Stop websites sending you notifications on your Mac

Why it happens

When a website asks to send notifications and you click Allow, it can show alerts on your Mac even when Safari is closed. Some sites trick you into it, with messages like "Click Allow to confirm you're not a robot". The alerts often come from ad networks, not the site you meant to visit, so they keep coming until you take the permission back.

How to fix it

1. Open Safari, then choose Safari > Settings from the menu bar and click the Websites tab. Click Notifications in the list on the left.

   Safari›Settings…›Websites›Notifications

2. Find each site you don't recognise or don't want, click the pop-up next to it and choose Deny. To forget a site completely, select it and click Remove.

3. At the bottom of the same window, untick Allow websites to ask for permission to send notifications. Sites then stop asking you.

4. For a second check, open System Settings and click Notifications. Websites that can send alerts are listed under Application Notifications by their own name. Click one and turn off Allow notifications. Another browser you use shows up in the same list, and you can turn it off there.

   Notifications

Still not fixed?

1. If alerts keep coming, look at the name in the alert itself. It tells you which site or app sent it, so you know which one to turn off.

2. Don't click anything inside an alert that says your Mac has a virus or needs cleaning. Those are adverts. Close it and deny that site in Safari settings.

3. If you added a website to the Dock as a web app, it has its own notification setting. Find it by name in Notifications settings and turn off Allow notifications.

   Notifications

4. If pop-up pages keep opening in Safari, or your home page changes by itself, check Applications in Finder for anything you didn't install and move it to the Trash.

5. If unwanted alerts or pages keep coming back after all of this, contact Apple Support. They can check your Mac with you.