How to enable App Store notifications on MacOS to help keep your software up to date

Other than MacOS being less customizable than I'm used to (what with Linux being my primary operating system), there's very little to complain about it. However, something has started to bother me recently… update notifications.

Also: Comparing the best Macs

You see, it's very important to keep your OS and the installed software as up-to-date as possible. Updates fix security issues and other vulnerabilities. If you leave software out-of-date, you risk bad things happening (such as losing data, your OS crashing, or getting hacked).

Out of the box, MacOS doesn't do a very good job of notifying users when there are software updates. Sure, if you frequently open the Apple menu, you'll eventually see a notification for updates there. But that Apple menu isn't the first, second, or third thing I click while using my MacBook Pro. 

Because of that, I'm not always on top of updates like I am with Linux. Why? Because most Linux distributions make it very obvious when there are software updates available. Apple's operating system needs a bit of a hand. Fortunately, the developers made it possible to tweak that behavior just enough that you won't miss updates. 

Also: The best Linux laptops 

Let me show you how to make this easy change.

How to enable software update notifications

What you'll need: The only thing you'll need is an Apple device running MacOS. I'll demonstrate this on MacOS Ventura 13.4.

This should be the default behavior in MacOS because software updates should be taken seriously. Remember, app updates don't only happen when there are new and exciting features to be had. 

Also: The best Mac apps

Even more important are the security updates, and you should consider those a priority to keep your device as free from vulnerabilities as possible.