Having issues with your Facebook notifications? Struggling to control which notifications you receive or how they are delivered? Don’t worry – adjusting your Facebook notification settings is easy once you know how.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk through everything you need to know to take control of your Facebook notifications. We’ll cover the basics of Facebook’s notification settings, the different notification types, and how to customize notifications for specific things like Groups, Pages, apps, and more.
What are Facebook notifications?
Facebook notifications are messages sent by Facebook to alert you of activity on the platform. They appear in several places:
- The notifications icon (the globe or bell icon) in the blue bar at the top of Facebook
- The sidebar menu on desktop
- The notifications tab on mobile
Tapping or clicking on these icons will display a list of recent notifications. You can also choose to be notified of some Facebook activities via email or text message depending on your settings.
Why are my Facebook notifications not working?
There are a few common reasons why you may not be receiving Facebook notifications as expected:
- Notifications are turned off: Check your notification settings and make sure notifications are enabled for the various Facebook activities you want to be notified about.
- Facebook is not allowed to send notifications: On your device (iOS or Android), check the device-level notification settings for the Facebook app and make sure notifications are enabled.
- Too many notifications: Facebook limits the number of notifications sent per day. If you’ve hit the limit, you won’t receive notifications until the next day.
- Facebook is having issues: Server problems at Facebook can sometimes disrupt notifications. Check Facebook’s outage page to see if they are having issues.
If your notifications are still not coming through after checking these options, try logging out and back into Facebook on your devices to reset the notification connection.
Types of Facebook notifications
Facebook sends many different types of notifications to alert you of activity happening across its various features. The main notification categories are:
Interactions
These notify you when someone interacts with your posts, photos, videos, or comments on Facebook:
- Reactions to your posts (likes, loves, wows, etc)
- Comments on your posts, shared posts, or media
- Shares of your posts
- Mentions of your name
- Happy birthday messages
Messages
These cover notifications from Facebook’s messaging features:
- New messages in your inbox
- New messages in your filtered message requests folder
- Messages from groups you’ve joined
Groups
Group notifications alert you about activity in groups you’ve joined:
- Posts and comments in the group
- Invitations to join new groups
- Approval to join restricted groups
- Being added to groups by friends
Pages
Page notifications let you know when Pages you follow post updates or go live:
- Posts, photos, videos, events from Pages
- Page going live or premiering video
- Recommendations for new Pages to follow
Events
Event notifications remind you about upcoming events and Event responses:
- Upcoming events you’re interested in or attending
- New event invitations and recommendations
- RSVP responses from friends to events you’re hosting
Friends
Friend notifications keep you up to date as friends join Facebook, update info, add photos, etc:
- Friend requests
- Friends joining Facebook
- Friends updating profile info or cover photo
- Friends posting new profile pictures
- Birthdays
Apps
App notifications alert you to activity within third-party Facebook apps and games:
- Game updates, events, and requests
- Updates from apps you’ve connected to Facebook
- Requests to join apps, take quizzes, etc
Sales and Promotions
These include notifications about deals, shopping features, and Facebook advertisements:
- Sale alerts from Pages you follow
- Shipping and order updates
- Recommendations for products and services that may interest you
- Ads from Pages you follow or have interacted with
Other
Other miscellaneous Facebook notifications include:
- News Feed suggestions
- Friendversary reminders
- Fundraisers you may want to contribute to
- Facebook Community Support updates
- Welcome messages from Facebook
How to manage your Facebook notification settings
Now that you know the different notification types Facebook may send, it’s time to customize your preferences. Navigating to the Notifications tab is how you manage notifications on Facebook.
You can access your Notification settings in a few ways:
- Click the arrow icon in the top right on desktop
- Click the hamburger menu icon on mobile
- Go directly to facebook.com/settings/notifications
This will bring you to the Manage Notifications page. Here you can enable or disable notifications globally, or fine-tune settings for specific notification types.
Global notification settings
At the top of the Notifications page are options to toggle notifications on or off site-wide:
- All notifications: Turn off to disable all notifications. You can still re-enable specific types below.
