When I add an observation field, I get a notification whenever an ID is added to that observation. Unfollowing each observation Individually on the subscriptions page is not practical. Turning off notifications for Confirming IDs does not work because I have not added an ID to the observation. Ha…

I agree this is a problem. I even considered setting up a separate account for adding observation fields because it creates so much notification spam, but I was told this is against iNaturalist guidelines. You should create a feature request for this.

If someone does submit a feature request, keep in mind that we aren’t accepting requests having to do with notifications. I don’t know if it’s possible for a request to address this issue without focusing on notifications (ie, solely focused on the following aspect) or not.

[image] cthawley: keep in mind that we aren’t accepting requests having to do with notifications. It is unreasonable not to accept such requests still after all this time. The notification revamp promised 6 years ago was never the worked on so requests need to open back up again.

@ jwidness Thank you so much! This is so helpful!

Is there a way to turn off the autofollow feature when adding observation fields?

General

jwidness November 15, 2025, 4:39am 2

If you use the universal metadata tool, you can prevent following observations when you add fields.

Topic		Replies	Views
Add a setting to disable automatically following observations when adding IDs Feature Requests	2	710	October 22, 2019
Now getting notifications for observation field additions on other people's observations Bug Reports	7	151	September 29, 2026
How to not automatically follow observations I identify? General question	20	759	February 7, 2025
Unsubscribe from IDs of my own observations? General	2	448	March 21, 2024
Unsubscribing from observations General	4	406	June 25, 2023

Is there a way to turn off the autofollow feature when adding observation fields?

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