How to Fix: Disable Facebook Notifications in Windows 7, 8, and 10

Infopackets Reader Steve C. writes:

" Dear Dennis,

I am running a Windows 10 PC, which I share with my daughter. Lately I have begun receiving Facebook notifications / popups on the lower right corner of my desktop. These notifications appear every few minutes and it is literally driving me insane. I cannot figure out how to shut this setting off. Searching Google for 'windows disable facebook popups' isn't of any help because I am getting different answers. One says to disable the Facebook app, another says it's a Facebook setting. I have no idea how to do either because I don't even use Facebook. Can you please help!? "

My response:

I asked Steve if he would like me to connect to his system using my remote desktop support service to have a closer look, and he agreed.

Upon connecting, I saw a barrage of Facebook notifications every few minutes from what appeared to be from his daughter's Facebook 'news feed'. This would certainly be distracting if you owned a PC and needed it for productivity.

I did a bit of digging on how to disable Facebook popups and, as Steve suggested, there were many answers to the question. In Steve's case, it was a browser setting in Chrome that fixed the issue. I will describe a few methods for disabling Facebook popups / notifications below in case anyone else is having the same problem.

How to Fix: Disable Facebook Notifications in Windows 7, 8, and 10

1. In Steve's case, the Facebook popups were coming through his web browser. These are called "web push notifications," which is a relatively new browser technology. That said, MANY users find it incredibly annoying when they cannot figure out how to shut off these notifications.
   
   To disable Facebook notifications in Chrome
   
   Open a new tab in Chrome, then enter the following URL and press Enter on the keyboard:
   
   chrome://settings/content/notifications
   
   A new window will appear; look for the Facebook website entry, then click the three dots on the right and select "Block".
   
   To disable Facebook notifications in Firefox
   
   Click the "hamburger menu" (the 3 horizontal lines near the top right of the screen), then click "Options". A new window will appear. On the left side, click "Content"; under the heading "Notifications", click the "Choose" button. Locate the Facebook website and click "Remove". There does not appear to be an option to change the "Block" or "Allow" setting (I have no idea why!), so clicking "Remove" to remove the site will also remove the "Allow" notifications. You can also permanently disable ALL web push notifications on the previous screen if you place a check mark beside "Do not disturb me". You will need to restart Firefox.
   
   To disable Facebook notifications in Edge
   
   Edge will show web push notifications if you have Windows 10 Anniversary Edition or later installed. You can figure out which version you have installed by clicking Start, then type in "winver" and press Enter. If it says "OS Build 14393.xxx" or later, Edge will have web push notification capability.
   
   Assuming that is the case, you can disable notifications by clicking the menu option (the three dots near the top right of the screen), then click Settings -> View Advanced Settings. Scroll down until you see the "Notifications" heading, then click the "Manage" button. A new page will appear, where you can block or allow notifications from sites you've agreed to receive notifications from.
    
2. If you shut off notifications in your web browser but you're still receiving Facebook notifications in Windows 10, it is possible that you have the Facebook App installed. In that case you can disable Facebook notifications (or other notifications from other apps) through the Windows 10 Settings.
   
   To do so, click Start, then click the Settings (cogwheel). The "Settings" window will appear; on the left side, click the "Notifications & Actions" heading. The "Notifications & Actions" window will be displayed; on the right of the screen, select "Get notifications from apps and other senders" to "Off" if you want to disable ALL notifications from ALL apps. If you want to only disable Facebook notifications, scroll down a bit further where it says "Get notifications from these senders" and set Facebook to "Off".

I hope that helps!

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About the author: Dennis Faas is the owner and operator of Infopackets.com. With over 30 years of computing experience, Dennis' areas of expertise are a broad range and include PC hardware, Microsoft Windows, Linux, network administration, and virtualization. Dennis holds a Bachelors degree in Computer Science (1999) and has authored 6 books on the topics of MS Windows and PC Security. If you like the advice you received on this page, please up-vote / Like this page and share it with friends. For technical support inquiries, Dennis can be reached via Live chat online this site using the Zopim Chat service (currently located at the bottom left of the screen); optionally, you can contact Dennis through the website contact form.