Check Which Apps Sent Notifications on Samsung Galaxy

This guide shows you how to see which apps have recently sent you notifications on a Samsung Galaxy phone. You’ll learn how to review your notification history, which is useful for finding missed alerts, identifying apps that send too many notifications, or simply understanding your phone’s activity. No special setup is required—the notification history feature is built into One UI, although you may need to enable it first if you haven’t used it before.

What You’ll Need

A Samsung Galaxy phone running One UI 3.1 or later (Android 11 and up). Most devices from 2021 onward qualify.
Your phone unlocked and on the home screen.

Step-by-Step

Open the Settings app. Locate the gear icon in your app drawer or swipe down from the top of the screen twice and tap the gear icon in the quick settings panel.
Scroll to “Notifications.” This is usually near the top of the Settings menu, listed under “Sound” or “Display.” Tap it.
Tap “Advanced settings.” This option is typically at the bottom of the Notifications page. It contains additional notification-related controls.
Enable “Notification history.” You’ll see a toggle switch next to this option. If it’s off, tap it to turn it on. A brief explanation will appear, noting that your phone will save notifications you’ve dismissed or cleared.
Tap “Notification history” again. Once the toggle is on, the text becomes tappable. Tap it to open the history list.
Review your recent notifications. The screen will display a chronological list of all notifications from the past 24 hours (or longer, depending on your device’s settings). Each entry shows the app icon, the app name, the time it was sent, and a snippet of the notification text.
Tap a notification to view details. Tapping an entry will expand it to show the full notification content. From here, you can also tap “Manage” to go directly to that app’s notification settings, where you can mute it, change alert style, or turn it off entirely.
Use the filter options (if available). Some Galaxy devices offer a filter icon (three horizontal lines with dots) at the top of the Notification history screen. Tapping it lets you filter by app, so you can see only notifications from a specific app like WhatsApp or Gmail.

Common Mistakes

Forgetting to enable Notification history first. The history only starts recording after you turn it on. If you haven’t enabled it, the list will be empty. You must enable it, then wait for new notifications to arrive.
Looking for a “Recent Notifications” app. There is no separate app for this. The feature is buried inside Settings > Notifications > Advanced settings. Some users search the app drawer and get confused.
Assuming it shows all notifications ever. The history is typically limited to the last 24 hours on most devices, though some models may retain up to a week. Older entries are automatically deleted.
Clearing the history accidentally. There is a “Clear all” button (a trash icon) at the top of the Notification history screen. Tapping it wipes the entire list, and you cannot recover it.

Tips

Use it to find missed messages. If you accidentally swiped away a text or email notification, this is the fastest way to retrieve it without opening each app.
Identify notification-heavy apps. Scroll through the list to see which apps appear most frequently. If one app dominates, consider adjusting its notification settings to reduce clutter.
Check for silent notifications. Some apps send notifications with sound disabled. The history will still show them, helping you catch updates you might have missed.
Combine with Do Not Disturb. If you use Do Not Disturb, notifications are still recorded in the history (unless you’ve set them to be hidden). This lets you review what came in while your phone was quiet.
Use the “Manage” shortcut. Instead of navigating through Settings to find an app’s notification preferences, tap a notification in the history and then tap “Manage” to jump straight there.

Troubleshooting

Notification history is empty or missing. First, double-check that the toggle in Settings > Notifications > Advanced settings is turned on. If it is, your phone may have been restarted recently, or the history was manually cleared. Also, some battery-saving modes or third-party cleaner apps can disable notification history. Check your battery optimization settings and ensure no cleaning app is interfering.

History shows notifications but not from all apps. Some apps, particularly those with sensitive content (like banking apps), may suppress their notifications from appearing in the history for privacy reasons. This is app-controlled, not a phone setting you can change.

Can’t find “Advanced settings” in Notifications. On older One UI versions, the path may be slightly different. Look for a three-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the Notifications screen and tap it. The “Notification history” option might be there instead.

History is recording but stops after a few hours. This can happen if the phone’s RAM is under heavy load or if a system update changed the retention policy. Try restarting your phone. If the issue persists, check if a recent software update introduced a change—you may need to re-enable the toggle after an update.

Notifications appear but tapping them does nothing. This usually means the original app has been uninstalled or force-stopped. The notification is just a stored record; without the app, there’s nothing to open. Reinstall the app to interact with the notification content again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How far back does the notification history go?
A: On most Samsung Galaxy phones, it stores the last 24 hours of notifications. Some newer models with One UI 5 or later may retain up to 7 days, but 24 hours is the standard default.

Q: Can I see notifications from before I enabled the feature?
A: No. The history only begins recording after you turn it on. Notifications from before that time are not stored anywhere.

Q: Does clearing the notification shade clear the history?
A: No. Swiping away notifications from the shade removes them from the shade, but they remain in the Notification history. The only way to clear the history is to use the “Clear all” button inside the history screen.

Q: Will the history show notifications I’ve already opened?
A: Yes. Once a notification is delivered, it appears in the history regardless of whether you opened it, dismissed it, or left it in the shade.

Q: Can I export or save my notification history?
A: No. Samsung does not provide a built-in way to export the notification log. You can only view it on the phone. Third-party apps that claim to do this often require accessibility permissions and may not work reliably.

Q: Does the notification history use extra battery or data?
A: The impact is negligible. The phone simply keeps a local text log of notifications. It does not download anything new or use mobile data. The battery cost is minimal, comparable to keeping a simple log file.

General steps for current mainstream versions; menus can differ by device and version. See the disclaimer or report an error.

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