to lower an app's priority so it stops peeking.

Stop one app's pop-ups

When the pop-up appears, long-press it → tap the gear icon → the channel.
Set Importance to Low (shows in shade, no sound) or Min (shows silently), or turn off Pop on screen.
The notification still arrives — it just stops floating over your screen.

Turned off pop-ups but still miss the important stuff? Dingpin pins key notifications to the top of your shade so they're always visible the moment you look — no pop-up needed.

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Silence all pop-ups

Do Not Disturb / Focus mode suppresses heads-up pop-ups for everything, with optional exceptions (e.g. allow calls from starred contacts).
Per-app lowering (above) is the more surgical option if you only want to quiet a few noisy apps.

Why some still pop

Ongoing notifications (navigation, foreground calls, screen recording) always pop by design.
Apps with multiple channels — you may have lowered "Messages" but not "Calls" or "Alerts". Check each one.
A freshly installed update can reset a channel's importance; re-check after big app updates.

FAQ

What are the pop-up notifications on Android called?

They're called heads-up notifications (or "peeking" notifications). They slide in at the top of the screen over whatever you're doing — handy for calls and alarms, annoying for every group chat ping.

How do I stop an app's pop-ups but keep its sound?

Long-press the app's notification → gear icon → the app's channel → set "Importance" or "Pop on screen" to a lower level (e.g. "Low" or "Min"). The alert still arrives in the shade and can still make a sound, but it stops floating over your screen.

Is there a global way to silence all pop-ups?

Yes — turn on Do Not Disturb, or set the phone to a Focus mode. DND suppresses heads-up pop-ups for everything (with optional exceptions). For a lighter touch, lower the importance per app as above.

Why do pop-ups still show for some apps after I changed settings?

Ongoing notifications (like navigation or a foreground call) always pop up by design. Also, some apps use multiple channels — you may have lowered one but not the "Calls" or "Alerts" channel. Check each channel under the app's notification settings.

How to Stop Notifications Popping Up on Screen on Android

In this guide