How to see notifications you swiped away on Android
2 min read · 6 steps · Updated 3 October 2026
Open Settings, tap Notifications and tap Notification history, then switch on Use notification history. From then on, that page lists recently dismissed notifications, snoozed ones and everything from the last 24 hours. Tap an entry to open it in its app. Notifications from before you switched it on are not recorded.
A message flashes up, you swipe it away with the rest, and a second later you realise it mattered. Android keeps a list of the notifications of the last day, but only if you have switched the list on first. It takes ten seconds and is worth doing today.
Menu names below are from Google Pixel phones and Google's own apps on a recent Android version. Samsung, Xiaomi and other brands rename some of them. The pictures are simplified diagrams of the screens, not screenshots.
Step by step
Open Settings and tap Notifications
Open the Settings app and tap Notifications.
Tap Notification history
It is near the top of the page. Some phones do not have this feature; if you cannot find it, type history into the search field at the top of Settings.
Switch on Use notification history
Tap the switch. The list is empty at first and fills as notifications arrive.
Read what you missed
Come back to the same page later. At the top are the recently dismissed notifications and the snoozed ones, below them the notifications of the last 24 hours, sorted by app.
Open or manage an entry
Tap a notification in the last 24 hours list to open it in its app. Touch and hold one of the recently dismissed notifications to get to that app's notification settings.
Get there faster
Pull down the notification shade. On many phones a History link is shown at the bottom of the list once the feature is on. It opens the same page.
Good to know
The history shows what the notification said: the sender and the first lines of a message. It does not bring back a message that was deleted inside the app.
Anyone who can unlock your phone can read the list. If that worries you, leave it off, or hide sensitive content on the lock screen under Settings, Notifications.
On Samsung phones the path is Settings, Notifications, Advanced settings, Notification history.
Related: Android notifications not showing: 8 settings to check and how to turn off notifications from an app on Android.
In short: Settings, Notifications, Notification history, switch on Use notification history. The page then shows dismissed and snoozed notifications and the last 24 hours. Nothing is recorded before you switch it on.
- Android Help: Control notifications on Android
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