How to Use Mac Notification Center and Widgets

Click the date and time in the top-right corner of your Mac to open Notification Center — see alerts, check the weather, view your calendar, and more.

In this guide (5 steps):

1.Open Notification Center
2.Clear notifications
3.Edit your widgets
4.Try desktop widgets (macOS Sonoma and later)
5.Control notification settings per app

Open Notification Center

~15s

Click the date and time at the very top-right corner of your Mac's screen. A panel slides in from the right showing your recent notifications and widgets.

Clear notifications

~20s

Hover over a group of notifications → click "X" to dismiss them. To clear all notifications from one app at once, hover over the app's group and click the X that appears.

Quick Tip

If notifications are distracting during a meeting or focused work, click the moon icon (or go to Control CenterFocusDo Not Disturb) to pause all notifications temporarily.

Edit your widgets

~15s

Scroll to the bottom of Notification Center and click "Edit Widgets." An overlay appears showing available widgets. Click the + button to add a widget, or drag and rearrange existing ones.

Try desktop widgets (macOS Sonoma and later)

~15s

Click an empty area of your desktop (not the Notification Center panel). Widgets appear on the desktop background. They interact like interactive notes on a bulletin board.

Control notification settings per app

~15s

Go to System SettingsNotifications and click any app. Here you can control whether it shows banners, sounds, or badge numbers. For noisy apps, turn off sounds while keeping banners.

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Notification Center on Mac is a panel that slides in from the right side of the screen when you click the date and time in the top-right corner of the menu bar. It shows two things: your recent notifications (alerts from apps) and widgets (at-a-glance information panels).

Notifications

show alerts you may have missed — emails, messages, reminders, and other app alerts. You can act on some notifications directly in the panel (like replying to a message) or click them to open the relevant app.

Widgets

sit below your notifications and show useful information without opening an app: - Clock showing current time and date - Weather forecast - Calendar showing today's events - Reminders tasks - Battery levels (for iPhone, iPad, AirPods if nearby) - Stock market data - Photos recent memories - Calculator

Starting with macOS Sonoma (2023) and later, widgets can also appear directly on your desktop background — not just in the side panel. Just click an empty area of the desktop to see desktop widgets.

You can add, remove, and rearrange widgets by clicking "Edit Widgets" at the bottom of the Notification Center panel. Third-party apps can also add widgets — calendar apps, news apps, fitness apps, and more.

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