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Teams notifications not working

Communications KB-076

Summary

This guide helps you troubleshoot and resolve: Teams notifications not working. Follow the steps below to fix the issue.

Quick Tip: Need immediate assistance? 💻 Open a Ticket

Common Causes

Overview

If you’re missing Teams messages because notifications aren’t appearing, follow these steps to fix notification settings.

Last audited: 26 May 2024. This article is reviewed quarterly.

This guide applies to both the new Microsoft Teams (Teams 2.0) and the classic Teams client. Where steps or file paths differ between versions, they are clearly labelled.

Important: Your IT administrator may have set tenant-level notification policies that override your personal Teams settings. If you suspect this is the case, Open a Ticket.

Quick checks

1. Check your status

If your status is Do Not Disturb or Busy, notifications may be suppressed.

  1. Click your profile picture → select Available.

2. Check Windows Focus Assist

Windows only: Focus Assist is a Windows feature and does not apply to macOS.

  1. Open the notification centre (bottom-right of the screen).
  2. Check if Focus Assist is on.
  3. If it is, turn it off or set it to “Alarms only”.

3. Check Teams settings

  1. In Teams, click your profile → Settings.
  2. Select Notifications.
  3. Ensure notifications are enabled.

Verify Teams is running in the background and not fully closed. On Windows, right-click the Teams icon in the system tray to confirm it is active. On mobile, ensure the app is not force-closed, as push notifications require the app to be available in the background.

Fix desktop notifications

Enable desktop notifications

  1. In Teams, click your profile → Settings.
  2. Go to Notifications → Desktop notifications.
  3. Select All messages or at least Mentions and direct messages.
  4. Make sure Show message preview is on.

Fix missing notifications

  1. Close Teams completely (right-click the Teams icon in the taskbar → Quit).
  2. Reopen Teams.
  3. Check if notifications appear.

Check Windows notification settings

Windows only: These steps apply to Windows 10 and Windows 11.

  1. Open Settings → System → Notifications.
  2. Find Microsoft Teams in the list.
  3. Enable notifications and banners.

Clear Teams cache

Warning: Clearing the Teams cache may sign you out of the application. You will need your username and password to sign back in.

Windows (classic Teams)

  1. Close Teams completely.
  2. Open File Explorer.
  3. Navigate to %appdata%\Microsoft\Teams.
  4. Delete the contents of the Cache, blob_storage, databases, GPUCache, IndexedDB, and Local Storage folders.
  5. Restart Teams.

Windows (new Teams / Teams 2.0)

  1. Close Teams completely.
  2. Open File Explorer.
  3. Navigate to %appdata%\Microsoft\Teams\Classic.
  4. Delete the contents of the Cache, blob_storage, databases, GPUCache, IndexedDB, and Local Storage folders.
  5. Restart Teams.

macOS

  1. Quit Teams completely.
  2. Open Finder and select Go → Go to Folder.
  3. Enter ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Teams.
  4. Delete the contents of the cache folders listed above.
  5. Restart Teams.

Check OS notification permissions (macOS, iOS, Android)

Make sure the operating system allows Teams to show notifications.

  • macOS: System Settings → Notifications → Microsoft Teams → enable.
  • iOS: Settings app → Apps → Microsoft Teams → Notifications → enable.
  • Android: Settings app → Apps → Microsoft Teams → Notifications → enable.

Fix mobile notifications

Check mobile quiet hours / Do Not Disturb

Ensure quiet hours or Do Not Disturb are not silencing Teams push notifications.

  • iOS: Settings → Focus → Do Not Disturb.
  • Android: Settings → Sound → Do Not Disturb.
  • Teams app: Settings → Notifications → make sure “Quiet hours” are disabled.

Teams mobile app

  1. Open the Teams app.
  2. Go to Settings → Notifications.
  3. Turn notifications ON.
  4. Verify “Send to mobile” is enabled for important chats.

For issues where the mobile app is not syncing, see Mobile app not syncing.

Channel vs. chat notifications

Chat messages

  • You are notified for direct messages and group chats.
  • Ensure you are not muted (right-click the conversation → Unmute).

Channel messages

  • You need to Follow a channel to receive notifications.
  • Go to the channel → click … → Follow this channel.
  • For creating a new channel, refer to How to create Teams channel.

@Mentions

  • You should always be notified when someone @mentions you.
  • Check: Settings → Notifications → @Mentions.

Chat notifications apply to direct messages and group chats. Channel notifications apply to posts in standard or shared channels you follow. @Mentions trigger a notification whenever someone tags you, regardless of your other settings.

Troubleshooting by issue

Issue Solution
No notification sounds Check Windows sound settings and Teams notification sounds.
Notifications only when app is open Ensure Teams is running in the background (even minimised).
Missing only channel notifications Follow the channel (see above).
Only some notifications are missing Check your priority and filter settings in Teams.
Notifications delayed Check network connection and consider clearing the Teams cache.
Teams blocked by firewall or proxy Ensure your network firewall or proxy allows traffic to Microsoft Teams endpoints. Contact your IT administrator to whitelist the required Teams domains and IP ranges.

Still having issues?

If you have completed these steps and Teams notifications are still not working, please Open a Ticket so our support team can investigate further.

Still Having Issues?

Need more help? If the issue persists after trying these steps, please open a support ticket and our team will assist you.

💻 Open a Ticket

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