Notifications are undoubtedly helpful, delivering timely updates about messages from family and friends, live sports results, or your approaching Uber. However, they can also become a constant source of interruption, making your phone buzz and beep all day, pulling your attention away more than necessary.

If you're using a Pixel device, there’s a built-in Android feature designed to help manage this: notification cooldown. I’ve had it enabled since its debut in the March 2025 Pixel Drop, and it’s made a noticeable improvement in how I handle alerts.

According to Google, notification cooldown helps your phone "minimize sound interruptions and pop-ups on the screen when you get too many notifications within a short time span." It's controlled by a straightforward toggle in your settings, and importantly, it doesn’t interfere with calls, alarms, priority conversations, or emergency alerts.

How to enable notification cooldown

This setting is easy to find and use. On your Pixel phone, go to the main Settings menu, then select Notifications, followed by Notification cooldown. You’ll see a brief explanation of how the feature works, and you can turn it on or off using the Use notification cooldown toggle.

When your phone activates cooldown mode, it silences vibrations, reduces the volume of notification sounds, and prevents any notification previews from appearing on screen. The alerts are still collected and visible in the status bar at the top of your display — that’s the only signal you’ll get that new notifications have arrived.

Google doesn’t specify the exact number of notifications that trigger cooldown, and there’s no alert to tell you the mode is active. However, the first incoming notification will always play a normal sound or vibrate, so you’ll still know something has arrived.

I now keep this feature turned on by default, and it’s especially useful during busy moments in group chats. The initial message gets a full alert, but the flood of follow-up messages comes through quietly — giving me the freedom to catch up on the conversation when I’m ready.

How to customize additional notification options

Notification cooldown is a great addition to Android’s already robust suite of alert customization tools. It’s similar to muting your phone or using Do Not Disturb, but less extreme — a subtler, smarter approach that I now favor over the others.

To explore more notification controls, head to Settings > Notifications. At the top, you’ll find App notifications, which lets you adjust alerts for each app individually. Many apps also offer granular control — for instance, in Snapchat, you can choose to be notified for direct messages while ignoring emoji replies or typing indicators.

You can also access Modes in Settings, where you can configure Do Not Disturb and related modes. These offer more powerful automation, such as silencing notifications during specific times or locations, while still allowing alerts from key contacts or essential apps to come through.

Remember, many apps include their own notification settings beyond what Android provides. For example, in WhatsApp, you can mute a chat for eight hours, a week, or forever. Just tap the three dots in the top-right corner of the chat, select Mute notifications, and choose your preferred duration.

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