Notification banners won't go away on MacBook Air

Boot into Safe Mode according to Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support and see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and check again.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

Apparently, if it is an "Alert" it will stay on screen, but a "Banner" will disappear after a few seconds. When I updated to Big Sur, it defaulted my calendar items and Reminders to Alert. If you go to System Preferences > Notifications, you can scroll down the list of apps and see a description below the app name saying whether they are allowed to use badges, sounds and alerts/banners. Scan through looking for ones that use "Alerts" and those are the sticky ones. You can switch to "Banner" to have them disappear after a few seconds.

I had this problem too. When I migrated from an older MacBook Pro to a new one running Big Sur, my notifications that previously disappeared after a few seconds all got "stuck" and obstructed my view of other things on the screen. Here's how to fix this: You have to understand that Apple makes a distinction between "banners" and "alerts." Banners appear in the upper-right corner and disappear automatically after a few seconds, but alerts stay there until you dismiss them. JaypeHere, what you are calling "banners" are actually "alerts." I don't know why updating to Big Sur turned all my banners into alerts, but it was confusing and VERY unwelcome! Here's how I was able to fix it (ignore the answer below from Apple representative, which doesn't address the problem you asked about): Go to System Preferences>Notifications and then go through each application individually to turn notifications on or off, and to customize whether they are banners or alerts. Unfortunately, I don't see a way to customize the length of time that a banner will remain onscreen, which I think was a feature in past operating systems. I don't appreciate that change either!

I was able to resolve this by changing each notification type from 'Alert' to 'Banner', in System Preferences > Notifications. Alerts do not go away automatically, but banners do. My calendar notifications had been set to Alert, and we're piling up very annoyingly. Now they go away on their own :)

The problem, which I am also experiencing, is exacerbated by the fact that we're dealing with notifications from the system, not from specific apps. I can turn all my notifications from apps off (I don't need them anyway.) But, for example, when I put my AirPods in for my phone, and my macbook's bluetooth sees that they're nearby, it pops up an alert "AirPods nearby" and it won't go away unless you click the X. This isn't a notification from some app... it's part of the OS. And bluetooth settings/prefs don't have any option to turn off alerts or notifications.

Boot into Safe Mode according to Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to nearly twice as long as a normal boot as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

Go to Apple Logo ---> System Preferences ---> Notifications ---> Check each app and select Banner where Alert is already selected.

Banner appears in the upper-right corner and go away automatically.

Alerts stay on screen until dismissed

Hey there JaypeHere,

Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities. We understand that you're needing assistance with your notifications. We're happy to provide some assistance.

You can customize your banner notifications by following the steps under the "Customize alerts or turn them off" section here:

Use notifications on your Mac

As mentioned in that section "You can also control other features here, such as whether notifications appear on your lock screen or include a preview. A preview contains a portion of the email, chat, or other content associated with the notification. You can choose to show previews never, always, or only when you unlock your Mac."

If this was not what you were looking for, you can leave suggestions here: Product Feedback

We hope this helps.

Have a great day!

Hi judythings

I am also experiencing the same issue with notifications banners. They don’t automatically disappear. I have to click on the x to make them disappear.

Any idea to solve this issue?

Thanks,

Maxime

So what if we don't want to turn off the banner notification entirely. We just want them to clear automatically, say after 5 seconds or so? Instead, they stay on forever until you clear them by clicking the X? It's actually really annoying especially when you have several banners just sitting there. Hope they fix this soon!

They really messed up notifications big time with Big Sur. There's a whole string of very angry users, because a simple feature in Catalina that allowed us to choose one of many different snooze times (from 5 minutes, up to 1 week), is totally missing in Big Sur. Now snooze if fixed at 9 minutes, which basically makes it useless. Big Sur = Big Fail

inquisitive7, the fuss is about Big Sur changing our notification preferences from banners to alerts. Average users can't be expected to immediately understand that something that looks like a "banner" is actually an "alert," or to know how to change alerts back to the original settings. I've been using Macs for decades and I didn't "get it" until I dug around in System Preferences and read the fine print. Anytime a company wastes our time and annoys us unnecessarily, that's a disappointing result that deserves some negative feedback. I see no good reason why notification settings should default to alerts when people update their OS.

Hey there,

Mac notifications are divided into two categories, Banners and Alerts.

Alerts are annoying, stay forever until you press the X, Banners are on for a few seconds and disappear.

All you have to do is go through your notification settings apps one by one and make sure they're all banners.

It's an annoying process especially if you've got a lot of apps, but it's worth it.

For the umpteenth time, we users don't want to turn notifications off. We want them to work the way Apple says they're supposed to work. Banners are supposed to appear and then go away ON THEIR OWN. We should not be required to DO EXTRA WORK to close each and every notification.

In other words, your banners are behaving like alerts. This is especially annoying on the laptop when the banner covers documents we need to see to do our work. I know they are banners because that is the setting in System Preferences - Notifications. To put it another way: do not presume we are idiots and haven't checked System Preferences. We have.

Let me repeat: your banners are behaving like alerts.

So, please, for the love of all that is good in this world, address the actual problem that has been described here. And, while you are at it, apologize to the 300+ users who have reported the problem to you to no avail. If you lack the required decision-making power, run this issue up the chain of command. If executives won't deal with the issue, have them contact me personally. This post is tied to my Apple ID. You know who I am and how to find me.

If you want Apple to see your concern, you should address it to Apple. The "community specialists" here simply help out answering questions when there are too many for the volunteer users to answer. The communities here are a special and totally separate entity and have nothing to do with the actual Apple support department.

You can use this mechanism:

www.apple.com/feedback