Apple’s Notification Center in macOS is a central service that allows you to view messages and warnings from your system along the right-hand side of your screen.
Messages appear either as banners that disappear, or as alerts that require you to click a button to close. You can click the date next to the Spotlight or Siri icon in the system menu bar, to view all the available messages in the system.
While Notification Center can be convenient, at times it can also be frustrating to deal with, especially if an application or two is constantly sending you messages.
There are two easy ways to deal with your Macbook notifications; by either going into Do Not Disturb Mode, or by going into your System Settings. Here’s how to do both.
Do Not Disturb
You can find the Do Not Disturb option within your Control Center, in a similar way that you on an iPhone.
Toggle this switch in your menu bar to see the Focus option. In here, you’ll find Do Not Disturb. This is the easiest way to turn off notifications quickly.
For times when you need it quiet, Apple does have a Do Not Disturb mode in Notification Center, which can be activated by opening Notification Center and then scrolling up.
When you do this, a hidden slider will appear that you can use to toggle Do Not Disturb. This mode will stay on until the following day, or however long you set it for.
Using System Settings to Turn off Notifications
Do Not Disturb will disable Notification Center’s banners and alerts, but if you only wish to do so for an individual application, then you can do this by configuring that application in the Notifications system preferences:
Click on the Apple logo in the top left corner of your screen. Select “System Settings” from the drop-down menu. Click on “Notifications”.
In the Notifications panel, you will see a list of apps. Click on an app to view its notification settings, and if you want to turn off notifications for a specific app, uncheck the box next to “Allow Notifications from [App Name].”
Repeat this for each app for which you want to disable notifications. You also have the options to only allow notifications at certain times too, which can be handy if you want to turn them off when your Mac is sleeping.
Conclusion
So, if you want to turn off your Notifications for good, you can also do this pretty easily – just remember to turn them back on if you need to. Or, Do Not Disturb is an alternative method if you only want to turn them off for a limited period of time.
