Delete website notifications

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I inadvertently approved receiving notifications from select websites and then wanted to delete those approvals after discovering my mistake. However, I can't seem to figure out any way to fully delete them once approved. Yes, I can throw toggles to NOT display them but I mean fully delete them as if I never approved them. Anyone know a way to do that?

Note the underlined words. I know how to turn them off. If you've done that, open Settings, Notifications and look through the list. Notifications turned off live on THERE. I'd like to delete them in a such a way that they no longer show at all in that list. If anyone knows a way, I'd love to know how to do that.

 

[Mr_Ed]

I inadvertently approved receiving notifications from select websites and then wanted to delete those approvals after discovering my mistake. However, I can't seem to figure out any way to fully delete them once approved. Yes, I can throw toggles to NOT display them but I mean fully delete them as if I never approved them. Anyone know a way to do that?

Damn. I always refuse those requests from websites just on principle. It never even occurred to me to consider how to turn them off if I did accept.

 

[rymc02]

I inadvertently approved receiving notifications from select websites and then wanted to delete those approvals after discovering my mistake. However, I can't seem to figure out any way to fully delete them once approved. Yes, I can throw toggles to NOT display them but I mean fully delete them as if I never approved them. Anyone know a way to do that?

open Safari, go to "Safari" > "Settings", then select the "Websites" tab and click "Notifications" on the left; from there, choose "Deny" for any website you don't want to receive notifications from

Funny enough, this answer was from Google AI summary 🤣

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Damn. I always refuse those requests from websites just on principle. It never even occurred to me to consider how to turn them off if I did accept.

Some place the approval button in a spot that is too easy to click (obviously by design). And you find yourself getting bombarded with notifications about topics of no ongoing interest to you at all. Turning them off is a remedy... but the list of them gets longer & longer. There should be a way to DELETE select notifications but if there is, it eludes me.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

open Safari, go to "Safari" > "Settings", then select the "Websites" tab and click "Notifications" on the left; from there, choose "Deny" for any website you don't want to receive notifications from

Funny enough, this answer was from Google AI summary 🤣

Yes, that turns them off. If you've done that, open Settings, Notifications and look through the list. They live on there and that list only gets longer & longer over time. I'd like to prune THAT list to only notifications I actually want.

I've got nearly 20 notifications for a Chinese retail site I don't even remember ever visiting. All have slightly different names before a dot>samename>dotcom . I'd like to clear all of them from the notifications list. But there doesn't seem to be a way.

 

[richard13]

Yes, that turns them off. If you've done that, open Settings, Notifications and look through the list. They live on there and that list only gets longer & longer over time. I'd like to prune THAT list to only notifications I actually want.

I've got nearly 20 notifications for a Chinese retail site I don't even remember ever visiting. All have slightly different names before a dot>samename>dotcom . I'd like to clear all of them from the notifications list. But there doesn't seem to be a way.

From the location in Settings... When I select the one I want to delete and click the remove button it shortens the list. Or am I missing something here?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

From the location in Settings... When I select the one I want to delete and click the remove button it shortens the list. Or am I missing something here?

Where is the remote button? In macOS or in iOS (or clone)?

In macOS, (system) Settings, Notifications, using the list of all notifications, left click on them displays options for badge, banner, sound, etc. Right click only offers "reset notifications." I don't see a "remove" anywhere.

In iOS, Settings, Notifications, I also don't see a "remove" anywhere.

There is a "remove" button in Safari but the notifications in Safari do not include the ones I'd like to remove from the system Settings, Notifications list (outside of Safari). I have only 6 notifications in Safari, Website, Notifications list. I have about 40 Notifications in either macOS or iOS Notifications lists in (System) settings. Those are the ones I would like to prune down.

In fact, I just deleted all 6 notifications in Safari but the System notifications remain unchanged.

 

[richard13]

Where is the remote button? In macOS or in iOS (or clone)?

In macOS, (system) Settings, Notifications, using the list of all notifications, left click on them displays options for badge, banner, sound, etc. Right click only offers "reset notifications." I don't see a "remove" anywhere.

In iOS, Settings, Notifications, I also don't see a "remove" anywhere.

There is a "remove" button in Safari but the notifications in Safari do not include the ones I'd like to remove from the system Settings, Notifications list (outside of Safari). I have only 6 notifications in Safari, Website, Notifications list. I have about 40 Notifications in either macOS or iOS Notifications lists in (System) settings. Those are the ones I would like to prune down.

In fact, I just deleted all 6 notifications in Safari but the System notifications remain unchanged.

Sorry, I based my response on the previous reply you received and was for Safari.

Regarding the Application Notifications in System Settings, you can remove an app and it will be removed from the list. But for apps that are associated with websites, I'm not so sure. For one of mine, I went back to the web site and turned off push notifications but the entry remains in MacOS. Now I'm wondering how to remove them.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Sorry, I based my response on the previous reply you received and was for Safari.

Regarding the Application Notifications in System Settings, you can remove an app and it will be removed from the list. But for apps that are associated with websites, I'm not so sure. For one of mine, I went back to the web site and turned off push notifications but the entry remains in MacOS. Now I'm wondering how to remove them.

