How to Fix the Airbnb App Badge on iPhone When It Won’t Go Away Even After Reading Everything

It’s annoying: you open all your Airbnb messages, clear your notifications, but the red badge on the app icon won’t budge. If your iPhone insists there’s something new in Airbnb when there isn’t, you’re not alone, and thankfully, there are several reliable ways to make it go away.

Let’s walk through them.

Close and restart the Airbnb app completely

Sometimes the app just needs a clean restart to sync with the server.

Here’s how to do it:

Swipe up from the bottom of the screen (or double-tap the Home button if your iPhone has one)
Locate the Airbnb app preview
Swipe it all the way up to force close it
Wait a few seconds, then reopen the app

In many cases, this alone will clear a stuck badge.

Check both Hosting and Traveling inboxes

Airbnb separates messages between guest and host roles. A common issue is that one inbox might have a new message that’s easy to miss.

To double-check:

Open the Airbnb app
Tap Messages
Check both Traveling and Hosting tabs
Tap into each individual message thread, even ones that don’t appear bolded

Also take a look at any message requests, trip updates, or reminders that may not show as traditional unread messages.

Turn badge notifications off and on again

Toggling badge permissions can trigger iOS to reset the app icon count.

Here’s the step-by-step:

Go to Settings > Notifications > Airbnb
Switch off the Badges toggle
Wait 10–15 seconds
Turn Badges back on

Then head back to the home screen and see if the badge has disappeared.

Check for hidden alerts inside your account

Sometimes, the red dot is caused by alerts unrelated to your messages, such as:

Identity verification
Payment method issues
Policy updates or terms acceptance

To see if this is what’s triggering it:

Tap the Profile icon in the Airbnb app
Look for any yellow banners or alerts asking you to complete something
Finish the action (e.g., upload a photo ID, add a payment method)

These alerts won’t always show in the inbox but still count as active notifications.

Delete and reinstall the Airbnb app (optional but effective)

If the badge persists even after all inboxes are checked, reinstalling can wipe the app’s cache and force it to sync properly.

Tap and hold the Airbnb icon
Choose Remove App → Delete App
Go to the App Store and reinstall Airbnb
Log back into your account

Important: This won’t delete any of your data, bookings, or account info.

Still stuck? Restart your iPhone

Sometimes the simplest solutions really work.

Press and hold the power button + volume up (or just power button for older models)
Slide to power off
Wait 30 seconds and turn your iPhone back on

After rebooting, the app badge often vanishes if it was caused by a minor iOS hiccup.

One last tip: Make sure you’re on the latest version

An outdated Airbnb app can bug out, literally.

Go to the App Store
Search for Airbnb
If you see Update, tap it

App updates often fix visual badge glitches and syncing bugs.

Summary

If the red Airbnb badge won’t go away on your iPhone, try these steps in order:

Force quit and reopen the app
Check all message threads in both inbox tabs
Toggle badge notifications off/on in iOS settings
Look for hidden alerts in your profile
Reinstall the app if needed
Restart your iPhone
Update the app

Chances are, one of these will solve the problem, and give your home screen some much-needed peace.