How to fix iPhone alarm not going off or having no sound

Have you noticed that your iPhone alarm is not going off or making sound? That can be due to inconsistency in your iPhone settings. Here’s how to fix the silent iPhone alarm and ensure it rings to wake you on time.

iPhone alarm not working or having no sound

Increase the iPhone alarm volume

The iPhone alarm volume level is the same as the volume level you set for your iPhone ringtone and alerts. So, if you change your iPhone ringtone level, it affects your alarm as well.

Here’s how to increase your iPhone alarm volume:

  1. Open Settings and tap Sounds & Haptics.
  2. Drag the Ringer and Alerts slider to the right to increase your iPhone alarm volume.
  3. Important: Change with Buttons lets you increase or decrease the iPhone ringtone, alerts, and alarm tone by pressing the volume buttons (when media isn’t playing on your iPhone). Due to this, you can accidentally decrease the ringer and alert volume. As a result, your alarm will be inaudible when it goes off. I would recommend you increase your alarm volume using step 2 and turn off Change with Buttons.
Increase iPhone alarm volume to the maximum

Now that you have increased your iPhone alarm volume, create a new alarm that’s 2 minutes ahead of your current time. When the alarm rings, you should hear the loud tone. In case the iPhone alarm is not making sound, is quiet, or only vibrates, etc., please follow the remaining solutions.

Make sure the alarm has a ringtone

Your iPhone alarm can wake you up via:

  • Sound and vibration
  • Only sound
  • Only vibration
  • By waking the screen (no sound or vibration)

If your alarm is not making sound or the iPhone alarm goes off but no sound, that’s because a ringtone isn’t set for that alarm. Here’s how to fix this:

  1. Open the Clock app and tap Alarm.
  2. Tap Edit.
  3. Tap one of your alarms.
  4. Does it say “None” next to Sound? If yes, tap it.
  5. From the next screen, choose a loud alarm ringtone. You can also pick a song from your Music app.
  6. Tap <Back from the top left.
  7. Tap Save.
Set alarm ringtone on iPhone to fix no sound

From now, your iPhone alarm will play the tone you set and no longer go off silently.

Set the loudest iPhone alarm

While following the above steps, you had a long list of ringtones to choose from. Use the one that works best for you. In my opinion, the default iPhone alarm tone called Radar is among the loudest alarm tones.

If you have a downloaded tone or song, follow these steps to use the GarageBand app to create a custom ringtone for your iPhone. You can easily set this as the alarm tone.

Important: Your iPhone alarm and all media may sound low if the speaker holes are blocked by dirt. Use a soft (non-metal) object to clean the speaker grills carefully.

Double-check your alarm

One of the main reasons your iPhone alarm is not going off is that you forgot to enable it or set the wrong time. To check, open the Clock app and tap Alarm. From here, make sure the toggle next to the alarm is green. Also, give special attention to AM or PM.

When you have set and enabled an alarm, you’ll see the tiny clock icon in the iPhone Control Center or status bar.

Enable iPhone alarm

Set your alarm to repeat

Say you wake up every day at 6 AM. Now, instead of setting seven different alarms for each day, you can have the same alarm repeat daily.

If your daily alarms aren’t going off, that’s most likely because you have not set it to repeat. Here’s how to fix that:

  1. Go to Alarm inside the iPhone Clock app.
  2. Tap Edit and choose an alarm.
  3. Tap Repeat.
  4. Choose Every Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday as per your convenience. I like to exclude Saturday and Sunday.
  5. Tap <Back.
  6. Tap Save. From now, this alarm will ring on all the set days.
Set iPhone alarm to repeat and sound on all days

Turn off Sleep Schedule

Sleep Schedule (earlier called Bedtime) can conflict with your alarm if their times are the same. For example, if you configured the wake-up time in Sleep as 6 AM and also have an alarm for 6 AM, the latter may not go off.

To fix this, you can change the alarm time to something else like 6:05 AM or turn off the Sleep Schedule by following these steps:

  1. Open the iPhone Health app and tap Browse.
  2. Tap Sleep.
  3. Scroll down and tap Full Schedule & Options.
  4. Turn off Sleep Schedule.
Turn off Sleep Schedule on iPhone to stop it from conflicting with alarm

Now, your iPhone alarm and Sleep Schedule won’t conflict, resulting in the alarm going off correctly at the set time in the proper tone.

