Turn on birthday notifications in your notification settings

Facebook sends birthday notifications through your regular notification channels — the bell icon on your desktop, push notifications on your phone, or email, depending on what you have turned on. To receive birthday reminders, you need to enable the specific birthday notification setting in your account.

The setting lives in your notification preferences, separate from your general notification on/off switch. You can turn birthday notifications on while keeping other notifications off, or vice versa. The steps differ slightly between desktop and mobile, but both take about one minute.

Key Takeaways

  • Birthday notifications are a separate setting from your general notification preferences, so you can control them independently.
  • On desktop, go to Settings and Privacy > Settings > Notifications > Birthday Reminders and toggle the setting on.
  • On mobile, open your menu, tap Settings and Privacy > Settings > Notifications > Birthday Reminders and toggle on.
  • Once enabled, you will receive notifications on the birthday itself through whatever notification method you have active (push, email, or in-app).
  • You can turn birthday notifications back off at any time using the same steps.

Enable birthday notifications on desktop

Open Facebook in a web browser and look for the downward arrow or three horizontal lines in the top right corner of your screen. Click it to open your account menu. Select Settings and Privacy, then click Settings.

On the left side of the page, find and click Notifications. Scroll down until you see Birthday Reminders. Click the toggle next to it to turn birthday notifications on. The toggle will turn blue when it is active. You can close the page — the change saves automatically.

Enable birthday notifications on mobile

Open the Facebook app and tap the three horizontal lines (called a menu icon) in the bottom right corner of your screen. Scroll down and tap Settings and Privacy, then tap Settings.

Scroll down to find Notifications and tap it. Look for Birthday Reminders in the list. Tap the toggle next to it to turn it on. The toggle will turn blue when birthday notifications are active. You can go back to your feed — the change saves right away.

Where birthday notifications appear

Once you turn on birthday notifications, Facebook will send you a reminder on each friend's birthday. The notification appears as a push notification on your phone (if you have push notifications turned on), as an email (if you have email notifications turned on), or as an alert in the bell icon on your desktop.

The notification usually arrives sometime during the day of the birthday, not at a specific time. If you have all notifications turned off in your phone's settings, you will not see push notifications even if the birthday reminder setting is on — the phone's master notification setting overrides Facebook's individual settings.

Turn off birthday notifications if you change your mind

You can turn birthday notifications off the same way you turned them on. Go back to Settings > Notifications > Birthday Reminders and toggle the switch off. The toggle will turn gray when the setting is inactive.

Turning off birthday notifications does not affect any other notification settings. You will still receive notifications about messages, comments, friend requests, and other activity if those are turned on. Birthday reminders are completely separate.

What to do if you are not receiving birthday notifications

If the birthday reminder setting is on but you are not getting notifications, check your phone's master notification settings. On iPhone, go to Settings > Notifications > Facebook and make sure notifications are allowed. On Android, go to Settings > Apps > Facebook > Notifications and toggle notifications on.

Also check whether you have email notifications turned on in Facebook if you expected to receive an email reminder. Some people turn off all email from Facebook but keep push notifications on, or the reverse. You can control email and push separately in your notification settings — look for options labeled by notification type rather than just the on/off toggle for birthday reminders.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I get birthday notifications for only certain friends?

No, the birthday notification setting is all-or-nothing. When you turn it on, you receive notifications for all friends' birthdays. Facebook does not offer a way to pick specific friends for birthday reminders. If you want reminders for only a few people, you would need to set those reminders outside Facebook using your phone's calendar or a reminder app.

What time of day will I get the birthday notification?

Facebook does not let you choose a specific time. The notification arrives sometime during the birthday itself, but the exact time varies. If you need a reminder at a particular hour, set a separate reminder in your phone's calendar app instead.

Will my friends know if I get a birthday notification?

No, your friends cannot see whether you have birthday notifications turned on or off. The setting is private to your account. Whether you post on their wall, send a message, or do nothing is entirely up to you — Facebook does not tell them how you found out it was their birthday.

Do I need to turn on birthday notifications separately on my phone and computer?

No, the setting applies across all devices. When you turn on birthday notifications on your phone, they are also on when you use Facebook on your computer, and vice versa. You only need to change the setting once.

What if I turned on birthday notifications but I am not seeing them in my notifications list?

Birthday notifications may not show up in your notification history the same way other notifications do. They appear as alerts or emails in the moment, but Facebook may not keep them in your notification feed afterward. Check your email inbox if you have email notifications turned on — birthday reminders often go there instead of appearing as in-app alerts.