Need to be sure your iPhone wakes you up tomorrow morning? The quickest route is the Clock app: open Clock, tap the Alarms tab, tap the Add button (+), set the time and tap the check mark. If your hands are full, ask Siri instead: “Set an alarm for 7 a.m.” The steps below apply to current versions of iOS on any iPhone, with notes where older versions use different labels.
An alarm rings by the phone’s clock, so if that clock is off, learn how to fix the iPhone time and date first.
Set an alarm in the Clock app
The Clock app comes with every iPhone, so there is nothing to install. If you can’t find it on your Home Screen, swipe down in the middle of the Home Screen and type Clock in the search field.
- Open the Clock app.
- Tap Alarms at the bottom of the screen.
- Tap the Add button, shown as a plus sign (+) at the top of the screen. The new alarm screen opens.
- Choose the time. Swipe the hour and minute wheels, and set AM or PM if your iPhone uses the 12-hour clock.
- Set any options you want: Repeat, Label, Sound, Snooze and, on current versions of iOS, Snooze Duration. Each one is explained in the next section.
- Tap the check mark in the top corner to save the alarm. Depending on your iOS version, this button may read Done or Save instead.
This screenshot shows an older layout with a Save button; current versions of iOS use a check mark in the same corner. The new alarm appears in the Alarms list with its switch turned on (green). That green switch is your confirmation: as long as it stays on, the alarm will ring at the time shown.
A quick sanity check before bed
The most common reason a new alarm “fails” is a wrong AM or PM. Look at the Alarms list after saving and make sure the time reads 6:30 AM, not 6:30 PM. If you chose repeat days, check that they appear under the alarm’s time in the list as well.
What each alarm option does
All of these settings are on the same screen where you choose the time. You can change any of them later by editing the alarm.
| Option | What it does | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Repeat | Makes the alarm ring on the days you pick, every week | Leave it set to Never for a one-time alarm; it turns itself off after it rings |
| Label | Gives the alarm a name that appears on screen when it rings | Useful for alarms that are not wake-ups, such as “Take medicine” or “Leave for the airport” |
| Sound | Chooses the ringtone, a song or a vibration pattern | Setting the sound to None makes the alarm vibrate only |
| Snooze | Shows a Snooze button when the alarm rings | Turn it off if you tend to snooze through your wake-up time |
| Snooze Duration | Sets how long the alarm waits before ringing again after a snooze | Shown on current versions of iOS; older versions used a fixed snooze length |
Each of these options has more depth than fits here. You can change the alarm sound on iPhone to a different tone, use a song as your alarm, or set an iPhone alarm to vibrate with a custom pattern. If you want a vibration with no sound at all, this explanation of whether you can set an alarm that only vibrates walks through the None option. For more on snooze length, see changing the snooze time on an iPhone alarm.
Set an alarm with Siri
Siri can create an alarm without you touching the Clock app, which is handy when you are already in bed with the lights off. Say “Siri” or “Hey Siri” (or hold the side button or Home button, depending on your model), then ask:
- “Set an alarm for 7 a.m.”
- “Wake me up in 45 minutes.”
- “Set an alarm for 6:15 called Gym.”
- “Turn off my 7 a.m. alarm.”
Siri confirms the alarm on screen, and it appears in the Clock app’s Alarms list like any other. To pick a particular sound or repeat days, open the Clock app afterward and edit the alarm. If Siri does not respond, it may be turned off; these steps show how to enable Siri on iPhone.
Turn off, edit or delete an alarm
Once you have a few alarms, managing them takes only a tap or two in Clock > Alarms:
- Turn an alarm off without deleting it: tap the switch next to the alarm time so it turns gray. Tap it again to turn the alarm back on. This is the best choice for a weekday alarm you want to skip on a holiday.
- Edit an alarm: tap the alarm time, or tap Edit in the upper-left corner and then tap the alarm. Change the time or options and save.
- Delete an alarm: swipe left on the alarm and tap Delete. You can also tap Edit, then tap the alarm and choose Delete Alarm.
