How to Hide Text Previews for Every App Notification on iOS 11's Lock Screen - MacRumors
Skip to Content

How to Hide Text Previews for Every App Notification on iOS 11's Lock Screen

by

iOS 11 has introduced a simple blanket solution for those who want to hide text previews for all of their apps at one time, bringing about a quick remedy for anyone concerned about privacy on iPhone and iPad. In previous iterations of iOS, you could only toggle the "Show Preview" notification setting on or off for select apps, and the feature was largely exclusive to a few of Apple's own first-party apps, like Messages.

With iOS 11, that option has extended to individual third-party apps, and Apple has now introduced an overarching "Show Previews" toggle for all apps installed on your iOS device.

Hiding Text Previews for All Apps on the iOS Lock Screen

how to show preview ios 11

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Tap "Notifications."
  3. Tap "Show Previews."
  4. Tap "When Unlocked."

With this setting turned on, every app that you have notifications enabled for will appear on the Lock Screen, but without the actual content of the notification displayed. You can quickly make that content appear with a simple press (but not tap) of your finger on Home Button to activate Touch ID, unlocking your device and confirming it's you who wants to read the various messages.

If you choose "Never" in the same area of Show Preview settings, these notification previews won't show notification content even when the iPhone or iPad is unlocked.

how to show preview ios 11 2

Preview notifications hidden (left), and then shown after the iPhone is unlocked (right)

The same options are also available for each individual app, allowing for more granular control over your notification privacy settings in iOS 11. If you don't want the same setting for all of your apps, visit Settings > Notifications > scroll to the desired app > and then scroll to the bottom of the app's notification page to find Show Preview settings for that specific app.

Related Forum: iOS 11

Top Rated Comments

114 months ago
I would rather having an option to remove notifications history from popping up on a locked home screen.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Scottsoapbox Avatar
114 months ago
Still waiting for a All On / All Off toggle for every app setting in settings. 265 GB devices hold way to many apps to be doing things an app at a time in a list. At least let us select that we want most X (notifications, whatever) on or off and then we can change the few exceptions individually.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

WWDC26 MR Live Coverage Article

WWDC 2026 Apple Event Live Keynote Coverage: iOS 27, Revamped Siri, and More

Monday June 8, 2026 9:15 am PDT by
Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) starts today with the traditional keynote kicking things off at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. MacRumors is on hand for the event and we'll be sharing details and our thoughts throughout the day. We're expecting to see a number of software-related announcements today, headlined by a reset on Apple's push into AI that should see a significant overhaul...
macOS Golden Gate Mac

Apple Announces macOS 27 Golden Gate With New Siri and 'Tons' of Refinements

Monday June 8, 2026 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today announced that macOS 27 is named macOS Golden Gate. Much like Mac OS X Snow Leopard in 2009, Apple said it focused on improving macOS's performance and dozens of underlying technologies this year. Apple says macOS Golden Gate offers quicker AirDrop transfers, faster network file browsing, improved syncing in the Messages app, better Spotlight search suggestions, and other...
CarPlay Siri AI

Apple Announces New CarPlay Features on iOS 27, Including Video Apps

Monday June 8, 2026 4:17 pm PDT by
Back at WWDC 2025, Apple revealed that it was planning to allow CarPlay users to watch video via AirPlay in their vehicles while they are not driving, but we did not hear many specific details about this functionality until now. In a WWDC 2026 video aimed at developers, Apple said the CarPlay video feature is available in new vehicles that support it. When playing a video in an iPhone app...