Get desktop Gmail notifications using Safari in macOS

How often do you check your email? Probably too often and if there aren’t any new messages, it is a waste of time. With a few tweaks you can get desktop notifications in macOS on your Mac.

Even if emails arrive, if they are not important, it is also a time waster. Save time and effort by getting a notification whenever there is a new message. You can choose to read it or ignore it.

Gmail can be added to the Mac Mail app of course, and this will show notifications about new emails, but some people prefer to keep Gmail separate and access it in a browser like Safari or Chrome. You can still receive new message notifications without adding Gmail to Mail. All you need to do is make a few simple tweaks to Gmail's settings.

Many years ago, a Safari extension was required to receive email notifications, but these days notifications are buuilt into websites and browsers. I am going to use Safari, but the same technique works for Chrome too.

Go to Gmail settings

1. Click the gear icon in Gmail to open the menu in the top right corner.
2. Click Settings on the menu that is displayed.
3. In Settings, select the General tab.
4. Scroll down the page until you come to Desktop Notifications.
5. Select New mail notifications on
6. If you see a link, Click here to enable desktop notifications for Gmail, click it.

Allow notifications

Safari displays a standard notifications request at the top of the browser window. Click the Allow button.

Save the changes

Don't forget to scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the Save Changes button. A warning about not saving changes appears if you forget to do this.

Customise Safari notifications

Notifications can be customised in the usual way and there are different styles and several options for badges, sounds, the lock screen and so on.

1. Go to the Apple menu and click System Preferences
2. Click the Notifications icon
3. Select Safari in the list of apps on the left
4. Select the style of notification and the notification options

Wait for an email

Here is the result of enabling Safari notifications and in the top right corner of the screen is a pop-up notification box. You can see the email sender and subject.

There is just two requirements for this to work. Safari must be running and logged into Gmail. Safari can be minimised and does not need to be visible on the screen. Gmail can also be in a tab and you can use other tabs to browse the web. Now you can spend more time browsing the web and less time checking your email.

Do you prefer this method of getting notifications to runnng the Mail app?