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Do you use Chrome? If so, you may be getting notifications from websites, whether you want them or not. Some websites offer to send you notifications on Chrome when you first visit them. You may agree, then change your mind later as your interests change or if you find the website less than helpful.
You may enjoy getting notifications from websites on Chrome. Or they may get on your every last nerve. Or you may not even want to be asked whether you want to be notified by Chrome when you visit a website.
However you regard notifications, if you use Chrome you should manage your notifications to make them work best for you.
Opting into Notifications on Chrome
When you first visit some websites, you may be greeted with a warm pop-up welcome, offering to send you notifications.
You may think: “What a great idea! I’d love to get notifications from this amazing website!”
So you agree to receive notifications, optimistic that this website will be your new favorite source for all things interesting.
But you may eventually realize that you don’t care about what they want to say. Or you find that they’re bombarding you with notifications that distract you from whatever else you’re doing.
Unless you cancel these notifications, you may be forced to live with them until you either quit using Chrome or the website fades into oblivion, whichever comes first.
But you do have a choice, you’re not committed to receiving notifications forever.
Canceling Notifications on Chrome
Canceling notifications for Chrome is easy, if you know how to do it. By taking a few minutes to adjust your settings, you can take control of which notifications you’ll see in Chrome and which ones will disappear.
You can also block all sites from even asking to send you notifications.
To see which sites can send you notifications, open Settings in Chrome. The easiest way to open Settings in Chrome to review your notifications is to click the Settings button in a notification.
If you don’t want to wait until you receive a notification, you can open Settings from your Chrome toolbar. Click the three stacked dots on the right end of the Chrome toolbar.
Go to Settings, then head to the bottom of the page and click Advanced. Under Privacy and Security click Content Settings => Notifications.
There you’ll see a list of websites that can send you notifications in Chrome. Click the three dots to the right of a website to change the settings. You can:
- Allow
- Edit
- Remove
To end notifications, click Remove.
You then should be free from Chrome notifications for that website. Don’t worry, if you miss those notifications, you can change your mind and agree to receive notifications again later.
Reviewing Notifications in Chrome
While you’re in Settings, be sure to review all websites that can notify you in Chrome. You’ll likely find some websites that you’d rather not receive notifications from.
Follow the steps above to stop getting notifications from those sites.
Blocking All Requests for Notifications on Chrome
If you find even the requests for notifications on Chrome to be pesky, you can block all requests. If you block requests you won’t be bothered by the pop-ups when you first visit websites that offer notifications, saving you time and annoyance.
To block all Chrome notification requests, follow these steps, similar to removing notifications for a website:
Head to Settings in Chrome. Click the three stacked dots on the right end of the Chrome toolbar. Go to Settings, then head to the bottom of the page and click Advanced. Under Privacy and Security click Content Settings => Notifications.
Then turn off the switch “Ask before sending”
Note that Google recommends that you keep this setting turned on, but you have the choice of how you want Chrome to work best for you.
With the switch turned off, Chrome won’t show you those pop-up notification requests when you first visit a website that offers Chrome notifications.
Adding a Website to Chrome Notifications
You may want to add a website to Chrome notifications. Maybe the site doesn’t offer notifications. Or maybe you’d prefer to manually add a site instead of seeing those pop-ups when you first visit a site. Or maybe you removed a site from notifications and realize that you miss them after all.
Adding a website to Chrome notifications is easy, and similar to removing one from notifications.
Head to Settings in Chrome. Click the three stacked dots on the right end of the Chrome toolbar. Go to Settings, then head to the bottom of the page and click Advanced. Under Privacy and Security click Content Settings => Notifications.
Scroll down to the Allow section and click the Add button.
In the window that appears, enter the name of the website you’d like to add, then click the Add button.
That website should then appear in the list of websites from which you receive notifications in Chrome.
