PcFixin'

How to Turn Off Ads and Suggestions on a Mac

By PcFixin' · July 17, 2026 · Mac · macOS, privacy, notifications

Reduce personalized ads, promotional notifications, website alerts, and search suggestions by adjusting a few macOS settings.

Before you start

These instructions are for macOS Sequoia 15. Apple may rename or move a setting in later versions, but you can usually find it by using the search box at the top of System Settings.

Unlike Windows 11, macOS does not normally place ads in Finder, the Apple menu, or on the Lock Screen. Most unwanted promotions on a Mac come from personalized Apple advertising, app notifications, website alerts, and suggestions in Safari or Spotlight.

Turn off personalized Apple ads

Apple can personalize advertising in services such as the App Store, Apple News, and Stocks using information associated with your account. Turning off personalization does not remove every ad, but the ads you see should no longer be selected using that information.

1. Open the Apple menu in the upper-left corner of the screen and choose System Settings.
2. Select Privacy & Security in the sidebar.
3. Scroll down and click Apple Advertising.
4. Turn off Personalized Ads.

Block promotional app notifications

Apps can use notifications for useful alerts, but some also send recommendations, offers, or reminders to return. macOS lets you silence individual apps without affecting notifications from everything else.

Review the list rather than switching off all notifications. You may want to keep alerts from Messages, Calendar, or security software while silencing apps such as the App Store, News, TV, games, or shopping services.

1. Open System Settings and click Notifications.
2. Scroll through the application list and select an app that sends unwanted messages.
3. Turn off Allow notifications to silence that app completely.
4. Alternatively, leave notifications enabled and turn off banners, sounds, or badges to make them less intrusive.
5. Repeat for any other apps that send promotional alerts.

Keep alerts off the Lock Screen

A Mac does not display built-in advertising on its Lock Screen. However, notification previews can reveal promotional messages while the Mac is locked or its display is sleeping. You can hide those previews or stop locked-screen notifications altogether.

1. In System Settings, open Notifications.
2. Set Show previews to When Unlocked or Never.
3. If available on your Mac, turn off Allow notifications when the screen is locked and Allow notifications when the display is sleeping.

Stop website notification requests in Safari

Website notifications are a common source of misleading virus warnings, sales messages, and other unwanted pop-ups. These alerts can appear even when Safari is not open, so closing the original website will not necessarily stop them.

1. Open Safari.
2. Choose Safari from the menu bar, then select Settings.
3. Click Websites, followed by Notifications in the left column.
4. For an unwanted website, open its menu and choose Deny. You can also select the site and click Remove to clear its permission.
5. Turn off Allow websites to ask for permission to send notifications if you do not want future websites to show notification prompts.

Reduce Safari and Spotlight suggestions

Safari and Spotlight can show search suggestions as you type. These are not necessarily advertisements, but turning them off can produce a quieter, more private search experience with fewer recommendations from Apple or your selected search engine.

1. In Safari, choose Safari > Settings, then click Search.
2. Turn off Include Safari Suggestions.
3. Turn off Include search engine suggestions if you also want to stop suggestions supplied by your search provider.
4. To adjust Spotlight, open System Settings and click Spotlight.
5. Under Search Results, turn off Siri Suggestions if that option appears. You can also disable any other result categories you do not want Spotlight to include.

Limit app tracking and App Store previews

Tracking controls can prevent compatible apps from asking permission to follow your activity across other companies’ apps and websites. This will not remove all advertising, but it can reduce the information available for ad personalization.

You can also stop videos from automatically playing while you browse the Mac App Store.

1. Open System Settings and select Privacy & Security.
2. Click Tracking.
3. Turn off Allow apps to request to track, or disable tracking for individual apps in the list.
4. Open the App Store, choose App Store > Settings from the menu bar, and set Video Autoplay to Off.

Bottom line

macOS has fewer built-in promotional areas than Windows, but Apple ads, app alerts, website notifications, and search suggestions can still create clutter. Adjusting these settings makes your Mac quieter without disabling useful notifications you want to keep.