How to Manage Website Push Notifications in Safari for OS X

Control which notifications you receive from websites

What to Know

  • In the Safari menu, select Preferences > Websites. Choose Notifications in the left pane.
  • Use the menu next to any website that has requested permission to send notifications to allow or deny the request.
  • Clear the box next to Allow websites to ask for permission to send push notifications to prevent sites from asking permission.

This article explains how to manage website push notifications in Safari for OS X. It includes information on viewing notification-related settings in the Notification Center. This information applies to Safari 9.x and above on Mac OS X.

Change the Safari Permissions

A website must ask your permission before it can push notifications to your desktop, usually as a pop-up question when you visit the site. While useful, these notifications can prove unwieldy and intrusive.

Here's how to deny or allow permissions for push notifications:

  1. Go to the Safari menu and select Preferences.

    The Preferences option under the Safari menu
  2. Select Websites.

    The Websites tab in Safari preferences
  3. Click Notifications in the left menu pane.

    Notifications in Safari Website preferences
  4. The right side of the window contains a list of the sites that asked for permission to send you notifications. Use the menu to the right to either allow or deny those requests.

    The permission menu in Notifications settings
  5. The Allow websites to ask for permission to send push notifications option is enabled by default. This option allows websites to ask you if you want notifications, usually when you first visit their site. To disable this option and prevent sites from asking permission to show alerts, clear the check box.

    The "Allow websites to ask for permission" option
  6. To reset a site's permissions, select it and click Remove. The next time you visit the URL, it asks for permission again, assuming you left the previous option active.

    The Remove button

Change Notification Settings

To view more notification-related settings in the Notification Center:

  1. Open System Preferences either by clicking its icon in the Dock or selecting it from the Finder's Apple menu.

    The System Preferences command under the Apple menu
  2. Click Notifications.

    Notifications in macOS System Preferences
  3. Select Safari from the list of applications in the left menu pane.

    Safari in Notifications settings
  4. Notification preferences specific to the browser appear on the right side of the window. To turn off all notifications, turn off the Allow Notifications from Safari toggle switch.

    The "Allow Notifications from Safari" switch
  5. The Safari alert style section contains three options, each accompanied by an image.

    • None: Disables Safari alerts from displaying on the desktop while keeping notifications active in the Notification Center.
    • Banners: Informs you when a new push notification is available.
    • Alerts: Notifies you and includes relevant buttons. Alerts stay on the screen until you dismiss them.
    Safari alert styles in preferences
  6. Below this section are five more settings, each accompanied by a check box and enabled by default. These settings are as follows:

    • Show notifications on lock screen: When enabled, push notifications generated by your allowed websites display when your Mac is locked.
    • Show notification preview: Specify whether macOS shows previews (which contain more detail about the alert) always or only when the computer is unlocked.
    • Show in Notification Center: Leave this option on to see alerts you might have missed by opening the Notification Center in the upper-right corner of the Finder.
    • Badge app icon: When enabled, the number of Safari alerts to be viewed displays in a red circle overlaying the browser's icon on the Dock.
    • Play sound for notifications: When enabled, an audio alert plays each time you receive a notification.
    Other notification settings for Safari
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