How to block annoying notifications on Chrome

Google Chrome might be the most popular browser, but it has one extremely annoying bad habit: constantly asking if you want the website you’re visiting to be able to send you notifications.

These intrusive pop-ups are not only annoying as hell (I can confidently say I have never wanted any website to send me useless desktop notifications), but incredibly disruptive. 

If you’re sick of these notifications, there is an easy way to make them go away for good — if you know where to look. 

1. Launch Chrome’s settings menu

Start by launching Chrome’s settings menu, which you can find in the menu next to the address bar. Scroll to the bottom and select “Settings.”

Image: screenshot / google chrome

2. Find the “Advanced” menu

Once you select settings, this will open a new tab with a bunch of menus. Again, scroll to the very bottom and select “Advanced.”

Image: screenshot / google chrome

3. Select “Site Settings”

From the advanced menu, scroll down to “Site Settings,” underneath the “Privacy and security” sections.

Image: screenshot / google chrome

4. Find “Notifications”

Once you’re in “Site Settings,” select “Notifications.” The first thing you’ll see is “Ask before sending (recommended).” This may be the “recommended” setting, but don’t let Google’s confusing wording trick you. If this is enabled, it means websites are free to send you those annoying requests for notifications. Toggle this setting off so it looks like the image below.

Note that you don’t have to take an all or nothing approach here. If there are some websites you want to see notifications from, you can add specific sites in the section below labeled “Allow.” Likewise, if there are just a couple of annoying sites you want to block, you can add those in the “Block” section.

5. Bonus: Disable location access

Since you’re already messing with your Chrome settings, why not go a step further and disable Chrome’s ability to track your exact location — another feature that too many random sites also seem to abuse. 

To do this, go back to “Site Settings” (step 3, above) and select “Location.” Then, make sure it is switched to “Blocked” so it looks like the image below.

Image: screeshot / google chrome

And that’s it! Chrome should save all your changes automatically, so no need to worry about waiting for your preferences to update. 

Of course, there are a whole bunch of other settings you should consider changing if you want to feel safer while you browse and use Google. But, at the very least, blocking notifications and location access should make your day-to-day browsing a little less annoying.