How to turn off notifications on Mac: 4 Easy ways

How to turn off notifications on Mac

Notifications are an integral part of the macOS experience. Although well implemented, sometimes too many notifications can be annoying. The ‘tri-tone’ sound can distract your work. Hence, it’s better to turn off notifications on Mac during work hours.

In this article, I’ve laid out 4 ways to turning off app notifications — both temporarily and permanently. Let’s start with the simplest one!

Quickly turn off notifications on Mac from Notification Center

If a particular app is spamming your Notification Center, you can temporarily stop notifications on your Mac.

In the Notification Center, right-click the app’s notification for which you want to stop alerts. Now, set the notifications to mute for 1 hour, One Day, or turn it off completely.

Quickly stop notifications on Mac from Notification Center

How to turn off notifications on Mac using Do Not Disturb

Do Not Disturb is one of the easiest ways to turn off notifications on your Mac. When it is active, notifications do not appear on the screen. The app notifications won’t display the banner or play the sound.

Don’t worry; it doesn’t turn off the notifications entirely! The notifications are still visible in Notification Center.

To enable Do Not Disturb using Control Center;

  1. On your Mac’s Menu Bar, click the Control Center icon.
  2. Turn on Do Not Disturb by clicking the moon button.
    If the moon icon isn’t visible, go to System Preferences Dock & Menu Bar → Show in Menu Bar.
  3. By default, this option turns on Do Not Disturb ‘Until Next Morning’ from the time you enable it.
    You can also set it For 1 hour.
  4. To disable Do Not Disturb, click the moon icon.
Disable notifications on Mac using Do Not Disturb

Note: Do Not Disturb has changed to Focus mode in macOS Monterey. I’ve explained how to use Focus mode on macOS Monterey below.

Use Focus mode on macOS Monterey

Focus mode is a new feature Apple introduced with macOS Monterey. Using Focus mode, you can set which apps can send notifications at what hours instead of pausing all notifications at once.

For example, you can disable Twitter notifications on your Mac during work hours but allow Slack to send notifications. Likewise, you can set Slack not to send notifications outside your work hours.

To create a Focus mode on your Mac running macOS Monterey, follow these steps:

  1. Open System Preferences on your Mac.
  2. Head over to Notifications Focus.
  3. You can either edit the preset Focus modes or create one by clicking the + button.

    Head Over to Focus on macOS Monterey and above
  4. Choose a name, symbol, and color for your Focus Mode, and click Add.

    Choose a name and click Add on Mac
  5. Select the Focus mode you created from the left panel.
  6. Now, add People and Apps that can send notifications.
  7. Optional: You can also create automation.
    For example, you can set the Focus Mode to turn on automatically when you open a specific app and disable it when you quit it.

    Use Focus mode to turn off notifications on Mac

Apart from Focus Assist, macOS Monterey brings many features to the Mac. One such feature is Shortcuts for Mac. Click here to learn more about Shortcuts on macOS and how it can automate a lot of things for you.

How to turn off notifications for a certain app on Mac

You can even completely disable notifications for a particular app on your Mac. To completely disable notifications for an app, follow these steps:

  1. Open System Preferences on your Mac.
  2. Head over to Notifications and select the Notifications tab.
  3. Select the app for which you want to disable notifications.
  4. On the right, toggle off Allow Notifications.
Turn off notifications on Mac for a particular app

Stop notifications when Mac is on sleep or locked

One of the advantages of having a Mac is that it remains connected to the Wi-Fi even when it is asleep or in screen saver mode. This not only allows it to get back up from sleep faster but also allows the Mac to sync all the notifications in the background.

However, if you’re irritated with your Mac playing sound even when you’re not using it, try the below steps:

  1. Go to System PreferencesNotifications.
  2. In the Notifications tab, uncheck Mute notifications When the display is sleeping and When the screen is locked.
  3. You can further play with the Show preview section as per your desire.
Stop notifications when Mac is on sleep or locked

Bonus tip: Temporarily mute notification sound on Mac

If your only problem is the annoying notification sound, this is the easiest way to mute them. To disable sound for app notifications on Mac:

  1. Go to System PreferencesNotifications.
  2. Select the app for which you want to disable sound for notifications.
  3. Uncheck the Play sound for notifications option.
Temporarily mute notification sound on Mac

I hope you’re able to understand how you can easily disable notifications on your Mac. If you have any issues following any of the methods mentioned above, drop a comment below, and we’ll be happy to help.

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2 comments
    1. Have you tried unchecking the Play sound for notifications option, that might help.

      It is explained under the heading Temporarily mute notification sound on Mac.

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