The Ultimate Guide to Turning Off Notifications When Screen Mirroring — iOS, Android, macOS, Windows and Chrome OS

The worst time to get a notification on your device is when you’re screen mirroring to a room full of people.

Those pesky notifications, always blinking, beeping and sliding in at all the wrong times.

How often have you heard a notification ding in the middle of a presentation? Did your audience see a private email pop up on the screen? Has an unexpected message ever revealed your dinner plans during an important meeting?

Text message notification saying Yasss!
Uh-oh.

It happens a lot.

Don’t let notifications embarrass you. There are ways to protect your privacy, whether you’re presenting at work or just sharing family photos on the TV at home. This guide shows you how to turn off notifications on all the major device platforms so you can present worry-free.

iPhone/iPad — How to turn off notifications in iOS 14 and iPadOS 14

 

Step 1

Navigate to Settings and tap “Do Not Disturb.”

iPhone Settings

Step 2

Toggle Do Not Disturb on.

iPhone Settings with Do Not Disturb on

Step 3

Under “Silence,” tap “Always.” This prevents notifications from interrupting you even when you’re actively using the iPhone or iPad.

iPhone Do Not Disturb set to Always

Now that you’ve set Do Not Disturb to be always silenced, all you have to do to silence notifications when you’re sharing your screen is open Control Center and tap the moon icon to enable Do Not Disturb.

To turn off notifications on your iPad, including iPads running iPadOS 14, follow the same steps above.

Note: Check what other settings can be customized on your device. Repeated calls and calls from approved contacts may still push notifications to your iPhone or iPad unless you disable them.

How to turn off notifications in macOS

Step 1

Navigate to the Notification Center. Notification Center can be accessed by either of the following ways:

  • Swipe two fingers from the right edge of your trackpad to left.
  • Click the Notification Center icon in the top right corner of the menu bar.

Mac Notification Center

Step 2

Scroll up and toggle Do Not Disturb on.

If you’re plugging your MacBook into an HDMI port, your default settings will automatically turn on Do Not Disturb while you’re presenting. Wireless presentation software like Ditto mutes notifications as soon as you present, too.

Mac Do Not Disturb on

Note: Check what other notification settings can be customized on your Mac. If you’ve enabled certain settings and connected your Apple ID, your Mac can receive calls pushed from your iPhone. Repeated calls and calls from approved contacts may still push notifications to your Mac unless you disable them.

Here’s how to customize your notification settings on macOS:

Step 1

Navigate to System Preferences.

Step 2

Click notifications.

Mac System Preferences

Step 3

The first item selected in the side menu will be Do Not Disturb. From here, you can customize from which apps you receive notifications, and how and when you receive them. If you want to set up timeframes for when Do Not Disturb is enabled (such as midnight to 6 a.m.), you can do that, too.

Mac Notifications

How to turn off notifications in Windows

Step 1

Navigate to the task bar and right click on the Notification Center icon.

Windows Notification Center

Step 2

Hover over Focus Assist and select “Alarms only.” Now your device will mute all notifications except alarms that you’ve set in apps like Alarms & Clock.

Windows Focus Assist set to Alarms Only

Note: If you still want to receive notifications from individual apps, you can customize each app’s preferred notifications. You can also set automatic timeframes for Focus Assist and schedule what days it will be active.

To customize your notification options on Windows, follow these steps:

Step 1

Navigate to the Start icon on the taskbar and click Settings.

Windows Settings

Step 2

Windows Settings will open. Click System.

Windows System Settings

Step 3

Click Focus Assist. From here you can customize various rules, times and apps that will mute or allow notifications based on your preferences.

Windows Focus Assist

How to turn off notifications in Android

Learn how to screen mirror an Android device to a Mac or Windows computer.

Step 1

Swipe down from the top of your screen to reveal the notifications tray.

Samsung Galaxy Notification TrayGoogle Pixel Notification Tray

Step 2

Tap the Do Not Disturb icon. If Do Not Disturb isn’t on this page, you may need to swipe down a second time, search for it or swipe to the second page of tiles in the tray.

Samsung Galaxy Do Not Disturb turned offSamsung Galaxy Do Not Disturb turned off

Step 3

If a pop-up window appears, you can quickly adjust your Do Not Disturb settings. Tapping “No visuals or sound from notifications” will disable all notifications until you turn Do Not Disturb off.

Google Pixel Do Not Disturb Settings

To turn off notifications on your Android tablet, follow the same steps above.

Note: You can customize your notification settings. The options for customizing notifications settings are a little different between Android devices, but the steps to get there are the same.

How to customize your notification settings on Android:

Step 1

Swipe down from the top of your screen to open the notifications tray. If Do Not Disturb isn’t on this page, you may need to swipe down a second time, search for it or swipe to the second page of tiles in the tray.

Samsung Galaxy Notification TrayGoogle Pixel Notification Tray

Step 2

Long press on the Do Not Disturb button.

Samsung Galaxy Do Not Disturb turned offGoogle Pixel Notification Tray pulled down

Step 3

From here, you can customize how notifications appear on your device, schedule Do Not Disturb duration and allow specific notifications even while Do Not Disturb is enabled.

Samsung Galaxy Do Not Disturb customizationsGoogle Pixel Do Not Disturb customizations

 

How to turn off notifications in Chrome OS

Learn how to screen mirror a Chromebook to Apple TV and Windows.

Step 1

Click the time in the lower right section of your Chromebook’s desktop.

Chromebook main settings

Step 2

Click the Notifications drop down arrow.

Step 3

Toggle Do Not Disturb on.

Chromebook notifications

Step 4

Uncheck all of the options under “Allow notifications from the following.”

Chromebook notifications unchecked

 

Now that you’ve unchecked these options, all you have to do to silence notifications in the future is click the time and then the Do Not Disturb icon.