diff --git a/notifications/config.go b/notifications/config.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5768dc8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/notifications/config.go
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+package notifications
+
+import (
+	"github.com/safing/portbase/config"
+)
+
+// Configuration Keys.
+var (
+	CfgUseSystemNotificationsKey = "core/useSystemNotifications"
+	useSystemNotifications       config.BoolOption
+)
+
+func registerConfig() error {
+	if err := config.Register(&config.Option{
+		Name:           "Desktop Notifications",
+		Key:            CfgUseSystemNotificationsKey,
+		Description:    "In addition to showing notifications in the Portmaster App, also send them to the Desktop. This requires the Portmaster Notifier to be running.",
+		OptType:        config.OptTypeBool,
+		ExpertiseLevel: config.ExpertiseLevelUser,
+		ReleaseLevel:   config.ReleaseLevelStable,
+		DefaultValue:   true, // TODO: turn off by default on unsupported systems
+		Annotations: config.Annotations{
+			config.DisplayOrderAnnotation: -15,
+			config.CategoryAnnotation:     "User Interface",
+		},
+	}); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	useSystemNotifications = config.Concurrent.GetAsBool(CfgUseSystemNotificationsKey, true)
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/notifications/module.go b/notifications/module.go
index b523a99..1000e94 100644
--- a/notifications/module.go
+++ b/notifications/module.go
@@ -11,7 +11,11 @@ var (
 )
 
 func init() {
-	module = modules.Register("notifications", nil, start, nil, "database", "base")
+	module = modules.Register("notifications", prep, start, nil, "database", "base")
+}
+
+func prep() error {
+	return registerConfig()
 }
 
 func start() error {
diff --git a/notifications/notification.go b/notifications/notification.go
index 0deef9d..1b283d0 100644
--- a/notifications/notification.go
+++ b/notifications/notification.go
@@ -75,6 +75,8 @@ type Notification struct {
 	// ShowOnSystem specifies if the notification should be also shown on the
 	// operating system. Notifications shown on the operating system level are
 	// more focus-intrusive and should only be used for important notifications.
+	// If the configuration option "Desktop Notifications" is switched off, this
+	// will be forced to false on the first save.
 	ShowOnSystem bool
 	// EventData contains an additional payload for the notification. This payload
 	// may contain contextual data and may be used by a localization framework
@@ -319,9 +321,15 @@ func (n *Notification) save(pushUpdate bool) {
 		n.State = Active
 	}
 
-	// check key
+	// Initialize on first save.
 	if !n.KeyIsSet() {
+		// Set database key.
 		n.SetKey(fmt.Sprintf("notifications:all/%s", n.EventID))
+
+		// Check if notifications should be shown on the system at all.
+		if !useSystemNotifications() {
+			n.ShowOnSystem = false
+		}
 	}
 
 	// Update meta data.