How to stop facebook messages from going to email

I’m logged into Facebook for much of the day and see most of the notifications as they come in so I don’t really need to get them via email too. Can I just turn them off altogether? Thanks!

Rick’s answer: I understand your frustration over receiving all those notification emails, Sara. I got tired of them pretty quick myself after I first opened my Facebook account.

Luckily, it’s very easy to block the emails for routine notifications while still allowing the really important ones to come through (which I strongly recommend). Just follow the steps below for the device you use to access Facebook.

Follow these steps if you access Facebook via a web browser on a laptop or desktop computer:

1 – Click on the down arrow on the right-hand side of the menu bar near the top of the Facebook window.

2 – Click Settings & Privacy.

3 – Click Settings.

4 – In the far left-hand column, click Notifications.

5 – Scroll down to the “How You Get Notifications” section and click Email.

6 – Select Only notifications about your account, security and privacy.

Follow these steps if you use the Facebook app on a mobile device:

1 – Tap the Menu icon (it looks like three horizontal lines stacked atop one another).

2 – Tap Settings & Privacy.

3 – Tap Settings.

4 – Scroll down to the “Notifications” section and tap Notification Settings.

5 – Scroll down to the “Where you Receive Notifications” section and tap Email.

6 – Tap Email Frequencyand then select Only about your account.

That’s all there is to it. From now on the only emails you’ll receive from Facebook will be important administrative notifications that you really don’t want to miss.

Bonus tip: Want to learn all the ins-and-outs of Facebook? Just get yourself a copy of Facebook All-in-One For Dummies (#ad),  a comprehensive Facebook resource that I find myself using almost every day!

I hope this helps, Sara. Good luck!

Update from Sara:  You’re a lifesaver Rick. I made the change this morning and I haven’t received an email from Facebook since then. Thanks a lot!!!

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Facebook email notifications can be a big pain, so we thought it’d be helpful for you to know how to turn them off. Read more on the Sanebox blog.

1. Follow this link to go to your Facebook Settings page, (also found from your Facebook account Menu under Privacy & Settings.)

2. Select the Notifications category (left column), and scroll down to choose the Email controls under “How you get Notifications.”
   

   

3. Finish by moving to select the “Only about your Account” choice.
   

   

Or here’s an easy alternative - enable SaneNews

If you don’t want to go through all this trouble, you can leave the Facebook notification settings unchanged and turn on SaneBox’s SaneNews feature folder instead.

That enables you to still allow extra notifications to be sent to you, while enjoying the power of having SaneBox instruct your email server to move them to your SaneNews folder where they won’t interrupt your day (and where you can read them at your convenience and not have them pollute your Inbox or focus-time.)

Haven’t tried SaneBox yet? Sign up here and get a free 14 day trial.