Block annoying notifications on the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1

Desktop notifications in Windows 10 were designed to be helpful. Their goal is laudable but the implementation does leave a lot to be desired. In many instances, notifications are more trouble than they are worth, which is a shame. If you want to block annoying notifications on the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1, or tone them down a bit, this tutorial is for you.

Windows 10 has improved desktop notifications massively since they were first introduced in Windows 8 but they still aren’t perfect. If you don’t tweak them, there is a risk that you will end up ignoring them and will miss the important ones. Therefore, spending a couple of minutes tweaking them to your liking is well worth the effort.

Here are a few tips for toning notifications down or off completely.

Control desktop notifications on the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1
As the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 uses Windows 10, it is very straightforward to configure notifications.

1. Click the small speech bubble in the bottom right corner of the Windows Desktop.
2. Select All Settings.
3. Select System and then Notifications & actions.
4. Select Add or remove quick actions to change what you see in Action Center.
5. Toggle off ‘Get notifications from apps and other senders’ to block notifications altogether. Leave it on if you want to tune those notifications.
6. Toggle off ‘Show notifications on the lock screen’ and ‘Get tips, tricks and suggestions as you use Windows’.
7. Toggle on or off as you see fit all apps under ‘Get notifications from these senders’.

Granular control over app notifications
The steps above are broad stroke controls over desktop notifications. You can also control how each individual app notifies you from within Notifications & actions.

1. Click an app listed under ‘Get notifications from these senders’.
2. Tweak the settings as you see fit. Pay particular attention to playing notification sounds, which I found particularly annoying when working on my Dell XPS 13 2-in-1.
3. Repeat for each app in the list if you need to.

Now desktop notifications should be much less annoying and much more targeted. If a notification arrives at least you know it is relevant and actually useful!

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