For a longer walkthrough of changing the time, name, sound and repeat days of an existing alarm, see creating and editing iPhone alarms. If old alarms are cluttering the list, here is how to delete an alarm on your iPhone.
Stopping or snoozing an alarm when it rings
When the alarm goes off, you will see a Stop control and, if Snooze is on, a Snooze button. If Snooze is on, pressing the side button is widely reported to snooze a ringing alarm rather than stop it, so tap Stop when you are actually getting up.
Alarm volume, Silent mode and Focus
Alarm volume is set in Settings > Sounds & Haptics. On current versions of iOS, look below Alarms and Timers:
- Open Settings and tap Sounds & Haptics.
- Under Alarms and Timers, turn Match Ringtone Volume on if you want alarms to use the same volume as your ringtone, or leave it off and drag the volume slider to set a separate alarm level.
- Optionally, turn on Change with Buttons so the side volume buttons adjust the volume too. Leave it off if you worry about turning the alarm down by accident during the day.
On older iOS versions there is no separate alarm section: the alarm follows the Ringtone and Alerts slider on the same screen. Either way, Apple’s guide to setting an iPhone alarm describes the current controls.
Some reassurance for light sleepers who silence their phone at night: Clock alarms still sound when the Ring/Silent switch is set to silent, and when Do Not Disturb or another Focus is on. If headphones or AirPods are connected, the alarm plays through both the iPhone speaker and the headphones, so make sure the volume is set sensibly for each.
Wake-up alarms vs regular alarms
If you have set up a Sleep schedule in the Health app, you will see a separate wake-up alarm at the top of Clock > Alarms. It belongs to your sleep schedule, not to the regular alarm list, so it behaves a little differently:
- Tap Change next to it to adjust the next wake-up time. You can then choose Change Next Alarm Only for a one-off early start, or change the whole schedule.
- Its alarm options include sounds and haptics, alarm volume, snooze and snooze duration.
- Bedtime, wind down and the days the schedule runs are edited in the Health app.
Use a regular alarm for one-off events and the Sleep schedule if you want a consistent wake time with bedtime reminders. Apple explains the wake-up alarm in more detail on its page about how to change your wake-up alarm.
If your alarm does not go off
Work through these checks before you rely on the alarm again:
- Is the switch on? One-time alarms (Repeat set to Never) turn themselves off after ringing. Check that the alarm is green in the list.
- Is the sound set to None? Then the alarm only vibrates, which is easy to sleep through. Pick a sound in the alarm’s options.
- Is the alarm volume low? Check Settings > Sounds & Haptics as described above.
- Is the phone in StandBy? Apple notes that alarm haptics are turned off while StandBy is active, so rely on sound if you charge the phone on its side. These steps help you set up StandBy as a nightstand clock.
- Did you change the time manually? Apple warns that manually changing the time in Settings can affect alarms. Keep Set Automatically turned on in Settings > General > Date & Time.
Apple’s alarm troubleshooting article covers these points as well, and this list of fixes for an iPhone alarm that is not working goes further.
Alarm questions
Can I set more than one alarm for the same morning?
Yes. Add as many alarms as you need, for example 6:30, 6:40 and 6:50 AM, and each one rings independently. Turn the extras off with their switches on mornings you don’t need them.
Does an alarm ring if my iPhone is turned off?
Plan on no. Apple’s alarm pages describe alarms ringing in Silent mode and during a Focus but say nothing about a phone that is powered off, so keep your iPhone on and charging overnight.
Why does my new alarm only ring once?
Repeat is set to Never by default. Edit the alarm, tap Repeat and choose the days you want.
Can I use the same alarm on my Apple Watch?
Your iPhone can send alarm alerts to a paired Apple Watch so it taps your wrist. Here is how to push iPhone alarms and timers to Apple Watch.
Set tonight’s alarm now, check the AM or PM, and confirm the volume once. After that, your iPhone handles the rest.
Kermit Matthews runs Live2Tech from just outside Philadelphia. He is an IT specialist with over 20 years of experience, from a university help desk to small-business IT, IT management and his own consulting practice, and has written tech guides full time since 2020. Steps are checked against the current software on a real device or the maker’s official documentation. More about Kermit.