How to Turn Off Notifications in Windows 10

When one particular alert keeps landing in the corner of your Windows 10 screen, you rarely need to silence the whole PC. The quickest fix is the per-app switch in Settings, or the menu on the notification banner itself, which stops that sender and leaves the rest alone. The master switch that mutes every app is the last resort. First, work out what is actually sending the alert, because a website or a security program is switched off somewhere else.

Work out what is sending the notification

Look at the top line of the banner. Windows prints the name of the sender there: an app name, a browser name, or a Windows feature. Match it to a row below and go straight to that fix.

What the banner shows	Where it really comes from	Where to switch it off
An app name, such as Mail, Calendar, a chat app or a game launcher	A Windows app or desktop program	The banner’s own menu, or that app’s switch in Settings > System > Notifications
Chrome or Edge, with a website address in the text	A website you once allowed to send notifications	The browser’s site permissions (the Windows switch for the browser would mute all of its sites)
Tips, a “finish setting up” message, or a welcome screen after an update	Windows itself	The two checkboxes at the bottom of the Notifications page
An antivirus, VPN or backup program	The program’s own alert system	Usually the program’s own settings, not Windows
Message text visible on the lock screen	Any app allowed to show previews there	That app’s lock screen option in Settings

If the alert appears every time you sign in, the program is probably set to start with Windows. Turning it off in your list of startup apps in Windows 10 stops both the program and its sign-in pop-up.

Stop one app from the banner itself

This is the fastest route, because you act on the exact notification that bothers you.

1. When the banner appears, point at it so its controls show. If it has already gone, open Action center from the speech-bubble icon at the right end of the taskbar and find the same notification there.
2. Open the notification’s menu (the three dots or the gear on the banner).
3. Choose Turn off all notifications for that app (Microsoft’s notifications page documents this option in the notification’s More menu). If your build shows no such option, use the Settings route below.

Silence one app in Settings and keep the rest

Use this route when you want finer control than on or off, for example keeping an app’s alerts in Action center but without the pop-up.

1. Select Start > Settings > System.
2. Open the notifications page in the left column. On many Windows 10 builds it is labeled Notifications & actions; Microsoft’s current support page, which covers Windows 10 and Windows 11, calls it Notifications.
3. Scroll to the list of apps and other senders. Each app has its own switch.
4. Turn off the switch for the app you want to silence. Leave the main switch at the top of the page on.
5. For partial control, select the app’s name instead of its switch to open its own page.

The app’s page holds the options that matter most. Microsoft’s notifications and Do not disturb page lists them as Show notification banners, Show notifications in notification center (Action center on Windows 10), Hide content when notifications are on lock screen, Play a sound and Priority of notifications. A common middle ground is to turn off banners and sound but leave the Action center option on: nothing pops up, yet you can still check the app’s messages when you choose to. Windows 10 builds can word these slightly differently.

Priority decides where an app’s notifications sit in the list. The levels are Top, High and Normal, and only one app can be set to Top, so give that slot to the sender you never want to miss.

Stop website notifications in Chrome and Edge

Websites ask for permission to notify you, and a single careless “Allow” can produce daily alerts that look like Windows messages. Block the site in the browser, not the browser in Windows.

Google Chrome

1. Select More (three dots) > Settings > Privacy and security > Site Settings > Notifications.
2. Find the site under Allowed to send notifications and change it to block, or use Add next to Not allowed to send notifications and enter its address.
3. To stop new sites from interrupting with permission requests, choose Use quieter messaging.

Google’s Chrome notifications help page also describes a per-site route: select View site information at the left of the address bar while you are on the site, then change Notifications.

Microsoft Edge

1. Select Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Site permissions > All sites.
2. Select the site, find the Notifications setting, and choose Block.

On the site itself, View site information in the address bar leads to Permissions for this site > Notifications, as described on Microsoft’s Edge website notifications page. If pop-up windows rather than notifications are the problem, see how to stop pop-ups on Windows 10.

Stop the messages Windows sends about itself

Tips, setup reminders and the welcome screen after an update are not app notifications, so turning off apps does not stop them. At the bottom of the notifications page are two checkboxes: one for the welcome experience shown after updates and at sign-in, and one for tips and suggestions while you use Windows. Clear both. These are why notices can seem to come back after an update even though nothing was reset.