- Sounds: Toggle sound effects on notifications on/off.
- Vibrations: Turn vibration with notifications on/off (mobile only).
You can also select Off, Friends, or Pages to limit who can send you notifications in general.
Notifications from friends
Under the Friends tab, you can enable friend-related notifications like Friend Requests, Friends Joining Facebook, Profile Updates, and more. Toggle the switch next to each type on or off.
Notifications from pages
Similarly, the Pages tab lets you separately control notifications for when Pages post, go Live, premiere videos, or offer sales and deals.
Groups notifications
Manage which group activities show notifications via the Groups tab. You can disable notifications for certain groups here as well.
Event notifications
Under the Events tab, customize if you want notifications about event invites, recommendations, and reminders.
App notifications
Review which installed apps can send notifications via the Apps tab. Be sure to disable any unwanted app notifications.
Other categories
Additional tabs let you fine-tune notifications around Interactions, Messages, Videos, Sales & Promotions, Community Resources, and more. Go through each to enable/disable notification channels as desired.
Customize notifications from specific people, pages, or groups
For finer control, you can also customize notifications from specific people, Pages, or groups. Here’s how:
Friends
- Go to your friend’s profile
- Click the ellipses “More” icon
- Select “Turn on notifications about…”
- Choose which notifications to enable or disable
Pages
- Go to the Page profile
- Click “Following” below the cover photo
- Click “See first” to prioritize notifications
- Click the ellipses icon to customize other notification options
Groups
- Go to the group profile
- Click the Members button
- Locate your name and adjust the notification settings
You can repeat this process for any other profiles or entities you want to control notifications around.
How to turn Facebook notifications on or off on mobile
If using Facebook on your smartphone, you can also control notifications right from the mobile app settings. Here’s how:
iOS
- Open the Settings app
- Tap “Notifications”
- Select “Facebook”
- Toggle notification channels on or off
You can also open Facebook, tap the hamburger menu, go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Notifications to adjust in-app.
Android
- Open the Settings app
- Tap “Apps & notifications”
- Select “Facebook”
- Customize notification settings
Or in the Facebook app, tap Menu > Settings & privacy > Settings > Notifications.
This controls at the device level which Facebook notification types can be sent. You’ll still need to check the channel-specific toggles within Facebook’s notification settings to fully enable/disable certain notifications.
Other Facebook notification preferences
In addition to the main notification controls, there are a few other notification-related options you can customize:
Show Facebook notifications in desktop browser
By default, browser notifications are disabled for Facebook in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and other desktop browsers. To enable:
- Click the lock icon next to the url on Facebook.com
- Select “Site Settings”
- Under “Permissions” turn “Notifications” on
Now you can receive desktop notifications from Facebook in your browser.
Receive notifications via email or text
Under “Notifications” in Settings, you can add an email address or mobile number to get activity notifications delivered outside the Facebook app itself.
Show notification previews in desktop sidebar
Enable this to see a preview of notifications when you hover over the bell icon in the desktop sidebar. Can be helpful for glanceable alerts.
Turn off red dots for notifications and messages
If you find the little red indicators on the icons too distracting, you can disable them in Settings > Notifications > Additional Options.
Adjust sounds
Customize notification sounds and vibration patterns in Settings > Notifications > Additional Options.
Conclusion
We hope this guide covered everything you need to know to manage notifications in Facebook across desktop, mobile, email, and more. The key takeaways are:
- Access main notification settings via the bell icon or hamburger menu > Settings & Privacy > Settings > Notifications
- Customize specific notification channels like Friends, Groups, Pages, Apps, Events, etc
- Control notifications for individuals through their profiles
- Adjust mobile notifications in the Facebook app or device settings
- Enable browser notifications from the lock icon
Feel free to tweak and test notification options to dial in the perfect balance for your preferences. With Facebook’s detailed controls, you can eliminate unwanted notifications and focus on the activity that matters most to you.