How-To

How to Fix Outlook Notifications Not Working

By Ben Stockton

Updated February 21, 2024

Are your Outlook notifications not working on your Windows PC? You’ll need to check your settings. Here’s how.

If you use Outlook to manage your email inbox, you’ll be expecting notifications for your important emails to come through. If they don’t, you might miss an important message reaching you in time. I’ve tweaked my Outlook notifications before, but when my Outlook notifications aren’t working, my troubleshooting usually leads to a few common reasons. You can check these out (and fix the problem) using the steps below.

Check Outlook Notification Settings

If you’re not seeing your Outlook notifications, then you’ll need to check your settings in the Outlook client. If you’ve disabled notifications there, you’ll need to switch them back on again.

To adjust your Outlook notification settings, follow these steps.

1. Open Outlook and press File > Options.
   
2. In the Mail category, scroll down to the Message arrival section.
3. From here, you’ll be able to choose how you want to be notified of new messages. Make sure the Display a Desktop Alert checkbox is selected.
4. Click OK to save changes.
   

This should enable notifications for your Outlook messages, but other system settings may override these.

Enable Notifications in Windows Settings

If you’ve stopped notifications in the Windows Settings menu, this will override any notification settings you’ve enabled in Outlook itself. If this is the case, you’ll need to switch your notifications back on for Outlook in the Settings app.

To turn on Outlook notifications within Windows Settings, follow these steps.

1. Right-click the Start menu and select Settings.
   
2. In Settings, select System > Notifications. This will display your notifications options.
   
3. Scroll down until you find Outlook in the list, then click on it to view its specific notification settings.
   
4. Make sure that the slider for Notifications is switched to the On position.
5. Select Show notification banners to allow pop-ups to appear on your screen.
6. To receive audible notification alerts, make sure that the Play a sound when a notification arrives option is enabled.
   

Disable Do Not Disturb

You may have set your Windows PC to disable notifications during certain periods. If you use Focus Assist on Windows 11, for instance, then your Outlook notifications might be blocked at certain times of the day.

Likewise, if you’ve enabled do not disturb mode, you won’t see any notifications on your device until you’ve disabled this feature. To disable do not disturb mode on your Windows PC, follow these steps.

1. Right-click the Start menu and select Settings.
   
2. In Settings, press System > Notifications to access your notification settings.
3. Click the slider next to Do Not Disturb to disable the feature.
   

Managing Your Outlook Settings

If your Outlook notifications aren’t working, you can usually fix them by trying the steps I’ve outlined above. In most cases, you can fix it by changing your Outlook settings directly, or by checking out your notification settings in the Windows Settings menu.

If you’re on mobile, make sure to check your Outlook app notifications in your device settings—you may have muted them. Likewise, switch off do not disturb mode on any of your Outlook devices, or you’ll miss any message notifications that you want to receive.