Backup reminders are among the most persistent of these, so there are separate steps to stop the back up your PC reminders in Windows 11 and 10.

Hide lock screen previews and mute sounds

If the problem is privacy or noise rather than the banner, you do not have to turn the app off.

• Previews on the lock screen: on the app’s page, turn on Hide content when notifications are on lock screen. The alert still arrives, but the text stays hidden until you sign in. For the whole lock screen, see how to disable lock screen notifications in Windows 10.
• The chime: turn off Play a sound for the noisy app. If you like the alerts but dislike the tone, you can change the notification sound on Windows 10 instead.

Pause alerts for a few hours with Focus assist

Focus assist is the Windows 10 feature for quiet periods. While it is on, notifications are held back and go straight to Action center, as Microsoft’s Focus assist documentation describes, so you can read them later.

1. Go to Settings > System > Focus assist.
2. Pick a level. One lets only the apps and people on a priority list through; a stricter one lets only alarms through. The exact wording can vary by build.
3. Under Automatic rules, turn on During these times and set the hours, for example 10 PM to 7 AM.
4. Check the other automatic rules on the same page, which can turn quiet mode on in situations such as gaming or presenting.

For a quick pause without Settings, Focus assist can also be toggled from a tile in Action center. More options are covered in how to change Focus assist settings in Windows 10.

The master switch, and what you stop seeing

Turning off the main switch at the top of the notifications page silences every app at once. Before you do it, know what goes quiet with it: calendar reminders, messages from chat apps, Windows Update restart notices, and alerts from Windows Security, such as a threat being found or protection being off.

A safer pattern for most people is to leave the master switch on, keep Windows Security and any backup or sync app (OneDrive, for example) allowed, and turn off only the senders that annoy you. Programs with their own alert system, such as some third-party antivirus suites, may keep showing pop-ups regardless; look for a notifications or silent mode option inside the program.

Windows 10 and Windows 11 labels compared

Many PCs that once ran Windows 10 now run Windows 11, and the names changed.

Task	Windows 10	Current versions of Windows 11
Notifications page	Settings > System > Notifications & actions (on most builds)	Settings > System > Notifications
Where missed alerts collect	Action center	Notification center (Windows key + N)
Quiet hours	Focus assist	Do not disturb, with automatic rules
Timed work sessions	Not part of these settings	Settings > System > Focus, which uses the Clock app and turns on Do not disturb

On Windows 11, Do not disturb has its own bell icon in notification center and its own automatic rules. If the PC is on Windows 11 and the “Add a device” prompt is the problem, see how to turn off “Add a device” notifications in Windows 11.

One more note for Windows 10 PCs: Microsoft ended Windows 10 support on October 14, 2025, and the consumer Extended Security Updates program can keep a device protected until October 12, 2027, according to Microsoft’s Windows 10 end of support page. On an unprotected PC, keep security alerts switched on.

Check it worked, and how to switch things back on

• Check: wait for the app or site to send its next alert, or trigger one yourself (send a test message or calendar reminder). A silenced app should leave no banner; if you kept its Action center option on, the alert still appears there.
• Nothing arrives at all: Focus assist may be on, or the master switch may be off. Check the Focus assist tile in Action center and the top of the notifications page.
• Undo for one app: turn its switch back on in the sender list. Apps you silenced from a banner reappear in the same list with their switch off.
• Undo for a website: move the site from the blocked list back to allowed in Chrome or Edge, or remove it so the site can ask again.

Windows 10 notification questions

Will I miss alarms if I turn every notification off?

You can miss calendar reminders and other alerts that arrive as notifications. If alarms matter, use Focus assist with its alarms-only level instead of the master switch.

Does turning notifications off make the PC faster?

Do not expect a speed boost. The setting only stops alerts from being shown; the apps behind them keep running. To stop a program from running at all, remove it from startup or uninstall it.

Start with the one sender that bothers you most, silence it from its banner or its switch, and only reach for Focus assist or the master switch if the noise continues.