Twitter notification won’t go away: Reasons and fixes

If you have been experiencing a problem with “twitter notification won’t go away,” you are not the only one. It is a frequent problem encountered by both Android and iOS users. It can occur due to unread messages, bugs in the app, server issues, or account glitches. This article explains what Twitter notifications are, why they get stuck, how to resolve it, how to delete, manage and use notifications, and how parents can monitor their teen’s notifications via parental controls. In conclusion, you will obtain clear and functional solutions to the Twitter notification problem.

What is Twitter notification?

Twitter will notify you when someone interacts with your account. These alerts will keep you in the loop on what’s currently happening around your posts and profile.

There are three types of notifications provided by Twitter:

• Email notifications.
• Push notifications.
• SMS notifications.

Specific activities addressed by these notification:

• Replies and re-posts to your tweets, as well as likes of your tweets.
• New followers and follow requests are sent.
• Mentions, tags in other users’ posts.
• Requests of direct message from other accounts.
• Trending topics and breaking news alerts (if available).

Twitter (formerly known as X) consolidates everything in one place into a Notifications tab. The red or blue badge on the app icon will indicate the number of alerts that are pending. As of 2024, X has more than 600 million monthly active users, making its notification system one of the most active on any social platform, according to Statista.

Why is Twitter notification won’t go away?

Many times the reason for a “Twitter notification won’t go away” is one of several factors. Knowing the why makes it much easier to select the best fix.

Here are the most frequently found reasons:

• Hidden unread direct message: Twitter will display the count of unread direct messages. If you only scroll through the latest messages and don’t see older ones near the bottom, then the badge will remain active. It’s located at the bottom of your DMs.
• Non-follower messages: If someone doesn’t follow you, they can’t directly message you. Rather, their message goes to a “Message Requests” folder. A lot of users will never visit this folder, and the badge won’t become inactive.
• Multiple Twitter accounts: If you log on to more than one account, a badge will remain active on one of the accounts even after you remove the badge from the primary account.
• Downtime or glitches: Twitter’s servers may go down at times or experience glitches. Such glitches can cause the app to not recognize when you’ve read your notifications and keep that badge until the server is online.
• Old cached data: If old data is in the device’s app cache, it may cause the app to show incorrect notification counts. Clearing the cache removes the app’s cached data, which causes it to download new data.
• Older versions of the app: Sometimes the bugs found in old versions of the app can cause notification badges to freeze. Usually you can fix this by installing the latest update.
• More viral post activity: When one of your tweets gets a lot of engagement in a short period of time, they will keep coming in faster than you can possibly delete them, giving the impression that the badge is permanent.

How to fix the Twitter notification won’t go away?

The right fix depends on the cause, but the steps below address the most common situations. Work through them in order until the badge disappears.

Check direct messages and message requests

• In the Twitter app, click on the Messages icon.
• You can scroll through all your older unread messages by scrolling all the way down your inbox.
• Tap on the message to display and read it.
• Click on Message Requests in the top of the inbox.
• For each request, accept or reject it
• Go back to the home screen and see if there is no longer a badge.

Switch between accounts

• Tap your avatar in the top left corner of the app.
• Tap Add an existing account, or pick an existing secondary account from the list.
• Review notifications tab of each account.
• Solve any unread notifications in all accounts you logged into.

Force close and reopen the app

• On Android: Long press the Twitter icon, and then tap App Info, and then tap Force Stop.
• On iPhone: Swipe up at the bottom of the screen to open the app switcher, then swipe up Twitter to close.
• Open the app again, see if the notification has been deleted.

Clear the app cache (Android)

• On your Android phone, navigate to its Settings.
• Tap Apps and then select X (Twitter).
• Tap Storage and then Clear Cache.
• Open the app again and see the notification indicator.

Restart your device

• On an iPhone: Open Settings and select General > Shut Down and then turn it on again.
• On Android: Press and hold the Power button and click Restart.
• After a complete restart of the device, look for a tweet message in the Twitter app.

Update the Twitter app

• Go to Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
• Check if an update is available on the search for X (Twitter).
• Update and now reopen the app!

Log out and log back in

• Tap your profile photo, go to Settings and Support, then Settings and Privacy.
• Tap Log out at the bottom.
• Use your logon details to log back in.
• See if the notification badge has been withdrawn.

