diff --git a/.changeset/ten-penguins-roll.md b/.changeset/ten-penguins-roll.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..152bb1524b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/ten-penguins-roll.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-notifications': minor
+---
+
+By default, set notification as read when opening snackbar or web notification link
diff --git a/plugins/notifications/api-report.md b/plugins/notifications/api-report.md
index 9240bdb1c2..5e06ae2616 100644
--- a/plugins/notifications/api-report.md
+++ b/plugins/notifications/api-report.md
@@ -176,20 +176,5 @@ export function useNotificationsApi<T>(
       value: T;
     };
 
-// @public (undocumented)
-export function useTitleCounter(): {
-  setNotificationCount: (newCount: number) => void;
-};
-
-// @public (undocumented)
-export function useWebNotifications(enabled: boolean): {
-  sendWebNotification: (options: {
-    id: string;
-    title: string;
-    description: string;
-    link?: string;
-  }) => Notification | null;
-};
-
 // (No @packageDocumentation comment for this package)
 ```
diff --git a/plugins/notifications/src/components/NotificationsSideBarItem/NotificationsSideBarItem.tsx b/plugins/notifications/src/components/NotificationsSideBarItem/NotificationsSideBarItem.tsx
index 7b55c63747..457893b016 100644
--- a/plugins/notifications/src/components/NotificationsSideBarItem/NotificationsSideBarItem.tsx
+++ b/plugins/notifications/src/components/NotificationsSideBarItem/NotificationsSideBarItem.tsx
@@ -114,7 +114,9 @@ export const NotificationsSidebarItem = (props?: {
   const notificationsRoute = useRouteRef(rootRouteRef);
   // TODO: Do we want to add long polling in case signals are not available
   const { lastSignal } = useSignal<NotificationSignal>('notifications');
-  const { sendWebNotification } = useWebNotifications(webNotificationsEnabled);
+  const { sendWebNotification, requestUserPermission } = useWebNotifications(
+    webNotificationsEnabled,
+  );
   const [refresh, setRefresh] = React.useState(false);
   const { setNotificationCount } = useTitleCounter();
 
@@ -126,6 +128,19 @@ export const NotificationsSidebarItem = (props?: {
             component={Link}
             to={notification.payload.link ?? notificationsRoute()}
             onClick={() => {
+              if (notification.payload.link) {
+                notificationsApi
+                  .updateNotifications({
+                    ids: [notification.id],
+                    read: true,
+                  })
+                  .catch(() => {
+                    alertApi.post({
+                      message: 'Failed to mark notification as read',
+                      severity: 'error',
+                    });
+                  });
+              }
               closeSnackbar(snackBarId);
             }}
           >
@@ -259,6 +274,9 @@ export const NotificationsSidebarItem = (props?: {
       )}
       <SidebarItem
         to={notificationsRoute()}
+        onClick={() => {
+          requestUserPermission();
+        }}
         hasNotifications={!error && !!unreadCount}
         text={text}
         icon={icon}
diff --git a/plugins/notifications/src/hooks/useTitleCounter.ts b/plugins/notifications/src/hooks/useTitleCounter.ts
index 0793cd58d6..399bfb84f4 100644
--- a/plugins/notifications/src/hooks/useTitleCounter.ts
+++ b/plugins/notifications/src/hooks/useTitleCounter.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ const throttledSetTitle = throttle((shownTitle: string) => {
   document.title = shownTitle;
 }, 100);
 
-/** @public */
+/** @internal */
 export function useTitleCounter() {
   const [title, setTitle] = useState(document.title);
   const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
diff --git a/plugins/notifications/src/hooks/useWebNotifications.ts b/plugins/notifications/src/hooks/useWebNotifications.ts
index 728d992130..ec120a614d 100644
--- a/plugins/notifications/src/hooks/useWebNotifications.ts
+++ b/plugins/notifications/src/hooks/useWebNotifications.ts
@@ -13,19 +13,21 @@
  * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
  * limitations under the License.
  */
-import { useCallback, useEffect, useState } from 'react';
+import { useCallback, useState } from 'react';
 import { rootRouteRef } from '../routes';
-import { useRouteRef } from '@backstage/core-plugin-api';
+import { useApi, useRouteRef } from '@backstage/core-plugin-api';
 import { useNavigate } from 'react-router-dom';
+import { notificationsApiRef } from '../api';
 
-/** @public */
+/** @internal */
 export function useWebNotifications(enabled: boolean) {
   const [webNotificationPermission, setWebNotificationPermission] =
     useState('default');
   const notificationsRoute = useRouteRef(rootRouteRef);
+  const notificationsApi = useApi(notificationsApiRef);
   const navigate = useNavigate();
 
-  useEffect(() => {
+  const requestUserPermission = useCallback(() => {
     if (
       enabled &&
       'Notification' in window &&
@@ -57,6 +59,10 @@ export function useWebNotifications(enabled: boolean) {
         event.preventDefault();
         if (options.link) {
           window.open(options.link, '_blank');
+          notificationsApi.updateNotifications({
+            ids: [options.id],
+            read: true,
+          });
         } else {
           navigate(notificationsRoute());
         }
@@ -65,8 +71,8 @@ export function useWebNotifications(enabled: boolean) {
 
       return notification;
     },
-    [webNotificationPermission, navigate, notificationsRoute],
+    [webNotificationPermission, notificationsApi, navigate, notificationsRoute],
   );
 
-  return { sendWebNotification };
+  return { sendWebNotification, requestUserPermission };
 }
diff --git a/plugins/notifications/src/index.ts b/plugins/notifications/src/index.ts
index bb5d76a0cf..25565f1ae1 100644
--- a/plugins/notifications/src/index.ts
+++ b/plugins/notifications/src/index.ts
@@ -15,5 +15,5 @@
  */
 export { notificationsPlugin, NotificationsPage } from './plugin';
 export * from './api';
-export * from './hooks';
+export { useNotificationsApi } from './hooks';
 export * from './components';