Turn off Facebook emails in your account settings

Facebook sends you emails about comments, friend requests, messages, and activity on your posts. You can turn off any or all of these emails without leaving Facebook or closing your account. The fastest way is to go to your Settings & Privacy menu, then Settings, then find Notifications in the left sidebar.

Once you're in Notifications, click Email. You'll see a list of every type of email Facebook can send you — things like "Comments on your posts", "Friend requests", "Messages", and "Suggested for you". Each one has a toggle switch next to it. Turn off the ones you don't want to receive.

You don't have to turn them all off at once. Many people keep emails about direct messages but turn off everything else. You can change these settings anytime, so if you realize later you want to hear about something, you can turn it back on.

Key Takeaways

  • Go to Settings & Privacy, then Settings, then Notifications, then Email to see all the email types Facebook can send you.
  • Each email type has its own toggle switch — you can turn off only the ones bothering you and leave the rest on.
  • If you get an email from Facebook that you don't recognize, you can unsubscribe from that specific type using the link at the bottom of the email itself.
  • Turning off email notifications does not affect the notifications you see inside Facebook when you open the app or website.

Unsubscribe from individual emails using the link at the bottom

Every email Facebook sends you has an unsubscribe link at the very bottom. If you get an email about something specific — like a comment on an old post — you can click that link to turn off just that type of email without going into Settings.

The unsubscribe link usually says something like "Turn off these notifications" or "Manage your notification settings". Clicking it takes you straight to the Email Notifications page in Settings, where you can toggle off that specific notification type. This is useful if you get one email that annoys you and want to stop it right away without digging through all your settings.

Check your email filters if you still see Facebook emails

If you've turned off email notifications in Facebook but emails keep arriving, check whether your email provider is filtering them. Some email services automatically sort Facebook messages into a folder, and you might not realize they're still coming in.

In Gmail, search for "from:facebook" to see if Facebook emails are going to your inbox or a folder like Promotions or Updates. In Outlook, check your Junk folder and your other folders. If Facebook emails are landing somewhere you don't see them, you can create a rule to delete them automatically or move them to a specific folder. That way they won't clutter your main inbox, but you'll know where to find them if you ever need to.

Understand the difference between email and in-app notifications

Turning off email notifications only stops the emails. You'll still get notifications inside Facebook when you open the app or website — the little red numbers on the bell icon, the messages in your message requests, and the activity on your posts. If you want to turn those off too, that's a separate setting.

To control in-app notifications, go back to Settings, then Notifications, but this time click In-App instead of Email. You can turn off notifications for comments, likes, messages, and other activity the same way. Many people turn off emails but leave in-app notifications on, so they only see activity when they're actually using Facebook.

Stop notifications from a specific person or page

If one person or page is sending you too many notifications, you can mute them without unfriending or unfollowing. Go to their profile, click the three dots menu, and select Mute. You can choose to mute their posts, their stories, or both. You'll still be friends or followers, but you won't see their activity in your feed or get notifications about it.

Muting is different from blocking or unfriending — the person doesn't know you've muted them, and you can unmute anytime. This is useful if someone you care about just posts a lot, or if a page you follow sends too many notifications.

What to do if you're getting emails from a hacked account

If you're getting Facebook emails but you haven't used Facebook in years, or if the emails mention activity you didn't do, your account may have been hacked. Check by logging into Facebook and looking at your login activity. Go to Settings, then Security and Login, and scroll down to Where you're logged in. You'll see a list of devices and locations that have accessed your account recently.

If you see logins from places you don't recognize, change your password immediately. Make it long and use a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols. If you can't log in, use the "Forgot Password" link on the login page. Facebook will send you a recovery code to your email address. Once you're back in, go to Security and Login again and click Log out of all sessions to kick out anyone else who might be using your account.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will turning off email notifications delete my Facebook account?

No. Turning off email notifications only stops the emails Facebook sends you. Your account stays active, and you can still use Facebook normally. You can turn the emails back on anytime by going back to Settings and toggling them on again.

Can I turn off emails from Facebook but keep getting messages from my friends?

Yes. In the Email Notifications settings, you can turn off "Messages" to stop getting emails when friends message you, or you can leave it on. You control each notification type separately, so you can keep some and turn off others.

What if I want to stop all Facebook emails but keep my account?

Go to Settings, then Notifications, then Email, and turn off every toggle switch. Facebook will stop sending you emails, but your account will still exist and you can log in anytime. If you change your mind later, you can turn the emails back on.

Do I have to use the Facebook app to change these settings?

No. You can change email notification settings on the Facebook website or in the app — the settings are the same either way. Go to Settings, then Notifications, then Email on whichever one you use.

Why am I still getting Facebook emails after turning them off?

Check two things: first, make sure you actually saved the changes — sometimes the toggle switches don't stick if you don't wait for the page to load. Second, check your email provider's filters and folders. Gmail, Outlook, and others sometimes sort Facebook emails into Promotions or Updates folders, so they're still arriving but you're not seeing them in your inbox.