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Notifications on your lock screen can reveal sensitive information (banking alerts, private messages, verification codes) to anyone who glances at your phone. These settings let you control what appears without disabling notifications entirely.
Lock screen notification settings
The main control for lock screen notifications is in Settings:
- Settings > Notifications > Notifications on lock screen
- "Show all notification content" (default): all messages visible without unlocking
- "Hide sensitive content": recommended, shows that a notification arrived, but hides the content until you unlock
- "Don't show notifications at all": most private, notifications only appear after unlocking
- Recommended setting: "Hide sensitive content": you still know notifications have arrived
Per-app notification content settings
You can override the global setting for individual apps that contain particularly sensitive information:
- Settings > Apps > [App name] > Notifications
- Toggle off "Show on lock screen" for banking, email, and messaging apps
- Alternatively: long-press any notification and tap the settings icon to access that app's notification settings quickly
- Banking apps often have their own notification content controls in their app settings as well
One-time password (OTP) notifications
Two-factor authentication codes sent by SMS are particularly sensitive: if someone can see them on your lock screen, they do not need your password:
- Check your Messages app notification settings: Settings > Apps > Messages > Notifications > on lock screen
- Set Messages to show only the sender, not the full text, on the lock screen
- Using an authenticator app instead of SMS avoids this issue entirely: codes are only visible inside the app
- If you use a banking app that sends codes, check whether the codes appear in notifications and adjust accordingly
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