How common is snoozing?
Snoozing is very common. A 2025 study in Scientific Reports analysed more than 3 million nights from users of the Sleep Cycle app. 55.6% of the sleep sessions ended with a snooze. The average was 2.4 snooze presses and 10.8 minutes of snoozing.
A 2022 survey of 293 university students in Japan found that 70.5% often use the snooze function.
What did the studies find?
| Study | Participants | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Sundelin, Landry and Axelsson, Journal of Sleep Research, 2024 | 31 habitual snoozers in a sleep laboratory | 30 minutes of snoozing improved or did not affect cognitive tests on rising. It cost about 6 minutes of sleep. There was no clear effect on cortisol, mood or sleepiness. |
| Ogawa and colleagues, Journal of Physiological Anthropology, 2022 | 10 students in a sleep laboratory | The snooze alarm prolonged wake time and light sleep in the last 20 minutes. Vigor rose after waking only on the night without snooze. |
| Robbins and colleagues, Scientific Reports, 2025 | More than 3 million nights of app data | 55.6% of sessions ended with a snooze. The study measured how often people snooze. It did not measure harm. |
Why do the results differ?
The studies are small, and they measure different things.
- The 2024 study tested only people who snooze by habit. Its results do not apply to people who rarely snooze.
- The 2022 study had 10 participants.
- The 2025 study used data from one app. It shows behaviour, not health effects.
No study shows that snoozing is good for everyone, and no study shows that it is harmful for everyone.
When is snoozing a problem?
Snoozing is a problem when it has a cost for you:
- You are late for work, class or an appointment.
- You press snooze without memory of it. See why you turn off your alarm in your sleep.
- You need many snoozes each morning for a long time. This can be a sign that you sleep too little.
Speak to a doctor if you are very sleepy in the daytime for weeks, even with enough time in bed.
What can you do instead of snoozing?
- Set one alarm for the latest time that you can get up. You then sleep without a break until that time.
- Decide the evening before what you do first when you get up.
- Use an alarm that has no snooze button. See an alarm without a snooze button on iPhone.
How to stop snoozing your alarm gives more steps.
Waker is an iPhone alarm app that has no snooze button. When your alarm rings, you tap “Talk to Waker” and have a voice conversation about your day. If you go quiet, Waker speaks up again, up to three times. No study has tested if a conversation wakes you better than a snooze alarm. See what the research shows about talking and waking up.
Common questions
Does snoozing make you more tired?
The studies do not agree. The 2024 laboratory study found no clear effect on sleepiness in habitual snoozers. The 2022 study found that vigor rose after waking only without the snooze alarm.
How much sleep do you lose when you snooze?
In the 2024 laboratory study, 30 minutes of snoozing cost about 6 minutes of sleep, compared with one alarm at the later time.
Is there an iPhone alarm without a snooze button?
Yes. In the Clock app, you can turn off Snooze for each alarm. Waker has no snooze button at all.
Sources
- Is snoozing losing? Why intermittent morning alarms are used and how they affect sleep, cognition, cortisol, and mood. Sundelin, Landry and Axelsson, Journal of Sleep Research, 2024.
- Snooze alarm use in a global population of smartphone users. Robbins and colleagues, Scientific Reports, 2025.
- Effects of using a snooze alarm on sleep inertia after morning awakening. Ogawa and colleagues, Journal of Physiological Anthropology, 2022.