Google Chrome is fixing its ‘notification overload’ problem with this handy new feature –here’s how it works

• Google Chrome is adding a new notification management feature
• Notifications will be disabled for sites you haven’t used recently
• The tweak is being pushed out to Google Chrome on desktop and Android

Google^[1] Chrome is taking steps to reduce the number of notifications you see in your browser: starting on the desktop and on Android, the app will start to turn off notification permissions for websites you “haven’t interacted with recently”.

As per the Chromium Blog^[2], the idea is that you get a quieter browsing experience that’s disrupted less often, but still see notifications that matter – from websites you are using regularly. The blog states that “this feature will only revoke permissions for sites when there is very low user engagement and a high volume of notifications being sent”.

This is actually something Chrome already does for camera and location permissions. If you’ve given a site these access privileges and then stop visiting it, it’s best to revoke the privileges in the interests of security.

According to the blog post, less than 1% of notifications get any interaction, but there’s also an acknowledgement that “notifications can be genuinely valuable and helpful” – and nothing will happen to the alerts from sites you’re visiting often.

Notification settings

There’s no exact timeframe given for what actually counts as a site you haven’t interacted with recently, but you will see a message pop up from Chrome whenever it decides to unsubscribe you from notifications from a particular website.

At that point (or at any other time) you can review the list of sites allowed to send you alerts: In the desktop browser, click the three dots (top right), then Settings > Privacy and security > Site settings > Notifications. On Android, tap the three dots (top right), then Settings > Notifications.

It’s also possible to turn this new feature off entirely, if you don’t want Google Chrome messing with your notifications settings for any site – though it seems to be a useful and convenient tweak that doesn’t need much in the way of management.

Tests by the Google Chrome team “show a significant reduction in notification overload with only a minimal change in total notification clicks” apparently, and sites that send fewer notifications actually end up getting more clicks on them.

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