"Don't Wanna Know" is written in the key of G major in common time with a shuffling tempo of 100 beats per minute.

[Don't Wanna Know] freshens up Maroon 5's sound and goes HAM on the repetition (the cornerstone of hitmarking circa 2016) — all but guarantees the band a smash hit in the process.

"[7] Vulture's Halle Kiefer said "it'll be on the soundtrack to every car commercial, Target ad, and drunken breakup you flounder through for the next three months" and went on to say "Don't Wanna Know has a distinctly non-Maroon 5 sound, putting a breezy, bouncy, lighthearted spin on drinking to forget, and dancing to dull the pain of losing the one true connection you ever had.

The music video for "Don't Wanna Know" was directed by David Dobkin[12] and does not include Lamar, instead using the song's original version.

In certain scenes, they're being chased and hiding from people who play the game to capture a creature onto the phone and other times eliminate themselves, as well as the set of shooting a music video in the studio complete with film crew, the band performing in a concert and the house party.

[22] On September 3, 2016, Maroon 5 debuted "Don't Wanna Know", to perform for the first time on their world tour at San Antonio.