How to Turn off Message Preview on iPhone

Don't just hide message previews, turn them off for good

how to turn off message preview on iPhone
by Scott Orgera
Scott Orgera has been a tech journalist since 2007. He has 25+ years' experience as a programmer and QA leader and several Microsoft certifications.
Updated October 19, 2018

Whenever you receive a message on your iPhone, its default behavior is to display the sender's name as well as a preview of the message's content on your lock screen. This can be convenient, as it gives you a chance to know what the message is about without actually opening it, but this can also present privacy concerns since anyone looking at your screen can read the message even though your phone is locked.

However, it's fairly easy to turn off message previews in iOS by following the instructions below.

Instructions in this article apply to the iPhone 6 and later, as well as iOS 11 and iOS 12.

How to Change iPhone Lock Screen Notification Settings

Message previews appearing on your iPhone lock screen can really get you into trouble, especially if someone sends an inappropriate text. Take these steps to stop that from happening.

  1. Tap the Settings icon, located on your iPhone's Home Screen.

  2. Select the Notifications option.

  3. Scroll down and choose the Messages app, located beneath the Notification Style header.

  4. In the Alerts section, disable the Show on Lock Screen setting by tapping on its accompanying button so that its color changes from green to white. On iOS 12, tap the Lock Screen option to remove the blue checkmark and disable it.

    hide message previews on iphone lock screen

  5. You can do the same for the Show as Banners setting as well if you wish to avoid banner notifications, either temporary or persistent, from appearing whenever you receive a text message.

How to Turn off Message Preview 

Even if you stop message previews from appearing on your iPhone's lock screen they still might show up while your device is unlocked. If you'd like to disable this functionality as well, follow these steps.

  1. Return to the notification settings for the Messages app by repeating steps 1-3 above.

  2. Tap on Show Previews, found within the Options section.

  3. If the option labeled Never or Off (verbiage varies by iOS version) is not accompanied by a check mark, tap it once to activate it.

    hide iphone message previews

  4. That's it!