Turn off notifications in Facebook Settings

The fastest way to stop Facebook notifications is through your Settings menu. Open Facebook on your phone or computer, click the downward arrow in the top right corner, select Settings and privacy, then Settings. From there, click Notifications in the left sidebar.

You will see a list of notification types — things like comments on your posts, friend requests, messages, and activity from pages you follow. Each one has an on/off toggle. Turn off the ones you do not want to see. You can also choose to receive notifications only when you are actively using Facebook, or turn them off entirely for specific types of activity.

On mobile, the path is slightly different. Open the Facebook app, tap the three horizontal lines (the menu icon) at the bottom right, scroll down to Settings and privacy, tap Settings, then Notifications. The toggles work the same way.

Key Takeaways

  • Facebook notifications are controlled individually — you can turn off comments but keep messages, or silence all notifications from a specific person.
  • The Settings menu lets you choose whether notifications arrive on your phone, your email, or both, and you can set quiet hours when Facebook will not bother you.
  • Muting a person or page stops their notifications without unfriending or unfollowing them, and they will not know you muted them.
  • Browser notifications (the pop-ups that appear on your computer screen) are controlled separately from in-app notifications and require a different setting.

Silence notifications from specific people or pages

If you want to keep Facebook notifications in general but stop hearing from one particular person or page, use the mute feature. Find a post from that person or page, click the three dots in the top right corner of the post, and select Mute [person's name] or Mute [page name]. You can choose to mute them for 30 days or indefinitely.

Muting is different from unfriending or unfollowing. The person remains your friend, and their posts still appear in your feed — you just will not get notifications when they post or comment. They have no way of knowing you muted them.

You can also mute notifications from a specific conversation. Open a message thread, click the information icon (the "i" in a circle), and toggle off Notifications for that chat.

Turn off browser notifications on your computer

Facebook can send notifications that pop up on your computer screen even when you are not on the Facebook website. These are called browser notifications, and they are controlled separately from your in-app settings.

On Windows, open Facebook in your browser, click the downward arrow in the top right, go to Settings and privacy > Settings > Notifications, then scroll down to Where you receive notifications. Under Browser notifications, click Turn off. On Mac, the steps are the same.

If you want to keep browser notifications but reduce how often they appear, you can also adjust the frequency. In that same section, look for Notification frequency and choose Fewer notifications or No notifications.

Control email notifications from Facebook

Facebook can also send you emails about activity on your account — new friend requests, comments on old posts, or suggestions for pages to follow. These are controlled in the same Notifications settings menu.

Scroll down to Where you receive notifications and look for Email. You will see a list of email notification types. Click the toggle next to each one to turn it off. If you want to receive some emails but not others — for example, you want to know about messages but not friend suggestions — you can turn off individual types without silencing all email notifications.

Facebook also sends marketing and promotional emails. To stop those, scroll to the bottom of any Facebook email and click Unsubscribe. You can also go to Settings > Notifications and look for Other notifications to turn off promotional content.

Set quiet hours so notifications stop at night

If you want to receive notifications during the day but not while you are sleeping, use quiet hours. Go to Settings and privacy > Settings > Notifications, then look for Quiet hours. Toggle it on and set the time you want notifications to stop (for example, 10 p.m.) and the time you want them to resume (for example, 8 a.m.).

During quiet hours, Facebook will not send you any notifications, but they will still be waiting for you when you open the app. Nothing is deleted — you will just see them all at once when quiet hours end.

Turn off notifications for specific notification types

Facebook breaks notifications into categories, and you can turn off some while keeping others. In Settings > Notifications, you will see options like:

  • Comments — when someone comments on your posts or a post you commented on
  • Likes and reactions — when someone reacts to your posts or comments
  • Friend requests — when someone sends you a friend request
  • Messages — when someone sends you a direct message
  • Group activity — when someone posts in a group you are in
  • Event invitations — when someone invites you to an event
  • Page suggestions — when Facebook thinks you might like a page

Each category has its own toggle. Turn off the ones that distract you most. Many people keep messages and friend requests on but turn off likes, reactions, and page suggestions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will people know if I turn off notifications from them?

No. Turning off notifications is private — the person will not receive any alert or notification that you muted them or changed your settings. They can still message you and post normally; you simply will not be notified.

Can I turn off notifications just on my phone but keep them on my computer?

Yes. Go to Settings > Notifications and look for Where you receive notifications. You can toggle notifications on or off for your phone, your computer, and email separately. This means you could receive notifications only on your phone, or only on your computer, or on both.

What if I turn off all notifications and then want to turn them back on?

Go back to Settings > Notifications and toggle the notification types back on. You can also unmute a person or page by finding one of their posts, clicking the three dots, and selecting Unmute. There is no penalty for turning notifications on and off as many times as you want.

Do quiet hours delete notifications or just hide them?

Quiet hours hide notifications temporarily — they do not delete them. When quiet hours end, all the notifications you received during that time will appear in your notification center. You can also manually check your notifications at any time by clicking the bell icon.