Does white noise help you stay asleep?

It depends on what's disrupting your sleep. An older study found white noise reduced arousals caused by recorded ICU noise in healthy subjects, by smoothing out the contrast between background and peak sound (Stanchina et al., Sleep Medicine, 2005). But a 2026 randomized study of 25 healthy adults found continuous pink noise at 50 decibels, in an otherwise quiet room, was associated with about 18.6 fewer minutes of REM sleep compared to a quiet control night (Basner et al., Sleep, 2026).

Is a fan worse than a dedicated white noise machine for sleep?

Not specifically. A fan produces a form of broadband noise similar to white or pink noise machines, so the same evidence applies either way: useful for masking a specific disruptive sound, with uncertain effects on sleep architecture if run every night in an already-quiet room.

Does a Fan or White Noise Actually Help You Stay Asleep?

By Alison Quillen · Published October 8, 2026 · Last reviewed October 8, 2026

It depends on what you're using it for. White noise can genuinely mask a disruptive sound, a snoring partner, traffic, and stop it from waking you. But a 2026 study found continuous broadband noise, the kind a fan makes, running in an already-quiet room was linked to less REM sleep, not more. The evidence is more mixed than the marketing suggests.

A ceiling fan above a bed in a bedroom. — Photo: Zac Gudakov / Unsplash

Fans, sound machines, apps promising rain or ocean waves, all sold on the same premise: constant background noise helps you sleep through the night. It's one of the most common home remedies people mention when I ask what they've tried. The research is more complicated than the premise, and I'd rather tell you the complicated version than the tidy one.

Why did white noise get recommended in the first place?

To mask disruption, not to improve sleep on its own. An older study exposed healthy subjects to recorded ICU noise, then added mixed-frequency white noise on top of it, and found the white noise reduced arousals caused by the ICU sounds, by smoothing the contrast between background and peak noise, so a sudden beep or voice didn't stand out as sharply (Stanchina et al., Sleep Medicine, 2005). That's the real, evidence-backed use case: covering up something specific and disruptive, a partner's snoring, a noisy street, a barking dog.

What about running it every night in an already-quiet room?

This is where the newer evidence complicates the popular advice. A 2026 randomized study of 25 healthy adults tested continuous pink noise, a type of broadband sound similar to what a fan produces, at 50 decibels through the night. Compared to a quiet control night, pink noise was associated with roughly 18.6 fewer minutes of REM sleep, largely traded for lighter, less restorative sleep instead (Basner et al., Sleep, 2026). The researchers specifically cautioned against the widespread, indiscriminate use of broadband noise for sleep. That's a real tension with the masking study above, and I don't think it fully resolves. Masking a specific disruptive sound and adding constant noise to an otherwise quiet room appear to be two different things with two different outcomes.

Illustrative summary of Stanchina et al., 2005 and Basner et al., 2026, two different study conditions, not a single dataset.

So should you use one or not?

If you genuinely have a specific, recurring disruptive sound, a snoring partner, a noisy building, a fan or white noise probably helps more than it hurts. If the sound is a partner who snores and you sleep on your side, a sleep mask with headphones puts the masking sound at your ears instead of filling the room. If your room is already quiet and you've just been running a fan out of habit, it's worth an honest experiment: a few nights without it, and see whether you actually notice a difference in how rested you feel. I don't think the newer research means throw the fan out. I think it means don't assume it's free.

When to see a doctor

Needing background noise every single night to feel able to sleep at all, especially if it started recently, is worth mentioning to a doctor, since that pattern sometimes shows up alongside anxiety or an underlying sleep disorder rather than being a simple preference. It's not dangerous on its own, but it's a detail worth having on record.

Sources

Stanchina ML, Abu-Hijleh M, Chaudhry BK, Carlisle CC, Millman RP. "The Influence of White Noise on Sleep in Subjects Exposed to ICU Noise." Sleep Medicine, 2005. Abstract.
Basner M, Smith MG, Cordoza M, et al. "Efficacy of Pink Noise and Earplugs for Mitigating the Effects of Intermittent Environmental Noise Exposure on Sleep." Sleep, 2026. Abstract.

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