#How to Hide Notifications Icons from the Status Bar on Android

You might think the only way to prevent apps from showing notifications in the status bar is by turning them off completely. That’s not true. You can “minimize” notifications so they’re only visible by expanding Android’s notification shade.

Android offers a lot of tools for fine-tuning notifications. However, most of these methods boil down to turning things on or off. “Minimized” notifications aren’t disabled completely, but they appear in a much less prominent way.

RELATED: How to Pause Notifications on Android

First, swipe down from the top of your device’s screen (once or twice, depending on your phone or tablet’s manufacturer) and tap the gear icon to open the Settings menu.

Next, select “Notifications.” It might also be called “Apps & Notifications.”

You’ll see an abridged list of your recently used apps. This will look different depending on your device. Select the option to expand the full list.

With the full list open, find the app that you’d like to minimize notifications for.

Next, you’ll see the list of Notification Channels. These are all the different types of notifications that the app uses. Select the channel associated with the type of notification that you want to minimize.

Note: On some devices, you’ll need to select “Notifications” before seeing the Notification Channels.

Now, select the “Silent” option at the top.

Once you switch to Silent, the “Minimize” option will appear. Toggle it on.

Here’s an example of what a minimized notification looks like. Notice how the Google Fi icon isn’t in the status bar, but how the notification is visible in the “Silent” section when I expand the notification shade.

This is a nice little trick for those pesky apps that can distract you with notifications but aren’t unimportant enough to completely block out of your life.

RELATED: What Are Android Notification Channels?

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