Restart your iPhone

On rare occasions, your iPhone alarm will be quiet because of minor glitches. Turn off your iPhone and turn it back on to ensure you don’t miss your upcoming alarm.

Update your iPhone

It’s also possible that your alarm sound is affected due to bugs in the current version of iOS. Go to iPhone Settings > General > Software Update and install any pending iOS update.

Set correct time on iPhone

Your alarm may not work as expected if the device time is incorrect. You can address this by letting your iPhone set the precise time automatically. For this, go to Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on the toggle for Set Automatically.

Delete existing alarms and add a new one

To set a new alarm, you can invoke Siri and ask it something like “Set an alarm for 6 AM.” You can also say convenient terms like “Wake me up at 7 in the morning.” But to rule out the rare possibility of an incorrect alarm, I recommend you be precise and say the desired alarm time as mentioned in the first example.

In addition to using Siri, you can also manage your alarms manually. Here’s how to delete an alarm on iPhone and set a new one:

  1. Open the Clock app and tap Alarms.
  2. Tap Edit.
  3. Tap the red minus button > Delete. Now, repeat this process to get rid of all unnecessary alarms.
  4. Once you have a clean slate, tap the plus icon (+).
  5. Set the correct time giving proper attention to AM and PM.
  6. You can set this alarm to repeat on desired days, tap Label to add an alarm name, choose a sound, and enable or disable the snooze function.
  7. When everything is in order, tap Save. You should see that the toggle next to this alarm is green. Now, you can rest assured that your iPhone alarm will go off at the set time.
Delete alarms and add new alarm on iPhone

Reset All Settings

Finally, if nothing helps, reset all your iPhone settings. This will erase all the settings you have changed or added to the default state and fix the non-sounding iPhone alarm.

FAQs

Does the iPhone alarm ring in silent and DND mode?

Yes. Your iPhone alarm sounds even if your iPhone is in silent (vibrate only) mode or Do Not Disturb mode.

Does the iPhone alarm sound from the built-in speaker when connected to AirPods or wired headphones?

Yes. The iPhone alarm sounds through the internal device speakers even if you have connected AirPods, Bluetooth earbuds, or wired earphones.

Sometimes your iPhone alarm may not sound through the on-device speakers due to temporary glitches or iOS bugs. To fix this, restart and update your iPhone.

Additionally, your iPhone may get stuck in headphone mode on rare occasions. As a result, you won’t hear the alarm tone or any media via the built-in speakers. Here’s how to fix it.

Will the iPhone alarm work if a song or movie is playing?

Yes. Your iPhone alarm will sound even if media is playing and the screen is locked or unlocked.

Will the iPhone alarm go off in Airplane Mode?

Yes. The alarm is independent of wireless features, and thus it works even if your iPhone or iPad is in Airplane Mode.

Can I use a third-party app for alarms on iPhone?

Sure you can. Search for “alarm” on the iOS App Store and get one with good ratings. However, please note that third-party alarm apps may not go off if you force close the app. In some cases, the alarm may not work even if that alarm app isn’t on the screen.

Do alarms sync via iCloud to my other Apple devices?

No. The alarm you set is a device-specific feature. It doesn’t sync via iCloud to your other iPhones or iPads, even if they have the same Apple ID.

Will the alarm work if my iPhone is switched off?

No. Your alarm won’t sound if the iPhone is switched off. Some Android phones offer a scheduled power-on feature that switches on the device automatically at the alarm time and rings the alarm. But iOS doesn’t allow that. Therefore, before going to bed, make sure your iPhone isn’t turned off and has sufficient battery to be on stand-by for the next few hours.

My iPhone doesn’t vibrate during alarms?

Go to the Clock app > Alarm > Edit > pick an alarm > Sound > scroll to the top > tap Vibration and choose an option except None. Now, go back and tap Save.

After that, go to iPhone Settings app > Accessibility > Touch and make sure Vibration is enabled.

Fix iPhone alarm vibration

How long does the iPhone alarm ring for?

Your iPhone alarm will ring continuously for 15 straight minutes if you don’t hit the Snooze or Stop button. I tested this.

Note: Some sites mention that after 15 minutes, there is a 90-second break, and the alarm starts ringing again. However, I found it to be untrue in my testing. The alarm on my iPhone running iOS 15.3.1 kept sounding for 15 minutes, and after that, it stopped. I left it untouched for the next 20 minutes, and the alarm didn’t start ringing again.

Check out next: