Where to find iMessage notification settings on your Mac
Open System Settings (called System Preferences on older Macs). Click Notifications in the left sidebar. Scroll down the list of apps until you find Messages — this controls both text messages and iMessages on your Mac.
Click Messages to open its notification panel. You'll see several toggles and options that control how and when your Mac alerts you to incoming messages. The settings here explore only to your Mac; turning off notifications on your Mac does not affect your iPhone, iPad, or other devices.
Key Takeaways
- iMessage notifications on Mac are controlled through System Settings > Notifications > Messages, not through the Messages app itself.
- You can turn off all notifications, keep them silent, or allow only alerts from specific people by using the Allow Notifications From option.
- Turning off notifications on your Mac does not stop messages from arriving — they straightforward won't alert you until you open the Messages app.
- If you want notifications only during certain hours, use Focus modes (Do Not Disturb, Work, Sleep) to pause alerts without permanently disabling them.
- You can customize sound, banner style, and badge icons separately, so you can have silent notifications that still show a red number on the Messages icon.
Turning off all iMessage notifications
In the Messages notification panel, toggle off Allow Notifications at the top. This stops all alerts, sounds, and banners from appearing when messages arrive. Your messages will still come through and be stored in the Messages app — you straightforward won't be notified.
If you want to keep notifications but make them silent, leave Allow Notifications on and toggle off Sound. This removes the chime or alert sound but keeps visual notifications (banners or badges) if you have them enabled. You can also toggle off Badges to remove the red number that appears on the Messages icon in your Dock.
Allowing notifications only from specific people
If you want to stay silent for most messages but still get alerts from family or work contacts, use the Allow Notifications From option. Click the dropdown menu and choose Contacts or Favorites. If you choose Contacts, you'll get notifications only from people in your Mac's Contacts app. If you choose Favorites, only messages from people you've marked as favorites in Messages will notify you.
This approach keeps your Mac quiet during focus time but ensures you don't miss urgent messages from the people who matter most. You can change this setting at any time without affecting the people themselves — they won't know you've adjusted your notifications.
Using Focus modes to pause notifications on a schedule
Instead of permanently turning off iMessage notifications, you can use Focus modes to pause them during specific times or activities. Click the Control Center icon (usually in the top-right corner of your menu bar) and select Focus. Choose an existing mode like Do Not Disturb, Work, or Sleep, or create a custom one.
When a Focus mode is active, notifications pause automatically. You can set each Focus to allow notifications from specific contacts — for example, your Work Focus might allow alerts from your boss or team, while your Sleep Focus allows only family. Focus modes turn off automatically at the time you set, so you don't have to remember to re-enable notifications.
Customizing notification style and appearance
In the Messages notification panel, you can change how notifications look without turning them off entirely. The Notification Style option lets you choose between Banners (a notification that slides in and disappears) and Alerts (a notification that stays on screen until you dismiss it). Banners are less intrusive; alerts demand your attention.
You can also toggle Show in Notification Center to control whether message notifications appear in your Mac's Notification Center (the panel you open from the top-right corner). Turning this off means notifications won't pile up in that panel, but you'll still see them as banners or alerts if you have those enabled.
What happens when notifications are off
When you turn off iMessage notifications on your Mac, messages still arrive and are stored in the Messages app. The sender sees no difference — your Mac receives the message normally. You straightforward won't hear a sound or see a banner when it comes in. The next time you open the Messages app, you'll see all unread messages waiting for you.
If you're using iCloud to sync messages across devices, turning off Mac notifications does not affect notifications on your iPhone or iPad. Each device has its own notification settings. You can have notifications on your phone but off on your Mac, or vice versa.
Troubleshooting notifications that won't turn off
If you've turned off notifications but still see alerts, check whether a Focus mode is overriding your settings. Open Control Center and look for an active Focus — if one is running, it may have its own notification rules. You can also check whether Messages is set to bypass Focus modes: go to System Settings > Focus, select the active Focus, and scroll to Messages to see if it's allowed to notify you.
Another common cause is that you've adjusted settings for a specific conversation rather than the app itself. In the Messages app, right-click a conversation and look for Hide Alerts or Mute This Conversation. These settings silence only that one conversation, not all iMessages. If you've muted a conversation and want alerts back, right-click it again and choose Show Alerts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the sender know if I turn off notifications?
No. Turning off notifications on your Mac is invisible to the person sending the message. They see no read receipts, no delivery status change, and no indication that you've muted alerts. The message arrives normally; you straightforward won't be notified.
Can I turn off notifications for group chats but keep them for one-on-one messages?
Not through the main notification settings. However, you can mute individual conversations: right-click a group chat in Messages and select Hide Alerts. One-on-one messages will still notify you. This approach works best if you have a few specific conversations you want to silence.
What's the difference between turning off notifications and muting a conversation?
Turning off notifications in System Settings affects all iMessages on your Mac. Muting a conversation in the Messages app silences only that one chat. If you mute a group chat but leave notifications on in System Settings, you'll still get alerts from other conversations.
If I turn off notifications on my Mac, will I still see message badges on the icon?
Only if you leave Badges toggled on in the notification settings. You can have notifications off but badges on, so you'll see a red number on the Messages icon in your Dock without hearing a sound or seeing a banner. Toggle Badges off separately if you want no visual indication at all.
Can I schedule notifications to turn off at a specific time?
Yes, through Focus modes. Create or edit a Focus mode in System Settings > Focus, set the time it should set up and deactivate, and configure which apps can notify you while it's active. Your Mac will automatically pause iMessage notifications at the scheduled time and resume them when the Focus ends.