To turn off the WhatsApp “You may have new messages” alert, disable WhatsApp’s Other notifications on Android. On newer Android versions, that usually stops this specific alert without turning off normal chat notifications too.

Android steps

  1. Open Settings on your phone.
  2. Tap Apps or Apps & notifications.
  3. Select WhatsApp.
  4. Tap Notifications.
  5. Find Other notifications or a similar “failure/checking” category.
  6. Turn that category off.

On some Android versions, you can also long-press the notification when it appears and disable that category directly from the notification shade.

If it still appears

That message can also show up when WhatsApp is having background connectivity issues or background data is restricted, so it may help to allow background data, disable Data Saver for WhatsApp, or update WhatsApp to the latest version. If you’re on an older Android version, category-based control may not be available, and the only option may be to turn off WhatsApp notifications more broadly.

iPhone note

The sources I found mainly describe Android options; on iPhone, the usual approach is to change WhatsApp notification settings in Settings > Notifications > WhatsApp, but the “you may have new messages” alert is more often discussed as an Android notification-category issue.

Quick fix

If you want the fastest try-first path, do this:

  • Update WhatsApp.
  • Open WhatsApp notification settings.
  • Turn off Other notifications.
  • If needed, allow background data for WhatsApp.

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