Where to find notification settings on Facebook

Facebook sends notifications through three channels: your phone (as app alerts), your email inbox, and your web browser. Each one has its own on-off switch, and you control them separately. You do not have to turn off all three at once — you can silence your phone alerts while keeping email summaries, for example.

All notification settings live in one place: the Settings menu inside Facebook. On your phone, tap the three horizontal lines (called a menu icon) at the bottom right, scroll down to Settings & Privacy, then tap Settings. On a computer, click the downward arrow at the top right of any Facebook page, then select Settings and Privacy, then Settings.

Key Takeaways

  • Facebook stores notification preferences in one Settings menu, but you control phone alerts, email, and browser notifications separately.
  • Turning off notifications at the source (in Facebook Settings) is more reliable than trying to silence them through your phone's settings alone.
  • You can keep some notifications (like messages from close friends) while turning off others (like post likes or group activity).
  • Email notification settings are often the easiest to change because you can unsubscribe from individual email types without opening Facebook at all.

Turning off phone app notifications

Open Facebook Settings, then tap Notifications. You will see a list of notification types: Messages, Friend Requests, Comments, Likes, Tags, and others. Each one has a toggle switch next to it. Tap the switch to turn it off. The switch will turn gray when it is off.

If you want to keep some notifications but not others, you can turn off individual types. For example, you might want to see messages but not likes. Tap off the ones you do not want to see. Facebook will stop sending those to your phone when ready.

Some notification types have a second layer of control. If you tap on "Messages" instead of just toggling it, you can choose to get notifications only from people you know, or only from close friends. This is useful if you want to stay reachable but reduce noise.

Stopping email notifications

Facebook sends emails about comments, friend requests, group activity, and event invitations. You can turn these off in Settings under Notifications, or you can unsubscribe directly from the emails themselves — often faster if you already have one open.

At the bottom of any Facebook notification email, there is an "Unsubscribe" link. Click it, and Facebook will ask what type of email you want to stop receiving. You can unsubscribe from that one type without touching your other settings. This works even if you have not logged into Facebook in weeks.

If you want to control email notifications from inside Facebook, go to Settings, then Notifications, then scroll down to Email. You will see checkboxes for different email types: Comments, Likes, Friend Requests, Event Invitations, Group Activity, and others. Uncheck the boxes for emails you do not want to receive.

Disabling browser notifications

Browser notifications are the pop-up alerts that appear on your computer screen even when Facebook is not open. They work on Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. To turn them off, go to Facebook Settings, then Notifications, then scroll to Browser Notifications and toggle it off.

If you have already allowed Facebook to send browser notifications, your web browser itself also has a record of that permission. You can revoke it there as a backup. In Chrome, click the lock icon next to the web address at the top of the page, then click Notifications, then choose Block. In Firefox, go to Settings, then Privacy, search for Notifications, and remove facebook.com from the list.

What happens when you turn notifications off

Turning off a notification type means Facebook will not alert you about it — but the activity still happens. If someone comments on your post and you have comments notifications off, the comment will still be there when you open Facebook. You just will not get a ping about it.

You can always turn notifications back on the same way you turned them off. The settings are not permanent. If you realize you want to see messages again but not likes, you can toggle messages back on and leave likes off.

Notification settings that are straightforward to miss

Facebook has a few notification controls hidden in less obvious places. If you go to your profile and look at your friends list, you can click the bell icon next to a friend's name to change how you are notified about their activity. You can choose to see all their posts, only important posts, or no notifications from them at all.

Groups and Pages also have their own notification settings. When you join a group or follow a page, click the bell icon next to the name and choose how often you want to hear from it: All Posts, Highlights, or Off. This is faster than turning off the entire group or page.

Why Facebook keeps sending notifications even after you turn them off

If you turned off notifications in Facebook Settings but still see them, check three things. First, make sure you toggled the right notification type — "Likes" and "Comments" are separate switches. Second, check your phone's app settings. Go to your phone's Settings app, find Facebook, and make sure notifications are allowed there too. Facebook Settings control what Facebook tries to send, but your phone's settings control whether your phone actually delivers them.

Third, if you are seeing browser notifications, check your web browser's notification permissions. Facebook Settings turns off Facebook's requests, but if your browser still has permission granted, you may need to revoke it in the browser itself. This is most common if you allowed notifications a long time ago and forgot about it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I turn off notifications from one person without blocking them?

Yes. Go to their profile, click the three dots at the top, and select "Turn off notifications from [name]". They will not know you did this, and you will still be friends. You can turn notifications back on the same way.

What if I want to keep notifications on but make them less frequent?

Facebook does not have a "less frequent" setting for most notification types. Your options are on or off. However, you can turn off specific types (like Likes) while keeping others (like Messages) on, which reduces overall volume without going silent.

Do notification settings sync across my phone, tablet, and computer?

Yes. When you change a notification setting in Facebook Settings, it applies to all devices where you are logged in. If you turn off comments notifications on your phone, you will not get them on your computer either.

If I turn off all notifications, will Facebook stop collecting data about me?

No. Notification settings only control what alerts you receive. Facebook still tracks your activity, sees what you click, and stores information about your behavior whether notifications are on or off. Turning off notifications is about reducing interruptions, not about privacy.

Can I turn off notifications temporarily and turn them back on later?

Yes. All notification settings are toggles you can switch on and off anytime. There is no waiting period or confirmation required. You can turn notifications off for a week and turn them back on whenever you want.