How to Customize the Notification Center on Mac

The macOS Big Sur introduced a visual refresh for Mac users. Along with a new Finder menu, a translucent effect in the app’s sidebar, and new icons, Action Center has received a major update. Unlike iOS and iPadOS, Notification Center on Mac combines notifications as well as widgets. Read on to master the action center on Mac.

Action Center on Mac combines all the data from various apps and stores it in one place. You can also add Apple’s built-in widgets or third-party widgets of various sizes. You can even use Action Center to turn on do not disturb mode on your Mac.

Go to Action Center on Mac

The action center is on the right side of the Mac. There are two ways to easily access it on Mac.

• Go to the top right corner of your Mac’s menu bar and click on the date / time to open the menu.
• If you’re using a trackpad with your Mac, place two fingers near the right edge of the pad and swipe left to activate action center. You can slide your finger to the right to close the menu. The trick also works with third-party apps.

Customize Action Center on Mac

It’s pretty easy to mess up the default notification center on Mac. The problem lies in the way macOS handles notifications. It will notify you of incoming notifications, but macOS won’t dismiss them when you read them from the app. Notifications stay in the center until you open them from the action center.

Notifications are grouped together if you have multiple notifications from an app. For example, if you have active news alerts, the notifications for each news outlet are grouped together, and if you click on one of them, the grouping expands so that you can see all the notifications.

Just click on group notifications to expand them. Additionally, if you hover your mouse over a notification, a Delete button will appear at the bottom left that you can use to dismiss it.

Use the system preferences menu

Similar to iOS, Apple also allows you to customize the type of notification on Mac. If you use Outlook and Slack all day, you don’t need Notification Center to handle upcoming notifications. Follow the steps below to customize them from the System Preferences menu on Mac.

Step 1: Use the Command + Space keys and open the Spotlight Search menu.

2nd step: Type System Preferences and open the menu.

Step 3: Go to Notifications> and select the app you want to customize.

Step 4: You can choose from None, Banners, or Alerts. Activate badge icons. Or completely turn off notification for the app.

Add or remove action center widgets

Widgets got a huge boost with the macOS Big Sur update. You can add, resize, or remove widgets from Action Center. Several third-party apps are already integrated with widget support and more and more app developers are adding widgets for their macOS apps.

By default, you will see some of the default calendar and weather widgets in the notification panel. Follow the steps below to add more widgets to the Mac notification panel.

Step 1: Open your Mac and tap the day / time in the top right corner.

2nd step: Scroll down and click Edit Widgets.

Step 3: On the left, a new menu bar will open, consisting of all supported widgets for Mac. Widgets are divided into three sizes: small, medium, and large. Select the appropriate size and you will see the live preview of the widget on the screen.

Step 4: Hover over the widget and you will see a live “+” icon to add the widget to the notification panel.

Step 5: You can also just drag and drop the widget into the notification panel.

You can also use drag and drop to move around widgets in the Mac notification panel.

Remove widgets from action center

Removing widgets from the action center is pretty straightforward. Open Action Center and right-click (if using the mouse) or double-click the trackpad. From the next pop-up menu, select Remove Widget.

You can also change the size of the widget from the same menu.

Manage notifications intelligently

While the action center has received a facelift, it takes some time to customize it. The best part is that you can also turn off some options if you don’t plan on using them. This is because the action center has the potential to be used with care to save time. So go ahead and customize the action center experience on your Mac.