How to Turn Off Do Not Disturb While Driving

Often some services that are designed to help people can cause more annoyance rather than provide support. One such functionality is the Do Not Disturb mode while driving. I made the mistake of activating it by accident, and what followed was a barrage of missed notifications every time I was in the car. Fortunately, it’s easy to turn off Do not Disturb while driving on Android and iPhone, as we will demonstrate in this article.

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How to Turn Off Do Not Disturb While Driving on iPhone in iOS15+

1. Open Settings on your iPhone running iOS 15+.
2. Tap on “Focus -> Driving”.

Tip: Turn off “Share across devices” if Driving mode keeps turning on randomly on your iPhone or iPad. Also, when Driving under Focus is enabled, you will see the Car icon in the status bar.

3. Turn off the toggle next to Driving.

4. Next, scroll down and tap on “While driving” under the “Turn on automatically” section.

5. Choose Manually from the list. Also, make sure the toggle next to “Activate with CarPlay” is turned off.

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How to Turn Off Do Not Disturb While Driving on iOS 14 and Below

1. Open Settings on your iPhone and tap on “Do Not Disturb.”

2. Scroll down and tap on Activate under “Do Not Disturb While Driving”. Select Manually.

3. Doing so will turn off the “DND While Driving” option, even if other DND features will remain active. Now you will need to manually turn on DND While Driving when needed. Also, turn off the toggle next to “Activate with CarPlay.”
4. If you are in the passenger seat or want to stop DND for a while, tap on the notification on the Lock screen and select “I’m not driving.”

5. You can also disable it from the Control Center. Open Control Center and tap on the car icon to enable or disable it.

6. If you don’t see a car icon in the Control Center, go to “Settings-> Control Center”.

7. Add “Do Not Disturb While Driving” to the “Included controls” list.
8. Now use the Control Center to enable/disable “Do Not Disturb While Driving”.

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How to Turn Off Do Not Disturb While Driving on Android

There are six ways to get rid of Do Not Disturb mode on Android while driving.

1. Driving Mode Settings

1. Open Settings on your Android phone and tap on “Connected devices”.

2. Tap on “Connection preferences”.

3. Next, find the “Driving mode” option.
4. Tap on “Turn on automatically” and make sure neither toggle next to “When driving is detected” and “When connected to Bluetooth” is turned on.

5. If that doesn’t help, go back to the previous screen and tap on Behavior instead of “Turn on automatically.”
6. Choose “Open Android auto” instead of “Turn on Do Not Disturb.”

7. Alternatively, you can disable Driving mode altogether by pressing on the “Turn off now” button.

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2. From Do Not Disturb Settings

Alternatively, you can disable “Do not disturb while driving” permanently from DND settings as well. However, this method will only work when you are in a moving car.

1. Open Settings and go to “Sound & vibration”.

2. Tap on “Do Not Disturb”.

3. Select Schedules.
4. Here you will see the Driving Mode schedule. Tap on the Settings toggle next to it.

5. Turn off the “When driving is detected” and “When connected to Bluetooth” toggles on the next screen.

3. From Personal Safety

1. Go to Settings on your Android phone and select Google.

2. Select Personal safety.

3. Turn off the toggle next to “Silence notifications when driving”. You will see this setting mostly on Samsung Galaxy phones. If you don’t see this toggle, jump to the next step.

4. On other phone models, you will be taken directly to the “Driving mode” section, which we’ve met previously. To make sure that Do Not Disturb isn’t activated automatically while driving in the future, tap on “Turn on automatically”.

5. Alternatively, you can disable the feature completely, by pressing on the “Turn off now” button underneath.

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4. From Bixby Routines on Samsung Galaxy Phones

If you own a Samsung Galaxy phone, you must check for an active Bixby driving routine.

1. Open Settings and go to “Advanced features”.

2. Here find “Bixby routines”.

3. Tap on the “My routines tab” at the bottom.

4. Look for the Driving routine. Tap on it and jump to the next step. If you can’t find it, check other routines and see if any of them is set to activate when connected to your car’s Bluetooth.

5. In the Driving routine, tap on the three-dot icon.

6. Select “Disable this routine”.

5. Using Carrier App

If your Android phone is carrier locked, you should look for a preinstalled app from your carrier. Open that and check its settings to find the Do Not Disturb mode while driving feature. Turn it off.

6. From Quick Settings

To turn off Do Not Disturb mode easily on an Android phone while driving, open Quick Settings and tap on the Do Not Disturb icon.

Also read: How to Get Google Maps Alert When Driving in the Wrong Direction

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens when Do Not Disturb is enabled while driving on iPhone or Android?

When Do Not Disturb mode while driving is enabled on iPhone or Android, it silences notifications from messages, calls, and other apps to minimize distractions, except for the ones in the allowed list. Additionally, on an iPhone, an automated message is sent to people who message you while you are driving.

Still, some calls might get through, if you have the “Repeat callers” option activated on your Android or iOS.

Once you’ve arrived to your destination, and unlock the phone you can check see all the notifications you’ve missed and get back at those who attempted to contact you.

Why does my iPhone keep saying Do Not Disturb while driving?

This is because the DND feature while driving has been enabled on your phone. Turn it off as shown above.

Who can get through the Do Not Disturb block?

Only those people who are added in the allowed or exceptions list in the DND settings can get through the Do Not Disturb mode while driving block. Basically, all the DND settings will apply to the driving mode as well. Open the DND settings on your phone and customize them to your needs.