Spam alerts keep appearing in Safari, or a trusted site asks to send notifications and you can't find the control that decides.
Open Safari > Settings > Websites > Notifications to allow prompts, deny a single site, or switch off the asking entirely, then check macOS System Settings if Safari banners still slip through.
In this guide, I have covered:
Contents
Find Safari’s notification settings on your Mac
A site asks to send notifications, or alerts from a site you stopped trusting keep appearing, and you want the switch that decides. Safari keeps that switch in its own settings panel, apart from the macOS setting that controls Safari alerts.
On current versions of Safari the menu item reads Settings…. Some older installations still show Preferences… there. Both labels open the same window.
- Open Safari on your Mac.
- Choose Safari > Settings… from the macOS menu bar.
- Select Websites in the Settings sidebar.
- Select Notifications to open the website notification controls.
You’ll know you’re in the right panel when you see the Allow websites to ask for permission to send notifications checkbox and a list of sites that already have a saved choice.
Allow a website to send notifications
You want alerts from a site you actually use, like a chat app or a delivery tracker. Turn the global permission on first, then approve the request when Safari asks.
- In the Notifications panel, select the Allow websites to ask for permission to send notifications checkbox.
- Open the website that should send alerts.
- When Safari asks for permission, click .
The site joins the list in this panel. Safari shows allowed web notifications as banners in the top-right corner of your screen.
Notifications are one of several site permissions in that Websites panel. If you also want control over the files sites save to your Mac, see Allow or Deny Downloads from Sites in Safari browser on Mac.
Stop websites from asking for notifications
Every other site seems to want to ping you, and the prompt is getting old. The global checkbox stops the asking for every new site at once.
- Return to Safari > Settings… > Websites > Notifications.
- Uncheck Allow websites to ask for permission to send notifications.
New sites will not show a notification prompt again.
This switch does not touch sites you already allowed. Those keep sending alerts until you set them to Deny in the list.
You’ll know it worked when a site that used to prompt you loads quietly.
Allow or block notifications for one site
One site is noisy, or one site deserves an exception while everything else stays quiet. A per-site entry lets you decide without touching the rest.
- Open Safari > Settings… > Websites > Notifications.
- Select the website in the list.
- Choose Allow to permit notifications or Deny to block them.
You’ll know it worked when the site’s row shows the permission you picked. To wipe the saved entry instead, click , the minus button.
The same panel holds every other permission that site has. For the full list, read How to View Site Information and Permissions in Safari on Mac.
Turn off all Safari alerts in macOS Settings
You’ve denied every site you can find and banners still arrive, or you need Safari silent for the next hour and don’t care which site sent what. That control sits in macOS, not in Safari.
- Open the Apple menu.
- Choose System Settings….
- Select Notifications in the sidebar.
- Select Safari.
- Turn off Allow Notifications.
You’ll know it worked when Safari stops showing banners. Your per-site choices inside Safari stay exactly as they were, so turning this back on restores every alert you had allowed.
Frequently Asked Questions
The details that trip people up most, answered in one place.
Where are Safari notification settings on a Mac?
Open Safari, choose Safari > Settings… from the menu bar, select Websites, then select Notifications. The global checkbox and the per-site list both live in that panel.
How do I stop one website from sending notifications in Safari?
Open the Notifications list under Websites, select the site, and set its permission to Deny. If the site isn’t listed, uncheck Allow websites to ask for permission to send notifications so it can’t prompt you again.
Will turning off Safari’s global notification permission stop current notifications?
No. It stops new sites from asking, but a site already set to Allow keeps sending. Set that entry to Deny, or turn off Allow Notifications in System Settings > Notifications > Safari to mute all Safari alerts.
Where do Safari website notifications appear?
Safari shows web notification banners in the top-right corner of the Mac screen. They are separate from notifications generated by native Mac apps.
Is “Notify Me” the same as a website notification permission?
No. Notify Me is a separate Safari feature. The Websites > Notifications panel controls whether websites may send notifications.
How can I put back a removed website from notifications section in safari?
You need to again block/stop the website notification. It will automatically add the site URL into Removed section.
unchecking that box in the websites section of safari has no effect whatsover in any version of safari for most sites. apple must be aware of this so it’s either intenional or they just don’t give a shit.