Turn off notifications in Facebook's settings, not just on your phone
Facebook sends notifications through three separate channels: your phone (push notifications), your email inbox, and inside the Facebook app itself. Turning off one does not turn off the others. Most people who say "I turned off Facebook notifications" have only silenced one channel, which is why messages still arrive by email or pop up on their lock screen.
The fastest way to stop almost all Facebook notifications is to go into Facebook's own notification settings, not your phone's settings. Your phone's notification controls can silence the sound and banner, but Facebook's settings let you choose which types of activity trigger a notification at all — likes, comments, friend requests, event invitations, and dozens of other categories.
If you want to keep some notifications (say, direct messages from close friends) but silence others (like when someone likes your old photo), you need Facebook's settings. If you want to stop them entirely, you can do that too, but you will need to change settings in two or three places depending on how thoroughly you want to disconnect.
Key Takeaways
- Facebook notifications arrive through your phone, email, and inside the app — turning off one channel does not stop the others.
- The most control comes from Facebook's notification settings, where you can choose which types of activity send you a notification at all.
- To stop notifications completely, you need to change settings in Facebook itself, your phone's app settings, and your email if Facebook has your address.
- You can keep notifications for close friends or important messages while silencing everything else by using Facebook's custom notification rules.
How to change notification settings inside Facebook on your phone
Open the Facebook app and tap the three horizontal lines (the menu icon) at the bottom right. Scroll down and tap Settings & Privacy, then Settings. Tap Notifications. You will see a list of notification types: Comments, Likes, Friend Requests, Event Invitations, and many others.
For each category, you have three choices: On (you get a notification), Off (you do not), or Muted (notifications arrive but without a sound or banner). Tap each category and choose what you want. If you want to stop almost everything, tap each one and select Off. If you want to keep messages from close friends but silence everything else, find Messages and leave it On, then turn off the rest.
After you change these settings, Facebook will stop sending push notifications (the ones that pop up on your lock screen) for the categories you turned off. However, Facebook may still send you email notifications for those same activities. You need to change your email settings separately if you want to stop those.
How to change email notifications from Facebook
Facebook sends emails about comments, likes, friend requests, and event invitations even if you have turned off push notifications. To stop these, go to Facebook on a web browser (not the app) and click the downward arrow in the top right corner. Click Settings & Privacy, then Settings. On the left side, click Notifications.
You will see a section called Email. Click on it. Facebook will show you every type of email notification it can send: Comments, Likes, Friend Requests, Event Invitations, and others. For each one, you can choose On or Off. Turn off the ones you do not want to receive by email.
This step matters because some people turn off push notifications on their phone but never check their email settings, so they still get a message in their inbox every time someone likes their post. If you want to stop Facebook notifications completely, you need to turn them off in both places.
How to silence notifications on your phone without changing Facebook settings
If you want to keep your Facebook notification settings as they are but just stop the sound and banner from interrupting you, you can do that through your phone's settings instead. This is useful if you want to check notifications on your own schedule but do not want them popping up while you are working or with family.
On an iPhone, go to Settings > Notifications > Facebook. Turn off Allow Notifications. This silences all push notifications from Facebook without changing anything inside the Facebook app itself. You can still see notifications if you open Facebook, but they will not interrupt you.
On Android, go to Settings > Apps > Facebook > Notifications. Turn off Allow Notifications. The effect is the same: Facebook can still send notifications, but your phone will not show them to you.
What to do if you want to keep some notifications but not others
Facebook's notification settings let you be selective. You might want to hear about direct messages from your close friends but not about likes on old posts. You might want to know when someone comments on your photo but not when they react with an emoji.
Go back to Facebook's notification settings (the menu icon, Settings & Privacy, Settings, Notifications). For each category, you can choose On, Off, or Muted. Muted means the notification still arrives in the app, but it does not make a sound or show a banner on your lock screen. This is useful if you want to check notifications when you have time but do not want them interrupting you.
You can also customize notifications by person. If you want to hear about messages from your partner but not from a group chat, tap Messages in your notification settings, then look for options to customize by conversation. Not all notification types have this level of detail, but the main ones (Messages, Comments, Likes) usually do.
Why Facebook keeps sending notifications even after you turn them off
The most common reason is that you changed settings in one place but not another. You turned off push notifications on your phone but did not change your email settings, so emails keep arriving. Or you turned off notifications in the app but did not change your phone's app settings, so banners still appear.
Another reason is that Facebook sometimes resets notification settings after an app update. If you turned off notifications months ago and they suddenly started again, check your settings again. Facebook may have turned them back on during an update.
A third reason is that some notifications come from Facebook's website, not the app. If you use Facebook on a web browser on your computer, it has its own notification settings separate from your phone. Check Settings > Notifications on the web version and turn off the categories you do not want there as well.
How to stop Facebook from sending notifications to an old email address
If you have an old email address linked to your Facebook account and you no longer check it, Facebook may still send notifications there. You can remove that email address or change which one receives notifications.
Go to Facebook's web version and click the downward arrow in the top right. Click Settings & Privacy, then Settings. On the left, click Personal Information, then Email. You will see all email addresses linked to your account. If you see one you no longer use, click the X next to it to remove it. If you want to keep the address but stop notifications there, go to Notifications > Email and turn off the categories you do not want.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will turning off notifications stop Facebook from tracking me?
No. Turning off notifications only stops the alerts you receive. Facebook still collects data about what you do on the platform and what you do on other websites. Notifications and tracking are separate things. If you want to reduce tracking, you need to change different settings, like limiting ad targeting or using a privacy-focused browser extension.
Can I turn off notifications for one person but keep them for everyone else?
For messages, yes. Open a conversation with that person, tap their name at the top, and look for Mute Notifications or Notification Settings. For comments and likes, Facebook does not let you silence one specific person — you can only turn off the notification type for everyone or keep it on for everyone.
What is the difference between muting and turning off?
Turning off means you will not see the notification anywhere — not on your lock screen, not in the app, not in email. Muting means the notification still arrives in the Facebook app, but it does not make a sound or show a banner. Use muting if you want to check notifications later on your own schedule.
If I turn off all notifications, will I miss important messages?
You will not get alerts, but the messages will still be in your Facebook inbox. You can check your messages whenever you open the app. If you want to keep notifications for direct messages but turn off everything else, go to your notification settings and turn off each category except Messages.
Do I need to turn off notifications on both my phone and my computer?
Yes, if you use Facebook on both devices. Your phone and computer have separate notification settings. Turning off notifications on your phone does not affect what your computer sends you. If you use Facebook on a web browser on your computer, go to the web version and change those settings too.