Where Chrome notifications live and how to shut them off
Chrome notifications are messages that pop up on your screen even when you are not looking at a website — they come from sites you have given permission to contact you. You can turn them off in three places: for all sites at once in Chrome's main settings, for individual websites one by one, or by removing permission from a site that keeps bothering you. The fastest route depends on whether you want silence everywhere or just from specific places.
Most people find notifications annoying because they interrupt work, pile up without warning, and come from sites you visited once months ago. Chrome lets you take back control without uninstalling anything or changing your browser.
Key Takeaways
- You can disable all Chrome notifications at once by going to Settings > Privacy and security > Site settings > Notifications and toggling the master switch off.
- To silence notifications from one website only, click the lock icon next to the web address, find Notifications in the dropdown, and change it to Block.
- Notifications that are already turned on for a site will keep coming until you change that site's permission — turning off the master switch does not retroactively silence old permissions.
- Chrome on your phone has the same notification controls in Settings > Site settings > Notifications, though the exact steps vary slightly between Android and iPhone.
Turn off all notifications at once in Chrome settings
Open Chrome and click the three vertical dots in the top right corner. Select Settings, then Privacy and security on the left side. Click Site settings, then scroll down and click Notifications.
You will see a toggle at the top that says "Notifications" with a switch next to it. If the switch is blue and to the right, notifications are on. Click it to turn it off — the switch will turn gray and move to the left. This stops Chrome from showing any new notification requests from websites you visit.
This does not delete notifications that are already queued up or waiting to send — those may still arrive. It only prevents new sites from asking permission to send them going forward. If you have already said yes to notifications from specific sites, those permissions stay in place until you remove them individually.
Block notifications from a single website
Go to the website that is sending notifications you do not want. Look at the address bar at the top of the page — on the left side, you will see a small lock icon (or sometimes a circle with an "i" in it). Click that icon.
A dropdown menu will appear. Look for "Notifications" in the list. If it says "Allow", click on it and change it to "Block". If it already says "Block", the site should not be able to send you notifications anymore. Close the dropdown and refresh the page if you want to confirm the change took effect.
This method works for any website, whether you gave permission years ago or just now. The change takes effect immediately, and the site cannot ask you again for permission unless you manually change it back to "Allow".
Remove notification permission from sites you already allowed
If you have already said yes to notifications from a site and want to take that back, go to Chrome Settings > Privacy and security > Site settings > Notifications. Under "Allow", you will see a list of every website you have given permission to.
Find the site you want to silence. Click the three dots next to its name and select Remove. The site will no longer be able to send you notifications, and it will have to ask permission again if it wants to in the future.
You can remove multiple sites at once by clicking the checkbox next to each one, then clicking the trash icon that appears at the top of the list. This is faster if you have dozens of old permissions piled up.
Stop notification requests from appearing in the first place
Many websites ask for notification permission the moment you land on them, before you have even read anything. You can tell Chrome to automatically block these requests without showing you a popup.
Go to Settings > Privacy and security > Site settings > Notifications. Under "Default behavior", click the dropdown and select "Block". Now when a site tries to ask for permission, Chrome will refuse silently instead of showing you a dialog box. You can still manually allow notifications for specific sites later if you change your mind.
Manage notifications on Chrome for Android and iPhone
On Android, open Chrome and tap the three dots in the bottom right. Go to Settings > Site settings > Notifications. You will see the same toggle to turn all notifications off, and the same list of sites you have allowed. The steps are identical to the desktop version.
On iPhone, Chrome notifications work differently because Apple controls how apps send alerts. Open Chrome, tap the three dots at the bottom right, go to Settings > Site settings > Notifications, and toggle off the master switch. However, you may also need to go to your iPhone's Settings app > Notifications > Chrome and turn off "Allow Notifications" there, because Chrome on iPhone relies on the system-level permission as well.
What to do if a site keeps asking for notification permission
Some websites are programmed to ask for notification permission repeatedly, even after you have said no. If this happens, go to the site's notification settings (using the lock icon method above) and make sure it is set to "Block", not just "Ask" or "Default". The "Block" setting is permanent and prevents the site from asking again.
If a site is still asking after you have blocked it, clear your browser cache and cookies for that site. Go to Settings > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data. Set the time range to "All time", check "Cookies and other site data", and type the website name into the search box. Click Clear data. This removes the site's stored information and sometimes resets its permission requests.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will turning off notifications stop me from seeing messages on the website itself?
No. Turning off notifications only stops the popups that appear on your screen outside the browser. Messages, alerts, and chat boxes that appear inside the website will still work normally. You are only blocking the system-level alerts that interrupt you while you are doing other things.
Can I turn off notifications for one tab but keep them for another?
Not exactly. Notification permissions are tied to the website, not the tab. If you block notifications for a site, they stay blocked no matter how many tabs you open from that site. You would have to change the permission back to "Allow" to receive them again.
What happens to notifications I already received before turning them off?
Notifications that have already arrived on your screen will stay in your notification center until you dismiss them manually. Turning off notifications only stops new ones from coming. You may need to clear your notification center by hand if you want them gone immediately.
Do I need to restart Chrome after changing notification settings?
No. Changes to notification permissions take effect right away. You do not need to close and reopen Chrome or refresh the page, though refreshing can help confirm the change worked.
Can websites see that I have blocked their notifications?
Websites cannot directly see whether you have blocked them, but they can tell if you refuse a permission request. Some sites may show you a message like "Enable notifications to stay updated" if they detect you have said no, but they cannot track whether you blocked them in settings versus just declining the popup.