How to Turn Off Notifications in Google+

One of the best things that has emerged about Google+ is the amount of conversation created when Google+ users share a post. By default, you will receive notifications both in your Google toolbar and via email when you are mentioned in a post, when someone shares a post directly with you, or when someone comments on a post either you created or after you comment on someone else’s posts. You will also be notified when you are added to a circle, tagged in photos, or when someone starts a huddle conversation with you. Thankfully, there are easy ways to turn off notifications in Google+.

Mute a post.

If you want to turn off notifications for only certain posts in which you have commented or been mentioned, you can mute the post. You can’t do this for your own posts, but it works on posts others have shared. To turn off notifications from posts others have shared, click the arrow in the top right corner of the post and from the dropdown menu, select Mute this post. You will no longer receive any additional notifications about this post.

Disable email notifications.

To turn off email notifications from Google+, visit your Google+ settings by clicking the gear icon in the Google toolbar while using Google+. On the next page, choose which activities you would no longer like to receive email notifications about. You can also opt to receive these notifications by SMS by adding your phone number on this page, if you would prefer.

Block Google+ notifications.

If you find the notifications in the Google toolbar to be annoying or distracting while using other Google products like Google Reader and Gmail, you may want to turn off the Google+ notifications in this toolbar. An easy way to do this if you use Chrome is to install the browser extension BlockPlus. This browser extension blocks all references to Google+ from the global Google navigation toolbar, including Google+ notifications, effectively turning notifications off while using other Google products.