If you have a smartphone, chance are you've received by an emergency Amber alert. The resultant noise is unmistakable — especially if the buzzing and beeping jars you awake.
The effectiveness of such alerts may be up for debate, but it has caused many folks to go in search of a way to stop these interruptions in the future. For owners of older Galaxy phones, including the Samsung Galaxy Note II or S4, here's a step-by-step guide to silencing the notifications.
Note that this only works with Amber alerts. It won't stop the equally loud Presidential Text Alerts sent out by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Those alerts, which went into effect in October 2018, goes out to all cellphones with a U.S. number and can't be turned off.
1. Open your Messaging app.
2. Tap the Menu button on the bottom right of your screen.
3. Tap Settings and scroll down.
4. Tap Emergency Alerts.
5. Uncheck AMBER alerts. In this same menu you can disable severe weather alerts too.
Anna Attkisson is the managing editor at Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag. Follow Anna Attkisson @akattkisson. Follow us @TomsGuide, or on Facebook.
