Web browsers now allow websites to show you notifications. On many news and shopping websites, you’ll see a popup telling you the website wants to show notifications on your desktop. You can disable these notification prompts in your web browser if they annoy you.
Google Chrome
To disable this feature in Chrome, click the menu button and select “Settings”.
Click the “Advanced” link at the bottom of the Settings page and then click “Content Settings” button under Privacy and security.
Click the “Notifications” category here.
Deactivate the slider at the top of the page so that it reads “Blocked” instead of “Ask before sending (recommended)”.
Even after you select this setting, websites you’ve given permission to show notifications will still be able to show notifications. Scroll down here and you’ll see a list of websites that you’ve given permission to send you notifications under “Allow”.
Mozilla Firefox
Starting with Firefox 59, Firefox now allows you to disable all web notification prompts in its normal Options window. You can also prevent websites from asking to show you notifications while allowing a few trusted websites to show you notifications.
To find this option, click menu > Options > Privacy & Security. Scroll down to the “Permissions” section and click the “Settings” button to the right of Notifications.
You can also check the “Pause notifications until Firefox restarts” option here if you want to temporarily mute notifications instead.
This page shows the websites you’ve given permission to show notifications to, and the websites you’ve said can never show notifications.
To stop seeing notification requests from new websites, check the “Block new requests asking to allow notifications” box and click “Save Changes”. Any websites currently in the list and set to “Allow” will still be able to show you notifications.
Microsoft Edge
RELATED: What’s New in Windows 10’s Anniversary Update
Microsoft Edge gained support for notifications in Windows 10’s Anniversary Update. However, Microsoft provides no way to disable notifications entirely and prevent websites from asking to show notifications.
All you can do is click “No” when you’re asked if you want to let a website show notifications. Edge will at least remember your preference for the current website, but other websites will still be able to prompt you.
Update: When the new Chromium-based version of Edge becomes stable, Edge users will have the same option to block notifications found in Google Chrome.
Apple Safari
Safari allows you to stop websites from requesting permission to send notifications. To find this option, click Safari > Preferences.
Select the “Websites” tab at the top of the window and click “Notifications” in the sidebar.
At the bottom of the window, uncheck the “Allow websites to ask for permission to send push notifications” box.
Websites you’ve already given permission to send notifications will still have permission to send notifications even after you uncheck this option. You can see and manage the list of websites with permissions to send notifications in this window.
If you change your mind in the future, you can always go back into your web browser’s settings and re-enable web notifications.
