Arrange Notification Center by Time in OS X
To arrange Notification Center by time in OS X, you can’t sort notifications manually, but you can control how they group and display using the Notification settings in System Preferences. The system automatically orders notifications by time, with the newest at the top, and you can adjust per-app settings to show more or fewer recent items.
How Notification Center Orders Notifications
OS X (now macOS) Notification Center has always sorted notifications chronologically, with the most recent at the top. This is not something you can change to alphabetical or manual order—the system uses the timestamp of each notification. When you click on a notification, it’s removed from the list. The “Clear All” button wipes everything, but there’s no built-in way to reorder individual items.
What you can control is how many notifications each app shows. In System Preferences > Notifications, you’ll find a list of apps. For each, you can set the notification style (Banners, Alerts, or None) and choose how many recent items appear in Notification Center. The options are typically 1, 5, 10, or 20. This effectively controls how far back in time you can scroll for each app.
Why You Can’t Manually Sort by Time
Apple designed Notification Center to be a passive feed, not a customizable list. Unlike iOS, where you can edit notification groupings per app, OS X has always kept it simple: time is the only sort key. This is intentional—notifications are meant to be transient, and manual sorting would add complexity without much benefit. If you need to keep track of tasks or reminders, you’re better off using a dedicated app like Reminders or a to-do list.
How to Change Notification Display for Each App
To adjust how notifications appear and how many are kept, follow these steps:
- Open System Preferences (from the Apple menu or Dock).
- Click Notifications.
- Select an app from the left sidebar (e.g., Mail, Calendar, Messages).
- Under Notification Center, use the dropdown to choose how many recent items to show: 1, 5, 10, or 20.
- Also set the alert style: Banners (auto-dismiss), Alerts (stay until dismissed), or None.
These settings apply per app. If you want more notifications visible for a busy app like Mail, set it to 20. For less important apps, reduce it to 1 or 5.
Common Misconception: “Sort by Time” vs. “Group by Time”
Some users search for a way to “sort” notifications by time, expecting to reorder them manually or group them by hour. OS X does not offer either. The only grouping is by app (each app has its own section), and within that section, items are time-sorted. There is no option to group all notifications from the last hour together across apps. If you want that, you’d need a third-party app that aggregates notifications, but those are limited on macOS due to system restrictions.
What to Do If Notifications Are Not in Order
If you notice notifications appearing out of order, it’s usually due to one of these reasons:
- Your Mac’s clock is wrong or set to a different time zone. Go to System Preferences > Date & Time and ensure “Set date and time automatically” is checked.
- An app is sending notifications with incorrect timestamps (rare but possible). Restart the app or the Mac.
- You have multiple displays and notifications appear on a different screen—this doesn’t affect order but can confuse.
If the order still seems off, try logging out and back in, or restarting Notification Center via Activity Monitor (search for “NotificationCenter” and force quit).
Alternatives: Using Do Not Disturb and Scheduling
While you can’t sort by time, you can control when notifications appear using Do Not Disturb. In System Preferences > Notifications, you can set a schedule (e.g., 10 PM to 7 AM) to suppress banners and alerts. This doesn’t reorder anything, but it helps you focus. You can also manually enable Do Not Disturb from the Notification Center (scroll up and toggle it).
For a more granular time-based view, consider using Notification Center’s “Today” view (if you have a compatible OS X version). It shows a summary of your day, including calendar events and reminders, but again, it’s not a chronological list of all notifications.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sort notifications by time instead of by app?
No. OS X groups notifications by app, and within each app, they are sorted by time. There is no global time-sort option. This is a system design choice, and there’s no hidden setting to change it.
How do I clear all notifications at once?
Open Notification Center (click the date/time in the menu bar or swipe from the right edge of the trackpad), then click the X next to “Notification Center” or use the “Clear All” button if available. In newer macOS versions, you may need to click the three-dot menu and select “Clear All Notifications.”
Why do some notifications disappear quickly?
If an app is set to Banners, they appear briefly and auto-dismiss. To keep them on screen until you dismiss them, change the style to Alerts in System Preferences > Notifications for that app.
Can I set a different number of notifications for each app?
Yes. In System Preferences > Notifications, select an app and use the dropdown under “Notification Center” to choose 1, 5, 10, or 20. This is per app, so you can have Mail show 20 and Messages show 5.
Does Notification Center show notifications from the past few days?
It shows as many as the per-app limit allows, but the system may purge older notifications after a while. There’s no explicit time limit, but the total number is capped by the app’s setting and system memory.
What if I want to see notifications from a specific time period?
You can’t filter by time, but you can scroll through the list. For a more structured view, use the Today view (if available) to see calendar events and reminders for the day. For a complete log, consider using third-party notification history apps, but they may require accessibility permissions.
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