Facebook allows users to customize notification settings to control which types of notifications you receive and how you receive them. In this article, we will walk through how to access and modify your Facebook notification settings.
Why change Facebook notification settings?
There are a few key reasons you may want to adjust your Facebook notification settings:
- Reduce distractions – Turn off notifications for less important updates to avoid constant interruptions.
- Control visibility – Disable notifications when your screen is locked to keep private messages private.
- Manage priorities – Fine-tune notifications from people and pages you care about most.
- Optimize relevance – Adjust settings so notifications show you posts and updates you actually want to see.
Customizing notification settings allows you to take control over your Facebook experience. You can minimize clutter, focus on what matters, and engage on your own terms.
How to get to notification settings
You can access your Facebook notification settings in just a few clicks using either the mobile app or desktop site:
On mobile:
- Open the Facebook app on your device.
- Tap the three-line “hamburger” menu icon in the top right.
- Scroll down and select “Settings & Privacy”.
- Tap “Settings”.
- Select “Notifications”.
On desktop:
- Go to www.facebook.com and log in.
- Click the down arrow icon in the top right corner.
- Choose “Settings & Privacy” from the dropdown menu.
- Click “Settings” in the left sidebar.
- Select “Notifications” on the right.
This will bring you to the main notification settings screen where you can configure your preferences.
Notification categories
Facebook divides notification settings into categories that allow you to customize notifications from:
- The Facebook app itself
- Email updates
- Text/SMS messages
- Push notifications
- Pages and groups you follow
- Events and calendars
- Friends and connections
- Facebook Live videos
- Games
When you select each category, you can toggle notifications on or off and configure more specific preferences.
App notifications
These settings allow you to manage in-app notification badges, sounds, and pop-ups you receive from the Facebook app on your mobile device or while using Facebook in a desktop browser.
Email updates
Configure which types of Facebook notifications you want to receive via email, such as friend requests, messages, posts you’re tagged in, and other updates.
Text/SMS messages
Opt in or out of receiving SMS text message alerts from Facebook.
Push notifications
Manage push notifications for Facebook activity like friend requests, events, live videos, and more. These appear on your device even when you are not using the Facebook app.
Pages and groups
Customize notifications from pages and groups you follow on Facebook. You can turn off notifications entirely or select “Favorites” to only be notified about your top picks.
Events and calendars
Adjust whether you want notifications about event invites, upcoming events, event reminders, and other calendar activity.
Friends and connections
Tailor notifications related to your Facebook friends and connections. This includes friend requests, post reactions, comments on your posts, and being tagged in posts.
Facebook Live
Opt into notifications when friends and pages you follow start broadcasting live video streams on Facebook.
Games
Control whether you receive notifications related to Facebook games you play.
Notification methods
For certain notification categories, Facebook allows you to choose how you receive the alerts – via pop-ups, email, or push notifications:
| Notification method | Description |
|---|---|
| Pop-up | In-app alert that appears while using Facebook on desktop or mobile browser. |
| Notification sent to your associated email address. | |
| Push | Alert delivered to your mobile device even when Facebook app is closed. |
This allows you to select your optimal notification channel per notification type.
Other notification settings
Beyond the main notification categories, Facebook provides a few additional notification controls:
- Show in favicon: This makes the Facebook favicon icon on browser tabs show a red notification dot when you have unseen activity.
- Vibrate: Allows you to disable vibration with push notifications.
- Lock screen: Lets you opt out of showing notification contents on your mobile device’s lock screen for privacy.
- Red dots: Allows you to disable small red dots that indicate there is unseen activity within sections of the Facebook app.
Take advantage of these extra settings for even more customized control over your notifications.
Managing notifications from friends
A key part of controlling your Facebook notifications is managing notifications from specific friends. There are a couple ways to do this:
Adjust friend-specific notifications
- Go to your Facebook feed or profile page.
- Click the three-dot menu next to a friend’s name.
- Select “Turn on notifications” or “Turn off notifications”.
This toggles all notifications from that friend on or off.
Mute a friend’s posts
- Go to the friend’s profile page.
- Click the three-dot menu in their cover photo.
- Select “Mute [name]”.
- Choose whether to mute for 24 hours, 30 days, or indefinitely.
This will stop notifications from their posts until you unmute them.
Add friends to Restricted list
- Go to your Facebook Settings.
- Select “Blocking” in the left sidebar.
- Click “Restricted List”.
- Enter the name of the friend you want to restrict.
Friends on your Restricted list will remain as friends, but you will no longer see their posts or receive notifications about their activity.
Managing notifications from pages
You can also customize which Facebook pages do or don’t trigger notifications:
Turn off notifications for a page
- Go to the page’s profile.
- Click “Following” below the cover photo.
- Select “See first” to turn off notifications.
This will stop notifications from that page without unfollowing it.
Unfollow a page
- Go to the page’s profile.
- Click “Following” below the cover photo.
- Choose “Unfollow Page”.
You will stop receiving all notifications from pages you unfollow.
Add pages to Favorites
- Go to your Facebook Settings.
- Select “Pages” in the left sidebar.
- Use the star icon to add pages to your Favorites list.
This will make pages show up higher in your feed and allow you to get notifications from Favorites even with pages notifications turned off.
Notification indicators
Now that you know how to update your notification settings, it helps to recognize Facebook’s visual notification indicators:
- Red dot icon – Unseen notifications are waiting in that section of the app.
- Blue dot on video icon – Someone commented on your live video.
- Bold blue text – Notifications about activity on your own post.
Watch for these cues to check for notifications when you are using Facebook.
Conclusion
Facebook’s detailed notification settings empower you to take control of your notifications. Prioritize updates that matter, minimize clutter, and choose how you want to be alerted to key Facebook activity.
The controls covered here allow you to tweak notifications from the app itself, email, SMS, push channels, friends, pages, and more. Find your ideal configuration and consider muting friends or unfollowing pages if needed.
With your perfect notification settings in place, you can enjoy Facebook on your own terms with the updates you actually want to see.