How to Not Get Caught on Your Phone at Night

Reviewed by Stan Kats

Last Updated: January 31, 2025 Approved

Sometimes you just have to send some last minute texts or lull your mind to sleep with a couple rounds of Angry Birds. When these times come, here's how to be on your phone at night without getting caught.

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If you're sharing a room with someone, you should make the light as dim as possible so they can't see you using your phone. Do this by lowering the brightness on the device itself. If this isn't sufficient, create a cave shape with a thick blanket and sit your phone in there so you can't see the screen light from above or the sides. You may also want to stick to apps with dark colours, since white screens are the brightest. You could also put the device under your bed to prevent someone spotting it. ^{[1]
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Preferably, don't listen to anything. If you are watching a video, then you can turn on captions. If you must, however, use headphones on a low setting- high enough to hear the audio, but low enough to hear footsteps coming down the hallway or a knock on the bedroom door. Avoid noise-canceling headphones, since it's easy to ignore warning signs of interruption.^{[2]
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People may wonder why you're awake so late and jump to conclusions. Before you sleep, make sure you have all the chargers you need, have a big glass of water, go to the bathroom and even bring a small snack if you tend to get hungry at night. This will allow you to stay in bed all night and avoid waking people up.
Your room needs to look normal from the outside, which means that you can't leave the lights on, since the light will show through the cracks in your doorway. Also, keep in mind that while closing your door will mean fewer people peering in, it also creates suspicion, so leave it as you normally would.
For example, if your sibling is going to a sleepover and your parents are seeing a movie, you can have a good few hours of uninhibited alone time where you don't have to worry about being caught. However, it's important to note when they will arrive home and if they usually check on you before they go to bed, because those are times you'll be most likely to get caught.
Get in to a position where you can quickly shut your phone off, slide it under your pillow/blankets so its hidden, and pretend to be asleep. This means it's better to be lying in bed than sitting up in a chair or on the floor.^{[3]
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don't stay up late on a school night, or stay up to ungodly hours of the morning playing video games. It's unhealthy if you do it regularly and there's a reason your parents don't want you doing it, so use these tips at your discretion.^{[4]
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Tips

If your parents find out, try to make an excuse such as "I needed to text my friends about something important."

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If your headphones break, turn the volume to 1 or 2 and pause the video if your parents come in.

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If you know that your parents will check to make sure you're asleep, try to hear them as a warning. If you do hear them approach your room, turn off your phone immediately.

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Tips from our Readers

The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

Sometimes what I do is get a load of blankets/pillows and lay them next to my bed (in a messy pile so they look like dirty washing or something), and then when you hear someone coming, you can just quickly drop your device onto the soft landing below without getting caught. Don't forget to actually turn your phone off though...
Try your best to wait till your parents are fully asleep. Make sure nobody’s up in the house and make sure every light is turned off, too. Get up and go check to be absolutely certain--go barefoot so you don't make a sound.
If you are using wirless headphones (e.s. Galaxy buds or Airpods) wear only one. If you hear noise, hide your phone and turn on the side where you put the earbud so it can't be seen.
Remember that the phone's light can shine on your face, too! So even if the phone is hidden on most sides, you might still be caught if you can't hide the screen/light fast enough.
Try using clothing hangers to set traps on your door so you KNOW they’re coming, maybe put a dress on the floor near the hanger so they think it wasn’t on purpose.
Good hiding spots for your phone include under the mattress cover (virtually invisible but easy to feel) or the classic under your bed.
If you get caught on your phone, say you got a notification that woke you up. Or an alarm. Works every time for me!

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Warnings

Sleeping with your phone under your pillow can be a fire hazard. Make sure your phone is off before hiding it under your pillow.

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