These are definitely not app-related notifications. Again, the one I'd most like removed is a Chinese retail store that- best I know- I've never visited. Yet it has about HALF of all notifications on the system level. It may have been installed by some app installation such as maybe makeMKV, Handbrake or similar but it has a Safari icon in front of it, so I strongly suspect I got it from Safari usage. It is definitely not obviously associated with any particular app, nor has any obvious way to detect such an association. My guess is that I clicked some OK on some website and it inserted a notification(s) at the system level.

Another guess is that some plist or similar could be edited to get them OUT of the Notifications list... but I'd actually like to delete them (and anything outside of some plist or similar to which they are associated).

An Apple-like option would be to hover over one to delete, right click and choose "delete" but there seems to be no such option in any form.

 

[richard13]

These are definitely not app-related notifications. Again, the one I'd most like removed is a Chinese retail store that- best I know- I've never visited. Yet it has about HALF of all notifications on the system level. It may have been installed by some app installation such as maybe makeMKV, Handbrake or similar but it has a Safari icon in front of it, so I strongly suspect I got it from Safari usage. It is definitely not obviously associated with any particular app, nor has any obvious way to detect such an association. My guess is that I clicked some OK on some website and it inserted a notification(s) at the system level.

Another guess is that some plist or similar could be edited to get them OUT of the Notifications list... but I'd actually like to delete them (and anything outside of some plist or similar to which they are associated).

An Apple-like option would be to hover over one to delete, right click and choose "delete" but there seems to be no such option in any form.

So I looked at this again, and it appears I was on the right track in the first place. If I remove a website from the Settings > Notifications in Safari, it also gets removed from the System Settings > Notifications > Application Notifications. At least, it does on my MBA.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, that works for Safari notifications. I’ve removed ALL of mine in Safari, leaving none in that pane.

Over in system settings, notifications, many notifications remain. Some of these are tied to installed apps and should be there. However a number of them are independent of apps… like someone(s) on websites figured out how to install website notifications as if they are system notifications… perhaps so they would survive a “deny” choice by users or outright purge of notifications in Safari?

They are the ones that I would like to purge too. And there doesn’t seem to be any obvious way to do so.

 

[richard13]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, that works for Safari notifications. I’ve removed ALL of mine in Safari, leaving none in that pane.

Over in system settings, notifications, many notifications remain. Some of these are tied to installed apps and should be there. However a number of them are independent of apps… like someone(s) on websites figured out how to install website notifications as if they are system notifications… perhaps so they would survive a “deny” choice by users or outright purge of notifications in Safari?

They are the ones that I would like to purge too. And there doesn’t seem to be any obvious way to do so.

Just so I understand, you have entries under Application Notifications what are NOT in the Safari Notifications list, like this highlighted one?

If so, I don't think that's expected behavior (I'm not an expert at this though). And yes, I would be unhappy if I saw something like that. Especially if I didn't remember signing up for notifications. In such a case, me personally, I would prepare to backup, wipe my system, and reinstall. Things like that would bother me. It would always be suspect that something nefarious was going on.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Yes, like that.

What's missing that seems like it should be there is a way to take a step beyond just toggling "off"... and that is "delete this notification." I'm surprised that doesn't exist.

 

[zarmanto]

Yes, like that.

I'm pretty sure that those entries are typically* only supposed to exist for applications which are installed to your device -- but the Apple ecosystem is so intertwined within itself, that I suspect it may also be possible for another device on your account to generate such entries, and for those entries to crosspollinate across your devices. Do you have other Apple devices (such as a Mac or iPad or another iPhone) that are attached to your Apple account?

* Acknowledging of course that some of what you've described herein does not sound exactly "typical"... so I could easily be barking up the wrong tree.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Yes, another Mac with only the same apps (basically clone of desktop to laptop in terms of app installs, etc- nothing unique) installed and an iPad with it's own mix of apps but these notifications not showing in its System Settings, Notifications pane... just one (main) Mac (Silicon and up to date).

My gut guess is there is some way to install a notification from browsing that can land in System Settings vs. only Safari settings. Then, it's just a matter of clicking a button on some website to trigger the install.

The one that bugs me the most appears to be a Chinese online retail store... that- to the best of my knowledge- I've NEVER visited in Safari, nor purchased anything, nor installed any app on anything from them. They don't have just 1 entry but many, presenting as gbetaX.<url name> where X sequentially increases from 1 to 15 (for 15 total entries) with then a few more prefixed with www. and wwwpre. and newbg. In other words, in system settings, Notifications, it shows 18 entries for this one URL, differing only by what shows before the first dot. And then there's a few others like that too, also referencing URLs instead of apps, also differing by text before the first dot.

All have Safari icons in front of them, but Safari notifications is definitely "bare", as I deleted ALL notifications in there to see if anything is associate with these. I just checked the other Mac to be sure Safari notifications on it was bare- they are- and that its System notifications do NOT include these that bug me- they do not show on the other Mac.

