Where to find Steam notification settings

Steam notifications appear in three places: inside the Steam client itself, as pop-ups on your screen while you play, and as system notifications on your computer. To turn them off, you need to open the Steam client and go to Steam menu > Settings > Notifications. This is the central control panel for all notification types.

Once you're in the Notifications tab, you'll see checkboxes for different notification categories. Each one controls whether Steam sends you that type of alert. You don't have to turn off all notifications — you can disable only the ones that bother you and leave the rest on.

Key Takeaways

  • Steam notifications are managed in one place: Steam menu > Settings > Notifications in the client.
  • You can turn off individual notification types (friends online, game updates, chat messages) without disabling all of them.
  • In-game notifications that pop up while you play are controlled separately from system notifications in your Windows or Mac settings.
  • Turning off notifications does not affect your ability to receive messages or see friend activity — it only stops the alerts.

Turning off specific notification types

Inside the Notifications settings, you'll see several categories. Friends coming online is usually the first checkbox — uncheck it if you don't want alerts when people on your friends list log in. Friends going offline is a separate toggle below it. Chat messages controls whether you get notified when someone sends you a message. Trade offers alerts you when someone offers to trade items with you.

Scroll down to see more options: Items received (when you get drops or items), Major updates (when games you own get big patches), and News (announcements from games and Steam itself). Each one has its own checkbox. Uncheck whichever ones you want to silence.

If you want to keep notifications but make them quieter, look for the Notification volume slider near the bottom of the tab. You can lower the sound without turning off the alerts entirely.

Stopping pop-ups while you're playing

Even if you leave notifications on in Steam settings, you can prevent them from interrupting your game. In the same Notifications tab, look for In-Game Notifications or Show notifications while in-game. Unchecking this box means Steam will hold onto notifications and show them to you only after you close the game or switch away from it.

This is useful if you want to stay informed but don't want pop-ups covering your screen during gameplay. The notifications will still arrive — they'll just wait until you're done playing.

Disabling system-level notifications

Steam can also send notifications through your operating system. On Windows, these appear as toast notifications in the bottom right corner of your screen, even when Steam is minimized. To turn these off, go to Settings > System > Notifications & actions and scroll down to find Steam in the list of apps. Toggle off Show notifications from this app.

On Mac, open System Preferences > Notifications, find Steam in the left sidebar, and change the alert style to None. This prevents macOS from showing any Steam notifications at all, even if Steam's own settings have them turned on.

Turning off notifications for a single game

Some games send their own notifications separate from Steam's main alerts. If a specific game keeps notifying you, right-click it in your Steam library and select Properties. Look for a Notifications or Alerts tab within that game's settings. Not all games have this option, but many do.

If the game doesn't have its own notification settings, the notifications are coming from Steam itself (usually the "Major updates" or "News" category), so turning those off in the main Notifications tab will stop them.

What happens when you turn notifications off

Turning off notifications does not change how Steam works. You'll still receive messages, see when friends log in, and get trade offers — you just won't be alerted about them. When you open Steam or the game, you can still see all the activity that happened while you were away. Notifications are purely about the alerts; they don't affect the underlying features.

If you turn off friend notifications but later want to know when a specific person logs in, you can add them to a custom group and enable notifications just for that group. This requires going back to Settings > Notifications and looking for Friends list groups options, though not all Steam accounts have this feature available.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will turning off notifications stop me from receiving messages?

No. Turning off chat message notifications means you won't get an alert when someone sends you a message, but the message will still arrive and sit in your inbox. The next time you open Steam or check your messages, you'll see it there.

Can I turn off notifications for just one friend?

Steam doesn't have a built-in way to mute notifications from a single friend. Your options are to turn off all friend notifications, or to unfriend or block the person. If you want to stay friends but not see their activity, you can remove them from your friends list and add them back later.

Why am I still getting notifications after I turned them off?

Check your operating system settings. Windows and Mac can override Steam's settings and send notifications anyway. Go to your system notification settings and make sure Steam is turned off there. Also verify you're looking at the right tab in Steam — some notifications come from individual games, not from Steam itself.

Do I need to restart Steam for notification changes to take effect?

No. Changes to notification settings take effect immediately. If you just turned something off and still see notifications, wait a few seconds or close and reopen the Notifications tab to make sure the change was saved.