Fix iPhone Alarm Issues in Just a Few Steps

This article guides you through the steps to get your iPhone alarms working again.

How to Fix an iPhone Alarm That’s Not Going Off

1. Turn up the volume. Go to Settings > Sounds, or Settings > Sounds & Haptics, and make sure the RINGER AND ALERTS slider is set to a reasonable volume.

   Also here is the Change with Buttons option, which you should disable to make sure the ringer and alarm volume never change when you change the system volume with the buttons.

   To test the sound without waiting for the alarm to go off, open Clock > Alarm, tap Edit, and select an alarm. Go to Sound and pick a ringtone from the list; if you can hear it, it should work fine when the alarm goes off.

2. Reboot your iPhone. Restarting is a common practice with technology to fix minor problems, and you can do the same with your iPhone to see if it fixes an alarm not working.

3. Pick a louder alarm sound. You can change the iPhone alarm sound from the Clock app. Open the Alarm tab, tap Edit, and choose the alarm you want to change the sound for. Then, go to Sound and preview the ringtones or songs to find something you think will work.

4. Check the alarm’s time settings. Tap Edit in the Alarm section of the Clock app, and then tap the alarm you need to edit. Go into the Repeat settings and make sure there’s a checkmark next to the days of the week for when you want the alarm to go off. Just tap a day to turn the alarm on or off for that day.

   If your alarm goes off at the wrong time during the day, you most likely confuse AM and PM, which is surprisingly easy. Edit the alarm and change it to the appropriate time of day, and tap Save when you’re done.

5. Disable or change the bedtime feature. To find the Bedtime settings on your phone, open Clock and tap Bedtime at the bottom. You can disable Bedtime here or slide the bell icon to a different time.

   If you don’t see Bedtime at the bottom of the screen, look in the Health app. Some of the sleep-related features moved to Health in iOS 15.

6. Delete and remake the alarm. Open the Clock app to the Alarm tab and delete an alarm by going to Edit and then tapping the red minus button to find the Delete option.

   You can also swipe left on an alarm on the Alarm tab screen to delete it. Make new iPhone alarms with the plus button on the upper right-hand corner of the Clock app.

7. Use only one alarm clock app. If turning off the third-party alarm clocks didn’t fix the iPhone alarm sound problem, delete them, reboot your phone, and try using the stock alarm clock again.

8. Disable Bluetooth and unplug headphones. Turn off Bluetooth from Settings > Bluetooth, and unplug anything attached to the headphone jack.

   If the alarm works after doing those things, then be fully aware of when your alarms will go off, and make sure that your audio accessories are not connected to your phone during those times.

9. Update iOS via Settings > General > Software Update, or plug it into your computer and update with iTunes. Either way, make sure you’re using the most up-to-date firmware version.

10. Restore your iPhone to factory default settings. Factory resetting your iPhone resets everything, so it’s often a fix for any software-related issue.

    Restoring your iPhone to factory default settings should be the last thing you do to fix an iPhone alarm that has no sound, because when you restore your iPhone, you’re deleting everything installed or changed on it since it was first purchased.

Causes of an iPhone Alarm That’s Not Going Off

One possible reason for your alarm not going off is that you can turn up the volume with the buttons on the side of your phone without increasing the alarm volume. This is because the iPhone lets you control two completely different sets of sounds with the same buttons.

For instance, if a music streaming app is open, the buttons adjust music volume instead of alarm volume. If the alarm volume is low or off, the alarm will be silent even if the music volume is high.

Some iPhone alarm sounds are quieter than others, so if you select one of these, you might not hear it, especially if the alarm volume isn’t loud. Ensure None isn’t chosen as the alarm sound.

If your iPhone alarm is set but doesn’t go off, the time or day might not be set correctly. For example, if your alarm is set for every day at 12:15 PM and it worked yesterday but not today, it probably isn’t set to repeat.

Issues can arise if you have more than one app that can set alarms. Stick with the default iPhone alarm clock app or disable it and use another.

Third-party alarm clock apps aren’t as integrated into your iPhone as the built-in one. You’ll need to keep the app open for the alarm to ring and use the system volume to adjust the sound.

Your alarm might ring through Bluetooth devices or headphones, which shouldn’t happen, but sometimes does. If your phone has a software bug or behaves erratically, it might play the alarm through these devices if they’re connected while the alarm sounds.