How to block all notifications or notifications from specific apps in Windows 11

Martin Brinkmann
Apr 11, 2022
Windows 11 Help
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0

Windows 11's notification system may be used by applications to send notifications to the user's desktop. Apps may use it to send reminders to the user. A common scenario that is supported are push updates by sites. Subscribe to them, and you will get notifications on the desktop when the site updates.

windows 11 notification

Sometimes, these notifications may be annoying or unwanted, for instance, when you clicked allow instead of block when asked about them in your browser of choice. While it is possible to manage notifications in the browser, doing so is not as straightforward as it could be, as you have two main options to deal with them:

  1. Open the site in question and click on the icon to the left of the site address to change the notification status.
  2. Open the settings of the browser and navigate several levels to reach the site settings options. There you need to find the site in question and modify the preference.

notification permissions in browser While that works, it is not as straightforward, especially if a user happens to allow notifications regularly. Experienced computer users may avoid these, but if you work in IT support, you may have encountered devices with notifications allowed for a lot of sites. Many sites display prompts to users automatically to get them to allow notifications, and many users click on allow to get rid of the prompt.

Again, there is a browser setting supported by most web browsers to turn off notifications entirely.  All Chromium-based browsers have these in the Site Settings, and in most, loading chrome://settings/content/notifications opens the right configuration screen. Just switch the setting to "don't allow" and you are done.

Firefox-compatible users load about:preferences#privacy in the browser's address bar, scroll down to Permissions, select the Settings button next to Notifications, and check the "block new requests asking for notifications" to deal with it in the browser.

Windows 11 notifications

windows 11 turn off notifications

Web browsers are not the only types of apps that may send notifications. Calendar and mail applications, games, and any type of app may use the system.

Windows 11 users who don't want to receive any notifications can turn them off completely in the operating system. This speeds up the process significantly.

Here is how that is done:

  1. Select Start and then Settings.
  2. Open System and there the Notifications section.
  3. To turn off all Notifications, toggle the main Notifications setting at the top of the page that opens.

windows 11 notifications disabled for app

You may also disable notifications for specific applications. Keep the main Notifications setting turned on for that. Scroll down to the application listing and locate the program that you want to modify. The listing is sorted by recency, but you may change that to an alphabetical listing if you prefer it. There is no find option on the page.

Use the main On/Off toggle to set the notifications permission to off for selected applications.

customize notifications

The ">" button opens additional customization options:

  • Define how notifications are displayed (on the desktop as banners AND/OR in the Notification Center).
  • Enable or disable playing a sound when notifications arrive.
  • Set a display priority for notifications from the app in the Notification Center.

You could modify the preferences for the app so that notifications are only displayed in the Notifications Center and not on the desktop.

You may undo any change easily with another click on the toggle or the checkbox.

Now You: do you make use of notifications on your devices?

Summary
How to block all notifications or notifications from specific apps in Windows 11
Article Name
How to block all notifications or notifications from specific apps in Windows 11
Description
Find out how to block notifications for individual applications or the entire system on devices running Windows 11.
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Publisher
Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. John G. said on August 21, 2023 at 2:38 pm
    Reply

    There is not still W11 23H2 and these instructions are nonsense by now. :[

    1. James said on August 21, 2023 at 8:48 pm
      Reply

      It worked for me just fine. You’re probably not following the instructions clearly.

      1. Katrina Thompson said on August 30, 2023 at 3:25 am
        Reply

        Just tried the password option and the OOBE option and didnt work.

    2. Anonymous said on September 7, 2023 at 10:33 am
      Reply

      Worked perfectly. Thank OP.

    3. Anonymous said on September 15, 2023 at 11:26 am
      Reply

      Worked perfectly for me just now. Specifically, the regedit option.

  2. 45 RPM said on August 22, 2023 at 9:02 am
    Reply

    Is this cut and paste from a Microsoft PR paper, because it 1000% BS:

    “By listening to user insights, Microsoft has demonstrated its commitment to refining the Windows experience based on real-world needs.”