Turn off the notification count badge

• Launch Twitter app and click on your profile picture.
• Go to Settings and Support > Settings and Privacy > Notifications > Preferences.
• Find the Notification Count Badge and turn it off.
• This will cause the badge to not show up on the app icon at all.

How to delete Twitter notifications

There is no one “clear all” button in the notification tab of the app. But there are ways to get rid of notifications other than this.

Delete Email notifications from Gmail.

• Open Gmail on your phone or browser.
• Enter Twitter in the search box, and then hit Enter.
• Select all the emails you got from Twitter.
• If you want to delete all the selected messages, click on the Trash icon.
• In the prompt that comes up, confirm the deletion:

Delete SMS notifications

• Tap the default Messages app on your phone.
• Look for any tweets or messages sent to you.
• Choose those messages and then tap Delete.
• It will delete all SMS alerts from the platform.

Filter notifications inside the app

Filtering does not remove current alerts, it prevents clutter in the future.

• Open the Twitter app and tap on the Notifications tab.
• Click on the gear icon at the top right.
• Tap Filters, then tap the Muted Notifications filter.
• Select the boxes indicating which types of accounts you want to mute.
• Use Quality Filter to stop low quality or repetitive alerts from being displayed automatically.

How to enable and disable Twitter notifications?

The type, and source, of notifications received by Twitter can be modified. These steps can be implemented in the mobile app or desktop website.

Enable or disable push notifications.

• On the Home screen of the app, click on your profile picture.
• On the Settings and Support tab, click Settings and Privacy > Notifications.
• Tap Preferences.
• Use the blue toggle buttons to switch each type of notification on or off (Like, Reply, New Follower, Mention, DMs).
• Changes are done instantly throughout your account.

Managing Twitter notifications on iPhone

• Tap Settings on your iPhone.
• In the apps list, scroll down and click on X.
• Tap Notifications.
• Set the Allow Notifications on/off setting.
• Set alert style, alert sounds and alert badge display on one screen!

Enable or Disable notifications on Android

• Hold down the X (Twitter) app icon for a long time.
• Tap App Info.
• Tap Notifications.
• Enable or disable notifications for particular categories of alerts.

Disable email notifications

• Go to Twitter’s Settings and Privacy > Notifications > Preferences.
• Tap Email notifications.
• Uncheck the categories you don’t want to get email notifications for any longer.

Note: Push notifications on Twitter will not show up if you have Do Not Disturb mode turned on, or you have other app settings that prevent push notifications. If you are not getting any alerts, then check this mode.

Track your teens’ Twitter notifications

Twitter doesn’t have any in-built parental control features to view their teen’s tweet activity. There are some default safety settings for users under 18 years of age, but teenagers can change these settings without parental involvement. That’s where a third party application such as FlashGet Kids comes in handy.

FlashGet Kids is an Android and iOS parental control program. It provides parents with live information on their children’s activities on the device, including on social media apps such as Twitter.

Key Features of FlashGet Kids:

• App notification sync: Parents will be notified in real time, such as updates on Twitter alerts, direct messages and social interactions on their child’s app.
• Screen mirroring: Guarantees that parents are able to see what is going on on the kid’s cellphone screen in real-time, on the Twitter app.
• App usage monitoring: Set daily time limits to reduce your teen’s app overuse and track how much time he or she uses Twitter.
• Content filtering: block access to inappropriate sites or block particular apps completely.
• Real-time location tracking: Track the geographical position of your child and place geofence alerts of the areas your child should not go to.
• Activity Reports: Get in-depth daily or weekly reports on app usage, screen time, and browsing activities.

How to download and set up Flashget Kids?

1. Download FlashGet Kids app from App Store/Google Play on parent’s device.
2. Install FlashGet Kids companion on child’s device.
3. During the setup process, give the necessary permissions for the child’s device.
4. Connect the parent app with the companion app by following the in-app instructions.
5. Log in to the parent dashboard to start tracking, limits and reports.

This will help you keep up with your teen without having to go through his or her cell phone.

Conclusion

Twitter notification badges that can’t be removed are typically the result of unread direct messages, having multiple accounts or a minor app issue. Once you fix these issues from the bottom up, like checking DMs, clearing the cache, to updating the app, the issue is cured for most users. If you also want to control how notifications are sent, then you can rely on native notification settings on your device or the built-in notification settings in the Twitter app. Also, you can rely on options like FlashGet Kids to keep your kids safe on platforms like Twitter.

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