Turn off notifications in three places

MacBook notifications come from three separate systems, and silencing one does not silence the others. You need to handle the notification center (where alerts stack up), individual app settings, and your Mac's overall sound. Most people need to change all three to get real quiet.

The fastest route is to use Focus modes, which let you silence everything at once and turn it back on with one click. But if you want permanent quiet from specific apps, you will need to dig into each one's settings. This guide walks you through both.

Key Takeaways

  • Focus modes (Do Not Disturb, Work, Sleep) silence all notifications at once and are the fastest way to get quiet when you need it.
  • To permanently silence one app, open System Settings, go to Notifications, find that app, and turn off "Allow Notifications".
  • Turning off sound in Notification Center is separate from turning off notifications themselves — you can have silent notifications that still show on screen.
  • Your Mac's overall volume control does not affect notification sounds; you must change notification settings inside System Settings.
  • Scheduled Focus modes let you silence notifications automatically at certain times, like during sleep or work hours.

Use Focus modes to silence everything right now

A Focus mode is the quickest way to stop all notifications at once. Your Mac comes with Do Not Disturb, Work, Sleep, and Personal modes built in. When you turn on a Focus mode, your Mac stops showing notifications and muting their sounds until you turn the mode off.

To turn on Do Not Disturb immediately, click the Control Center icon in the top-right corner of your screen (it looks like a rectangle with sliders). Look for "Focus" and click it. Select "Do Not Disturb" from the menu. A moon icon will appear in your menu bar, showing the mode is on. Click Control Center again and turn it off the same way when you want notifications back.

If you want a Focus mode to turn on automatically at certain times, open System Settings (the gear icon in your Applications folder or Dock). Click "Focus" in the left sidebar. Select the mode you want to schedule — Do Not Disturb, Work, Sleep, or Personal. Click "Add Schedule" and choose when it should turn on and off. Your Mac will now silence notifications during those hours without you having to do anything.

Turn off notifications from individual apps

If you want one specific app to stop sending notifications but keep notifications from other apps, you need to change that app's settings in System Settings. Open System Settings and click "Notifications" in the left sidebar. You will see a list of every app on your Mac that can send notifications.

Find the app you want to silence and click it. You will see several options. The first is "Allow Notifications" — turn this toggle off and that app will stop sending notifications entirely. If you want to keep notifications but just turn off the sound, leave "Allow Notifications" on and scroll down to find "Sound" — turn that toggle off instead.

Below those toggles you will see options for how notifications appear: "Notification Center" (whether they show in the notification center), "Banners" (whether they pop up on screen), and "Badges" (whether they put a red number on the app icon). You can turn any of these off individually. For example, you might want Mail to show a badge but make no sound and not pop up a banner.

Mute notification sounds without hiding the notifications

Sometimes you want to see that a notification arrived — a badge on the app icon, or a silent alert in your notification center — but you do not want to hear a sound. This is useful if you are in a meeting and need to know something came in without disturbing others.

Open System Settings and click "Notifications". Find the app and click it. Scroll down and look for "Sound". Click the dropdown menu next to "Sound" and select "None". The app will still send notifications and they will still appear in your notification center, but your Mac will not play any sound when they arrive.

You can also turn off all notification sounds at once by going to System Settings, clicking "Sound" in the left sidebar, and scrolling down to "Notification volume". Drag this slider all the way to the left. This silences every notification sound on your Mac but does not hide the notifications themselves — they will still appear on screen and in your notification center.

Stop notifications from showing on your lock screen

Notifications that appear on your lock screen (the screen you see before you log in) are controlled separately from notifications that appear after you unlock your Mac. If you want to see notifications when you are using your Mac but not when it is locked, you can turn off lock screen notifications for specific apps.

Open System Settings and click "Notifications". Find the app and click it. Look for "Show on Lock Screen" and turn it off. That app's notifications will no longer appear when your Mac is locked, but they will still appear when you are using it.

If you want to turn off lock screen notifications for all apps at once, go to System Settings, click "Lock Screen" in the left sidebar, and look for "Show notifications on lock screen". Turn this toggle off and no app notifications will appear on your lock screen anymore.

Create a custom Focus mode for work or sleep

The built-in Focus modes work for most people, but you can also create your own. This is useful if you want a Focus mode that silences only certain apps but allows others through. Open System Settings and click "Focus" in the left sidebar. Click the plus sign at the bottom left to create a new Focus mode.

Give your mode a name — "Deep Work", "Family Time", or whatever makes sense for you. Choose an icon and color if you want. Click "Customize" and you will see a list of apps. Toggle off any app that you want to stay silent during this Focus mode. Toggle on any app that you want to allow notifications from. You can also set which contacts are allowed to reach you — for example, allowing calls from family but not from work during your personal time.

Once you have set up your custom Focus mode, you can add a schedule the same way you would for a built-in mode. Click "Add Schedule" and choose when it should turn on automatically. Your Mac will now switch to this mode at those times and silence the apps you chose.

Silence notifications from Messages and Mail specifically

Messages and Mail often send the most notifications, so they deserve their own section. For Messages, open the Messages app itself (not System Settings). Click "Messages" in the menu bar at the top, then "Settings". Click "Notifications" and you will see options specific to Messages — you can turn off notifications for new messages, group chats, or specific people. This gives you more control than the system-wide notification settings.

For Mail, open the Mail app and click "Mail" in the menu bar, then "Settings". Click "Notifications" and you can turn off notifications for new mail, VIP mail, or mail from specific accounts. You can also choose to be notified only for mail from your VIP list, which is useful if you want to know about important messages but not every email that arrives.

These app-specific settings work alongside the system-wide notification settings in System Settings. If you turn off notifications in both places, the app will definitely not send any notifications. If you turn them on in the app but off in System Settings, the system-wide setting wins and you will not get notifications.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will turning on Do Not Disturb stop phone calls from coming through?

Do Not Disturb stops notifications but not phone calls or FaceTime calls. If you want to block calls too, you need to use a different Focus mode or create a custom one. When you set up a Focus mode, you can choose which contacts are allowed to call you — everyone, favorites only, or no one.

Can I silence notifications from just one contact in Messages?

Yes. Open Messages, find the conversation with that contact, right-click it, and select "Mute Notifications". You can choose to mute for one hour, one day, or permanently. The conversation will stay in your inbox but you will not get notifications when they message you.

Why do I still hear notification sounds even though I turned off sound in System Settings?

Your Mac's overall volume control is separate from notification sound settings. Check that your Mac's volume is not muted — look at the speaker icon in the menu bar. Also make sure you turned off sound for the specific app in Notifications settings, not just the overall notification volume slider.

Do Focus modes work on my iPhone and iPad too?

Yes. Focus modes sync across all your Apple devices if you are signed in with the same Apple ID. When you turn on a Focus mode on your Mac, it turns on on your iPhone and iPad at the same time. You can also set different schedules for each device if you want.

What happens to notifications when a Focus mode is on — do they disappear?

Notifications still arrive while a Focus mode is on, but they do not show up on your screen or make sounds. They go directly to your notification center. When you turn off the Focus mode, you can see all the notifications that came in while it was on by opening the notification center.