    Windows 11 is proof they don’t give a s*it.

    1. elong45 said on August 23, 2023 at 12:25 am
      Reply

      Worked for me just now

    2. Robert N said on August 28, 2023 at 10:55 pm
      Reply

      I agree! Windows 11 was a downgrade to me and I kept all 8 computers in our family on Windows 10 as a result. They didn’t listen to any customers. The taskbar was THE main reason I stayed away from Windows 11. With 6 monitors, it is impossible to navigate so many browser tabs, without the feature. I will try the new version in the virtual box to see if it is worth it yet.

  3. Anonymous said on August 23, 2023 at 11:33 pm
    Reply

    Microsoft did a terrible job with this implementation.

    They simply need to employ the creator of StartAllBack to fix Windows. He is smarter and more talented than the entire campus of Microsoft employees.

    1. Anonymous said on September 4, 2023 at 11:36 pm
      Reply

      lol

  4. Joe Mama said on August 24, 2023 at 12:10 am
    Reply

    Thank you so much! I work in IT and this is extremely useful information!

  5. Anonymous said on August 27, 2023 at 9:34 pm
    Reply

    Thanks man. The second method worked great!

  6. Anonymous said on August 28, 2023 at 1:16 pm
    Reply

    I used the second method, and i got exactly what i expected.

  7. adrian said on September 1, 2023 at 12:52 am
    Reply

    Using the Bypass 2: Use a banned email address email worked fantastically as I had gone to far to use the bypass 1.
    I will be back when I next have a problem.
    Keep you the great work

  8. John G. said on September 4, 2023 at 6:15 pm
    Reply

    W11 File Explorer is the worst crap ever done. W11 is the biggest shame ever.

  9. MarineRecon said on September 4, 2023 at 9:14 pm
    Reply

    Just one more reason for me to go to Linux when Windows 10 ages out.

    1. TelV said on September 19, 2023 at 11:46 am
      Reply

      @ MarineRecon,

      Be careful which Linux distro you choose. Some of them don’t include the Wayland protocol which is a security issue i.e. apps can copy, paste and inject data without user interaction.

      It’s included in Fedora: https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/fedora/latest/system-administrators-guide/Wayland/

  10. Dustyn said on September 4, 2023 at 9:28 pm
    Reply

    How about a DARK MODE for your website? That would be oh so nice.

    1. Tom Hawack said on September 5, 2023 at 12:55 am
      Reply

      Something like this : [https://img.justpaste.me/image/8617] maybe?
      Done with ‘Dark Reader Extension for ? Firefox’ [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/darkreader/]

      This comment was written on [https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-installation-has-failed-how-to-fix-this-upgrade-error/#comment-4573155}

    2. TelV said on September 19, 2023 at 11:49 am
      Reply

      Definitely NOT! Once you get older and your eyesight starts to fail you’ll positively loathe dark mode.

      1. Mycroft1325 said on September 25, 2023 at 11:48 pm
        Reply

        Not sure what eye problems *you’re* having, but for me the exact opposite is true. Dark Mode is MUCH easier on my Eyes.

        BTW- I’m 52, and have worked in IT all my life. Been staring at monitors for hours each day, most days of the week since the late 1980’s.

  11. Anonymous said on September 5, 2023 at 2:05 am
    Reply

    Microsoft completely ruined File Explorer by converting to XAML/WinUI/whatever new bloated modern garbage. Its worse than it ever was.

  12. Invoker said on September 5, 2023 at 3:32 pm
    Reply

    i tested it on win10 current edition. speeds up explorer like a charm

  13. LOEL LARZELERE said on September 13, 2023 at 8:07 am
    Reply

    SO what is the priority numbers to give preference to ethernet over wireless?

