Mastering Mac Notifications: The Ultimate Guide to Taming Your Alerts

Updated at: 23/06/2025

Is your Mac constantly bombarded with notifications, disrupting your workflow? This ultimate guide reveals how to master Mac notifications and regain control. Learn to customize alert styles, prioritize important messages, silence distracting apps, and create a peaceful computing experience. From basic settings to advanced techniques, we'll show you how to tame the notification beast and boost your productivity. Let's get started!

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Accessing and Reviewing Notifications

    • Click the date and time in the upper right corner of your screen.
    • In Notification Center, hover over individual notifications to reveal a small 'x' button to dismiss them. Groups of notifications can be expanded to see individual items or collapsed for a cleaner view. Some apps offer actions (snooze, mark as read, etc.) directly within the notification.
    Manage Notifications: In Notification Center, hover over individual notifications to reveal a small 'x' button to dismiss them. Groups of notifications can be expanded to see individual items or collapsed for a cleaner view. Some apps offer actions (snooze, mark as read, etc.) directly within the notification. Manage Notifications: In Notification Center, hover over individual notifications to reveal a small 'x' button to dismiss them. Groups of notifications can be expanded to see individual items or collapsed for a cleaner view. Some apps offer actions (snooze, mark as read, etc.) directly within the notification.
    Accessing and Reviewing Notifications

  2. Customizing Notification Settings (System Preferences)

    • Go to System Preferences > Notifications. Select an app to adjust its notification settings.
    • Select 'None', 'Notification Center', 'Banners', or 'Alerts' to control how notifications appear on your screen.
    • Choose whether notifications appear in Notification Center, on the lock screen, and whether they make a sound.
    • Turn on or off the badge notifications that appear on app icons in the Dock.
    Manage Dock App Icons: Turn on or off the badge notifications that appear on app icons in the Dock. Manage Dock App Icons: Turn on or off the badge notifications that appear on app icons in the Dock. Manage Dock App Icons: Turn on or off the badge notifications that appear on app icons in the Dock. Manage Dock App Icons: Turn on or off the badge notifications that appear on app icons in the Dock.
    Customizing Notification Settings (System Preferences)
    • Adjust preview settings to show or hide the content of notifications.
    • Choose to group notifications by app or display them individually.
    Group Notifications: Choose to group notifications by app or display them individually. Group Notifications: Choose to group notifications by app or display them individually.
    Customizing Notification Settings (System Preferences)

  3. Managing Website Notifications

    • Go to Safari > Preferences > Websites > Notifications to control which websites can send notifications.
    Manage Website Notifications (Safari): Go to Safari > Preferences > Websites > Notifications to control which websites can send notifications.
    Managing Website Notifications

  4. Utilizing Do Not Disturb

    • Turn on Do Not Disturb automatically at specified times, when the display is asleep, or manually via Control Center.
    Use Do Not Disturb: Turn on Do Not Disturb automatically at specified times, when the display is asleep, or manually via Control Center.
    Utilizing Do Not Disturb
[RelatedPost]

Tips

  • For quick dismissal without taking action, click and drag a notification off to the right.
  • Permanently add a Do Not Disturb indicator to the menu bar for easy access via Control Center.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Ignoring Notification Center Settings

Reason: Many users don't realize the depth of customization available in Notification Center, leading to overwhelming or unhelpful alerts.
Solution: Spend time in System Preferences > Notifications to customize alert styles, sounds, and delivery methods for each app.

2. Allowing Too Many Apps to Send Notifications

Reason: Every app requesting notification permission adds to the clutter, quickly making notifications distracting and ineffective.
Solution: Review notification permissions for each app and disable alerts from apps you don't need constant updates from.

FAQs

How do I completely disable notifications for a specific app?
Open System Preferences > Notifications & Focus. Select the app from the list on the left. Choose 'None' from the 'Alert Style' menu. This will prevent all notifications from that app.
My notifications keep appearing even when my Mac is asleep. How do I stop this?
Check System Preferences > Notifications & Focus > Do Not Disturb. Ensure that 'Schedule' or 'Manually' is selected and configured to your liking. Also, review individual app notification settings to ensure they aren't set to allow notifications even when the Mac is asleep.