The Notification Plague
Google Chrome features a built-in API that allows websites to push desktop notifications to your screen, identical to a native operating system application. While intended for legitimate uses like receiving new email alerts or calendar reminders, it is universally abused by every single news site, blog, and online store on the internet. Nearly every webpage you visit will aggressively throw a “This site wants to show notifications” pop-up in your face before you can even read the article. If you refuse to allow web browsers to act like desktop apps, you must completely paralyze this entire API.
How to Block All Site Notifications Globally
You can permanently sever the browser’s ability to ask for or display alerts via the Site Settings.
- Open the Google Chrome desktop browser.
- Click the three vertical dots (â‹®) in the top right corner and select Settings.
- In the left-hand sidebar, click on Privacy and security.
- In the main window, click on Site settings.
- Under the “Permissions” heading, click on Notifications.
- Under the “Default behavior” heading, select the radio button for “Don’t allow sites to send notifications.”
Absolute Peace
The change takes effect instantly. Google Chrome will completely sever its internal connection to the Windows or macOS notification center. The browser will instantly auto-reject every single background request from any website attempting to establish a notification link. You will never again see a permission pop-up asking to send alerts, and you will never again have a news website slide a breaking news banner onto your desktop, guaranteeing absolute visual peace while browsing the web.