The fastest way to silence all notifications

Open Control Center by clicking the icon in the top-right corner of your screen (it looks like a rectangle divided into sections), then click Focus. Select Do Not Disturb from the list. Your Mac will stop showing notifications when ready, though apps will still send them in the background — they will appear once you turn Do Not Disturb off.

Do Not Disturb is the quickest option if you need silence for the next hour or two. If you want to mute notifications for longer, or only from certain apps, the other methods below give you more control.

Key Takeaways

  • Do Not Disturb in Control Center silences all notifications when ready but does not delete them — they reappear when you turn it off.
  • You can set Do Not Disturb to turn on automatically at certain times or when you are using specific apps, so you do not have to remember to enable it.
  • To mute just one app instead of everything, go to System Settings, find Notifications, select the app, and turn off notification badges and sounds.
  • Scheduled Focus modes let you create custom rules — for example, "Work" mode can silence everything except calls from your boss or messages from family.

Turning Do Not Disturb on and off from Control Center

Control Center is the fastest way to toggle Do Not Disturb. Click the Control Center icon in the top-right corner of your menu bar (the rectangle made of small squares), then look for the Focus button. Click it, and a menu will drop down showing your available Focus modes.

Click Do Not Disturb. A checkmark will appear next to it, and notifications will stop appearing on your screen. The icon in your menu bar will change to show that Do Not Disturb is active. To turn it off, open Control Center again, click Focus, and click Do Not Disturb a second time to uncheck it.

By default, Do Not Disturb stays on until you manually turn it off. If you want it to expire automatically, click and hold the Do Not Disturb button in Control Center — a menu will appear letting you choose "For 1 Hour", "Until This Evening", or "Until Tomorrow Morning".

Setting Do Not Disturb to turn on automatically

If you find yourself muting notifications at the same time every day, you can set Do Not Disturb to set up on a schedule. Open System Settings (the gear icon in your Applications folder or Dock), then click Focus in the left sidebar.

Click Do Not Disturb from the list on the left. Under "Turn on automatically", you will see options to set a time range — for example, 9 PM to 7 AM. Toggle the switch on, then set your start and end times. Do Not Disturb will now set up at those times without you having to do anything.

You can also set Do Not Disturb to turn on when you open a specific app. In the same Focus settings, scroll down to "Turn on automatically" and click the + button next to "Apps". Select an app from the list — for example, if you choose a game or video app, Do Not Disturb will set up whenever you launch it.

Muting notifications from a single app

If you want to keep notifications from most apps but silence just one, go to System Settings and click Notifications in the left sidebar. You will see a list of all your apps. Find the app you want to mute and click it.

You now have several options. Toggle off Allow notifications to stop that app from sending any notifications at all. If you want to keep notifications but just remove the sound, toggle off Sound. If you want to hide the notification badges (the red circles with numbers on app icons), toggle off Badges.

Most people choose to turn off Sound while leaving Allow notifications on — that way you can still see that the app sent something if you look at Notification Center, but you will not hear a chime or see a banner pop up on your screen.

Creating a custom Focus mode for work or other activities

Focus modes let you create custom rules for different situations. For example, you might create a "Work" mode that silences everything except messages from your boss, or a "Sleep" mode that blocks all notifications except emergency calls from family.

Open System Settings and click Focus. Click the + button at the bottom of the Focus list on the left. Give your new mode a name — "Work", "Gym", "Movie", or whatever fits. Click Create.

Now you can customize this mode. Under "Allow notifications and calls from", click Customize. You can choose to allow notifications from specific people (like your manager or family), specific apps, or both. You can also set this mode to turn on automatically at certain times or when you open certain apps, just like Do Not Disturb.

Once you have set up your custom mode, you can set up it from Control Center the same way you would set up Do Not Disturb — click the Focus button and select your custom mode from the list.

Checking notifications you missed while Do Not Disturb was on

When Do Not Disturb is active, notifications still arrive — they just do not appear on your screen or make sounds. To see what you missed, click the Notification Center icon in the top-right corner of your menu bar (it looks like three horizontal lines in a rectangle), or swipe left from the right edge of your trackpad with two fingers.

Notification Center shows all the notifications that arrived while you were in Do Not Disturb mode, organized by app. You can click on any notification to open that app, or swipe left on a notification to delete it. Once you turn Do Not Disturb off, new notifications will start appearing on your screen again as they arrive.

Muting notifications on your lock screen only

If you want to see notifications when you unlock your Mac but hide them from your lock screen, you can adjust this in Notification Center settings. Open System Settings, click Notifications, and select an app from the list.

Scroll down to Lock Screen and toggle off Show on Lock Screen. That app's notifications will no longer appear when your Mac is locked, but they will still show up once you unlock it. This is useful if you want to avoid distractions while your Mac is sitting idle but still want to see messages when you are actively using it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will people know I have Do Not Disturb on?

No. Do Not Disturb only affects what you see and hear on your Mac — it does not send any signal to other people. Apps like Messages and Mail will still receive messages and emails normally; they just will not notify you until you turn Do Not Disturb off.

Can I set Do Not Disturb to allow calls from specific people?

Do Not Disturb blocks all notifications, including calls. If you want to allow calls from certain people while silencing everything else, create a custom Focus mode instead. Open System Settings, click Focus, create a new mode, and under "Allow notifications and calls from" select the people you want to reach you.

What happens to notifications I receive while Do Not Disturb is on?

They are saved and will appear in Notification Center. Open Notification Center by clicking the icon in the top-right corner of your menu bar, and you will see all the notifications that arrived while Do Not Disturb was active. Once you turn Do Not Disturb off, new notifications will start appearing on your screen again.

Can I mute notifications from one app but not others?

Yes. Go to System Settings, click Notifications, select the app you want to mute, and toggle off Sound, Badges, or Allow notifications. You can customize each app separately — some can have sound on while others are silent.

Does Do Not Disturb stop my Mac from receiving emails and messages?

No. Do Not Disturb only stops notifications from appearing on your screen and playing sounds. Your email and messages still arrive in the background. When you turn Do Not Disturb off, you will see all the messages that came in while it was on.