Lastly, I have a retired MB and just fired it up to clear all Safari Notifications from it too. It had a fair number of them but not the problematic ones. Deleted all of them from it, then checked its System Notifications and the problematic ones do not appear in its list either. Back to main Mac, shut Safari down, rebooted and no change. The Safari coned ones still show in System Settings, Notifications.

 

[zarmanto]

Yes, another Mac with only the same apps (basically clone of desktop to laptop in terms of app installs, etc- nothing unique) installed and an iPad with it's own mix of apps but these notifications not showing in its System Settings, Notifications pane... just one (main) Mac (Silicon and up to date).

...

Lastly, I have a retired MB and just fired it up to clear all Safari Notifications from it too. It had a fair number of them but not the problematic ones. Deleted all of them from it, then checked its System Notifications and the problematic ones do not appear in its list either. Back to main Mac, shut Safari down, rebooted and no change. The Safari coned ones still show in System Settings, Notifications.

Got it; somehow I missed the fact that you were talking about a Mac in the first place; I assumed we were talking about an iOS device. So here's the next obvious question that pops into my head -- and I apologize if you've already addressed this and I missed that, too, but... Is it at all possible that someone else was using one of your devices at some point, while logged into your account?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

No. The Mac with this issue is only used by me.

Again, my guess is that there is some way for clever website notification programmers to make what should be a Safari-based notification become a System-based notification and- I presume- I have clicked something somewhere where 1+ of these got installed in that way. Maybe it is an old hole that has since been closed? Or maybe it still exists as an exploitable bug through the System notification system.

A remedy beyond closing the hole would be some option to select unwanted notification in that list and delete them vs. only the "off" toggle. But Apple needs to make such an option happen.

 

[zarmanto]

No. The Mac with this issue is only used by me.

Again, my guess is that there is some way for clever website notification programmers to make what should be a Safari-based notification become a System-based notification and- I presume- I have clicked something somewhere where 1+ of these got installed in that way. Maybe it is an old hole that has since been closed? Or maybe it still exists as an exploitable bug through the System notification system.

A remedy beyond closing the hole would be some option to select unwanted notification in that list and delete them vs. only the "off" toggle. But Apple needs to make such an option happen.

I'm afraid I cannot speak with any authority to the notion of clever websites somehow putting notifications on your system without you visiting those websites. That said...

Based upon a few minutes of research, it appears that Apple expects users to be able to delete those web-based notifications from within Safari settings. Given that you've already tried that and seem to have found all references to those notifications missing from within Safari, you'll probably need to take slightly more drastic measures.

According to a Reddit post, the process should look something like this (which I've attempted to clean up a bit for your convenience):

1. Clear your browsing history from within Safari,
2. Quit Safari,
3. Quit System Settings if it's open,
4. Navigate to the ~/Library/Safari/RemoteNotifications/ folder in the Finder,
5. Inside that folder, look for Permissions.plist, and
   1. Either move it to another folder (if you think there might be web notifications that you actually want) or
   2. Just delete it, (if you don't care about any of the web notifications that are presently on your Mac)
6. Log out of your Mac and log back in.

The system should automatically rebuild an empty Permissions.plist when it is needed.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Thank you very much for caring enough to keep helping. That's very nice of you.

Best I know, these specific entries in System Settings were NEVER entries in Safari Notifications. Again, for the most prominent one, I don't recall ever visiting the URL. It's not a matter of forgetting either. It's a Chinese retailer and I don't read the language, so I almost certainly never found my way to them by general search & shopping.

The tie to Safari is in the icon that shows to the left of the System Settings Notifications entry but I doubt these were ever Safari Notifications in the past. If I was wild guessing, I would guess that some "OK" button click on some site was actually approving a Notification instead of OK'ing whatever the popup box seemed to be offering. And somehow, they found a way to turn what should have been a notification within Safari into a System-level notification. But that's just wild guess.

I gave the checklist a try anyway just to see what would happen and no change. I even put the old Safari notifications plist in the trash and deleted it ahead of the reboot to force the creation of a new one.

 

[zarmanto]

I gave the checklist a try anyway just to see what would happen and no change. I even put the old Safari notifications plist in the trash and deleted it ahead of the reboot to force the creation of a new one.

Honestly, I was skeptical that those instructions could affect your circumstances, even though others in that thread purported to have the same problem, but as you say, I figured it was worth a try. Would have been nice if it was that simple.

The internet isn't always great for fringe situations like yours, no matter how good you are at google-fu... but those saved Notification entries have to exist somewhere, and I strongly suspect that another plist is your culprit. I'd have to sit down at my own Mac (which isn't in front of me right now) in order to investigate it further.

 

[zarmanto]

Another plist for you to try experimenting with: ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.ncprefs.plist

As before, move or delete the file and logout/log back in to see if it helps.

Also, what version of macOS are you running on the affected Mac? This file exists at least as far back as High Sierra*, but it's possible that newer systems use it differently -- or possibly even not at all.

* Yes, yes... I know that High Sierra is seriously out of date. The 2010 MacBook in my bedroom doesn't update readily past that. And it might not hold a charge anymore, but hey, it still runs! If I have some time, I'll try to look at the plists on my iMac later this weekend.