  14. christop_bader said on September 14, 2023 at 1:50 am
    Reply

    Worked very well happy to have Windows Photo Viewer back in action in Windows-11

  15. Anonymous said on September 16, 2023 at 4:29 am
    Reply

    Worked for me (registry option) thank god, I can use the search option to find things on my computer again. Thank you so much!

    1. TelV said on September 19, 2023 at 11:54 am
      Reply

      Install Everything Search and dispense with Microsoft’s crappy search tool. https://www.voidtools.com/

      Martin wrote an article on it: https://www.ghacks.net/2020/10/09/add-everything-search-to-the-windows-taskbar-for-even-faster-searches/

  16. said on September 17, 2023 at 6:39 pm
    Reply

    I presume the text “WindowsCopilot,,” is a typographical error (2023/09/17/how-to-disable-windows-copilot-in-windows/). The broken comment system unfortunately looks like it is populating itself via AI autopilot.

  17. Anonymous said on September 17, 2023 at 10:37 pm
    Reply

    Hopefully, this Windows Copilot nonsense fails even more spectacularly than Cortana. Who requested this? We want all of the UX features removed back in 11, not this copilot nonsense.

  18. Anonymous said on September 17, 2023 at 10:51 pm
    Reply

    I really don’t mind all of these Windows enhancement but Microsoft get one thing very wrong. ‘Opt in’, is far better than seek information and work to disable.

  19. ilev said on September 18, 2023 at 7:13 am
    Reply

    Turn off Windows Copilot entirely is not good enough.

    How to uninstall Copilot entirely ?

    1. TelV said on September 19, 2023 at 11:57 am
      Reply

      @ ilev,

      Use Gpedit or the registry. Explained in this article: https://www.ghacks.net/2023/09/17/how-to-disable-windows-copilot-in-windows/

  20. WilliamGatesTheight said on September 21, 2023 at 2:13 pm
    Reply

    With that snake oil salesman Panos gone, hopefully Windows can return to a normal desktop operating system without all the insanity it has right now in Windows 11.

  21. Tachy said on September 21, 2023 at 3:19 pm
    Reply

    Can we please stop being ‘politically correct’ (lying) and call them ads again instead of ‘suggestions’?

  22. TelV said on September 25, 2023 at 4:05 pm
    Reply

    @ Martin,

    Does your gpedit hack also turn off all the other “subscribed content” shown in the registry screenshot? Do you happen to know what all those are?

  23. Christopher Reisinger said on September 30, 2023 at 12:45 pm
    Reply

    Thank you, I used the fake email option, it worked great.

  24. Tom Gray said on September 30, 2023 at 8:26 pm
    Reply

    I wish I had read this article a few months ago, as I purchased two refurbished Windows 10 Pro PCs to replace two older ones. The 1st one I entered an existing Microsoft account I had and it imediately setup OneDrive, adding it to the path names for the common folders such as Documents, Music, video, etc. I tried to just disable OneDrive but then had odd problems finding my data copied from another older PC. long story short I was able to remove all the entries from the registry after un-installing OneDrive.
    The second refurbished PC I didn’t connect the WiFi adapter so during installation I was able to click on the no Internet option. Basically I did as you suggested above; set up a local login, disabled OneDrive from running on bootup, and eventually unInstalled it. No problems with folder paths, etc.

  25. Flotsam Jones said on September 30, 2023 at 10:43 pm
    Reply

    The registry option worked for me, but only me, not any other users. How do I make this apply to all users? Yes, I have admin rights.

  26. TelV said on October 3, 2023 at 2:32 pm
    Reply

    Just decided to create a Windows 11 system image (went OK) and then went to look for this Co-Pilot crap, but it’s nowhere to be found on my system even though I’ve got the Pro version.

    What I did find though in User Configuration –> Administrative Templates –> Windows Components –> Cloud Content was the option to turn off all that Spotlight stuff. Glad to see the back of that anyway.

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