Updates, notifications, messages, all come at us in a constant stream. While many of these digital nudges are welcome, some are not. In particular, notification spam can be a nuisance, misleading, and even cause anxiety for some users. If you’ve found yourself grappling with a constant flood of unwanted messages while using Microsoft Edge, you’re not alone. Fortunately, Microsoft has stepped in to give you back control over your browsing experience and added new features to block website notifications that might be classed as spammy or malicious.
Unwanted website notifications
Website notifications can be a convenient way to stay up-to-date with your favorite web applications. But, this feature can be misused to spam you with unwanted or even misleading messages. In some cases, notification prompts can be used to deceive users. A common tactic includes convincing users to click ‘allow’ to prove that they are not robots.
These notifications might not cause harm directly, but their effects can be unsettling. Nearly three out of five users have had similar experiences, with about 12% of users reporting a negative impact.
Microsoft Edge browser
Microsoft Edge is already capable of blocking known phishing and malware attacks, and protecting against website typos. Now, Microsoft has decided to level up its game and take a stance against abusive notifications.
Working with partners across Microsoft, the team has identified dozens of types of notifications that users interpret as spammy. In response, they have revoked notification privileges from websites known to send these intrusive alerts. This move has resulted in the blocking of billions of misleading notifications globally.
The Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit is also actively collaborating with law enforcement agencies to trace the origin of these deceptive practices, striving to protect users worldwide.
Spammy and misleading notifications
From May, Microsoft Edge took another substantial step to prevent misleading notifications. After in-depth analysis, the team identified that most deceptive notifications originate from unfamiliar sites. Consequently, in Microsoft Edge version 113 and above, the first notification request from an unknown site is shown subtly, via a quiet message in the address bar.
This change has been well-received, with a significant decrease in the number of users reporting issues with notifications.
While Microsoft Edge has amped up its security against spammy notifications, you can still benefit from useful notifications. Alerts will continue to work if you have already accepted them, and you can accept notifications from websites you and other users frequently visit.
For enterprise users, admins can configure an allow list to ensure internal applications can still prompt users for notifications.
Notification Settings
Even with these changes, if you come across an annoying notification, there’s a quick fix. Just click on the ellipsis menu on the notification to access the option to ‘Turn off all notifications’ for that site.
For blocked prompts, users can click the bell icon in the URL bar to access the prompt and allow notifications if they trust the site. This balance between blocking known spammy notification senders and streamlining the notification acceptance experience aims to help you browse with confidence and enjoy the benefits of notifications without the spam.
For more information on the new changes Microsoft has made to its Edge web browser jump over to the .
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