Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, El Capitan Edition

Shutting Up the Bubbles

Of course, little bubbles sliding into the top-right corner of your screen may not always be what you want, especially if you’re trying to beat a deadline.

Dismiss One Bubble

If you’re in a hurry, you can get rid of one of these bubbles with a right-swipe on it (two fingers on a trackpad, one on a Magic Mouse, or just drag it off to the right).

Do Not Disturb (Manual)

But to truly shut up all notifications, turn on Do Not Disturb (Figure 18-2, top).

Tip

The efficiency nut may prefer to simply Option-click the button at the right end of the menu bar. It turns gray, indicating that you’ve just stifled all bubbles until midnight (or until you Option-click it again).

When Do Not Disturb is on, your messages quietly pile up in the Notification Center (described in a moment); they don’t pop up on your screen individually as they happen, and they certainly don’t make any noises.

Do Not Disturb (Automatic)

The Mac can also shut up the bubbles automatically, either according to a daily schedule (like when you’re asleep) or when you’re giving a presentation.

To see it, open System Preferences→Notifications (Figure 18-2, bottom). You’ll find that this version of Do Not Disturb offers all kinds of useful options:

• On a schedule. Here you can specify starting and ending hours for Do Not Disturb to kick in automatically. It’s handy if you’d like the Mac to go dark during the same hours ...