Your Thoughts
Do you enjoy receiving notifications on Chrome or do you find them annoying? Did you know how to turn off notifications in Chrome? Do you find the pop-up notification requests helpful or pesky?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
Thank you so much for this post on Chrome notifications! It is like a tutorial and I love it! I just went through all of my Chrome settings (Chrome is the browser of my choice on both my laptop and my phone) and I changed things up to make Chrome suit my needs!
The instructions you provided are easy to understand and I was able to follow along easily. Thanks, Carolyn!
I’m curious about something else now… do I need to completely shut down Chrome and then open it up after rebooting my laptop in order for all the settings to take effect? Also, I have Chrome set up to open “where I left off” but I’m wondering if I should completely shut it down on occasion, to keep my laptop and Chrome browser “healthy.” What do you think? Any advice?
I look forward to your reply!
Hi Lorraine, That’s great this article is so helpful to you. Excellent questions.
Yes, you should absolutely close Chrome every so often. A good reminder to close it is when you change settings or add an extension.
You should also turn off your computer occasionally to help it run better. When you close Chrome, reboot your computer at the same time to help both run better.
I also have the same windows open again when I open Chrome. It’s a good idea to close the windows you don’t need any more before you close Chrome. That will speed up the process.
This was so helpful, I was so frustrated by these notifications man. I nearly pulled my hair out. Thank You so much for sharing this Carolyn. Chrome is my go-to choice on my laptop, pc and, mobile, so getting rid of the notification helped me so much. thank you again.
Hello Aaryan, I’m so glad this was helpful to you. Yes, these settings are a bit hidden but changing them only takes a minute if you know where to find them. I hope Chrome works better for you now.
Hello Carolyn
I dont know how, but am using Chrome from a very long time,
but never came to know about this.
Thank you for sharing this article and letting people know this amazing feature.
Hi Shreya, Yes, if you don’t know how to manage them, Chrome notifications can overtake your browsing experience. Best to weed them out every so often and remove the ones that don’t matter to you any more.
Hi Carolyn,
This is such a helpful post. I have clicked on those notification few times and I must agree it is very irritation at times of work to get notified of things which are not required at that point in time. I am glad you have shared this step by step ways to get rid of it.
Thanks for sharing, have a good day.
Hi Sajid, Yes, it can be very annoying, but the fix is very easy, if you know how to do it. I’m so glad this was helpful to you, Sajid. Thanks for letting us know.
Thank you so much for the post Carolyn. These notifications really irritate me, especially, when you are in some sort of hurry or running out of time or busy in some work. You shared the guide with each single step to get rid of it. Keep sharing.
Hi Aaliya, Yes, they can be annoying if you don’t want to see them. Be sure to remove any you don’t want any more.
I love it! I was so frustrated by these notifications.
Thank You
Hi Shivani, Yes, those notifications can be annoying, can’t they? I hope this article gives you some peace now.
Hi there,
Firstly, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us.
Actually, I’m searching for some information on Chrome extension & I came across your article It was too descriptive. These are the best trick to manage your day to activity without any glitch.
Thank you
Hi Nikita, It seems that this is a big problem for many people. I hope you’re able to manage your notifications better on Chrome now.
Hi,
Really sometimes these notifications so irritates. I never heard about these tips. I will surely use these tips now.
Thanks for sharing this article.
Good Job!
Hi Sylvia, Yes, these notices can get annoying and finding where to turn them off isn’t easy, unless you know where to look. I hope you are able to adjust your settings to how you want them to be in Chrome.
I am trying to stop notifications from mail. In notifications the site: *://mail.google.com/mail*
embedded on *://mail.google.com/mail*
does not have three dots. It has a jigsaw puzzle type shape that says, “This setting is enforced by an extension.” How do I stop getting notifications from mail?
Thanks for your help.
Hello Jack, Great question. Next to Gmail in Notification Settings, click the arrow instead of the jigsaw puzzle piece. There you can review your permissions and turn off notifications for Gmail. You can also turn off other permissions as well.