facebook is sending me birthday notifications constantly and i want to stop them. not just the push notifications but also the ones inside facebook itself.
tried going through notification settings but it’s not obvious where birthday notifications specifically are controlled. facebook’s settings menu is a maze.
also not sure if there’s a difference between turning off the notifications versus unfollowing the birthday calendar from the facebook events calendar, which i think i may have synced to google calendar at some point.
where exactly is the setting for this? on both desktop and mobile if they’re in different places. and does changing it affect whether my own birthday shows up for others?
facebook moving settings around constantly is the real problem. the path to notification settings changes often enough that guides become outdated quickly. the search bar trick – searching “notification settings” directly – is the most reliable way to find it regardless of where facebook has moved it recently.
the events sidebar still showing birthdays after disabling notifications is annoying. turning off the push notification is the practical fix but the birthdays don’t actually disappear from facebook, they just stop pinging you. which is probably the right behavior but worth understanding the distinction.
Hiding your own birthday visibility from friends is a separate but related action that many people want to do simultaneously. Setting both the year and the day/month to limited visibility prevents Facebook from broadcasting your birthday to your entire friends list while still letting specific people see it.
facebook birthday notifications are controlled in two separate places, which is why they’re confusing to manage.
to turn off in-app notifications (desktop): click the bell icon top right > settings (gear) > notification settings > birthdays > toggle off or change to no notifications.
to turn off push notifications on mobile: facebook app > menu (three lines) > settings > notification settings > birthdays > off.
for the facebook calendar sync: if you previously synced facebook events to google calendar, birthdays may be coming from there as a separate feed. in google calendar, check your calendar list on the left and look for a “Birthdays” or “Facebook” calendar. you can hide or unsubscribe from that calendar independently of the facebook notification settings.
does changing your notification settings affect your own birthday visibility to others? no. your birthday notifications to others are controlled by your profile birthday privacy settings (profile > edit profile > birthday > who can see your birthday). those are separate from your own notification preferences.
if notifications continue after turning them off in the app: check your phone’s system notification settings (iOS settings > notifications > facebook, or Android settings > apps > facebook > notifications) and verify facebook has permission to send the notification type you’re seeing.
For people with very large Facebook friends lists – hundreds or thousands of connections from professional networking – the birthday notification volume is genuinely overwhelming. Turning them off entirely is the practical choice for those accounts. Selective birthday acknowledgment through other means is more intentional anyway.