How to Hide Messages From Your Lock Screen

The lock screen shows things to people who can't unlock your phone. That's its job — and its flaw. Here's how to keep names and message text off it, on iPhone and Android.

Updated 9 October 2026

iPhone: keep previews off the lock screen

iPhone lets you control preview content separately from alert locations. Preview behavior depends on the app; an alert can still reveal that the app received activity.

• Show Previews, globally: Settings → Notifications → Show Previews. When Unlocked limits previews until the device is unlocked; Never disables supported previews. Neither is a promise that every app or paired device hides every identifier.
• Per-app overrides: Settings → Notifications → choose an app → Show Previews. Leave previews on for the harmless apps and set every messaging app to Never — the global setting is only the default your overrides sit on.
• Choose where alerts appear, per app: the same per-app screen lets you untick the Lock Screen as a location, keeping alerts in Notification Center or as banners only. Messages still arrive — they just wait until the phone is open to be seen.
• Scheduled Summary: batches notifications from apps you pick into digests delivered at times you set. Fewer alerts land on the glass at unpredictable moments — which matters when the phone spends its day face-up on a desk.
• Hide Alerts, per conversation: in Messages, swipe left on a thread and tap the bell. That conversation’s message notifications are muted — the closest iOS gets to hiding messages from one specific person.

Check your actual preview settings instead of relying on a factory default. Per-app overrides and paired devices can affect what appears.

Android: hide sensitive content on the lock screen

Android menu names and available controls vary by manufacturer and version. Look for these options on your device.

• Hide sensitive content: under Settings → Notifications, find the lock-screen section and choose to show notifications but hide their content. Alerts still arrive; the preview is replaced with a generic line such as "Content hidden". On some phones the switch sits under Lock screen settings instead — same control, different address.
• Per-channel settings: long-press a notification to inspect the app's notification controls. Sound, banners and lock-screen display can have separate settings.
• Silent delivery: reduces interruptions but does not by itself guarantee hidden content. Check lock-screen visibility separately.

Samsung layers its own lock-screen notification styles on top, and every manufacturer shuffles the menus a little. If Android is your platform, our guide to secret messaging apps for Android goes deeper.

The switches inside the messaging apps

App and operating-system settings work together. Start with the device’s preview and alert-location controls, then check the app’s current notification options.

• Signal: its notification settings offer name/content choices. Labels differ on Android and iPhone; choose the option hiding both if that is your goal, then test an alert. See Signal’s platform instructions.
• WhatsApp: a locked chat has additional notification-content protection. This differs from a general preview toggle; do not assume one switch or menu is identical on both platforms. See WhatsApp’s Chat Lock explanation.
• Other apps: use that app’s official instructions and inspect a real notification. A silent alert can still show content.

Also check watches, computers, notification history and spoken alerts. A lock-screen change alone does not change every connected surface.

What hidden previews still show

Hidden previews can still leave an app name, a time or an alert count visible. The result depends on the app, operating system and your selected settings.

Recheck notifications after a restore, app change or operating-system update. If an alert itself is unwanted, consider disabling that app's lock-screen alerts or muting the contact.

How Hush notification controls work

Hush's home screen is a numeric keypad with no contact or conversation list on that screen. Each chat opens with its own six-digit code; leaving the chat returns you to the keypad. Requests, blocked users and security alerts can show names or badges elsewhere in the app.

Message notifications use generic new-message text, but can show the sender's name by default. Choose to show the name, hide it, or mute a contact. These controls are free; check your phone and any paired screen after changing them. Other notifications, such as contact requests, can show identities.

1. Install Hush from your app store. It is free to download, with optional in-app purchases.
2. Create an account and choose a username. The current default signup needs no phone number or email.
3. Connect by username or invite link. For a username request, choose your six-digit code when sending or accepting it; the other person must approve and chooses their own code. A one-tap invite link from Hush connects you without a separate approval once the person who received it has set up Hush and taps it.
4. Open the chat with your code. Return to the keypad when you leave.
5. Check notification controls on both phones. Select show name, hide name or mute for that contact, then check the actual notifications.

An incorrect code does not open a chat or space. The keypad can give error feedback. Security alerts can warn about several different incorrect codes tried in a short time. A single typo does not normally trigger an alert, and an alert does not prove who tried the codes.

Common questions

How do I hide the sender's name in Hush?

Open that contact's notification controls and select hide name, or mute the contact. Showing the name, hiding it and muting are free options.

Will I still know a message arrived?

Hide name keeps a generic message alert; mute suppresses that contact's message alerts. Delivery and display also depend on permissions and operating-system settings.

Do Hush notifications show the message body?

Message pushes use generic new-message text rather than the message body. The sender's name can still appear by default. Requests and other alerts have separate behavior.

What about a watch or widget?

A paired watch or widget is another display surface. Check it with a test message after changing your settings; do not assume the phone preview setting covers everything.