How to Add a New Mail Sound for Gmail

Hear a sound notification when new Gmail messages arrive

by
Heinz Tschabitscher
Heinz Tschabitscher
Writer
A former freelance contributor who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997.
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Heinz Tschabitscher
Updated on December 15, 2020
reviewed by
Jon Fisher headshot
Jon Fisher
Lifewire Tech Review Board Member
Jonathan Fisher is a CompTIA certified technologist with more than 6 years' experience writing for publications like TechNorms and Help Desk Geek.
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Article reviewed on Jul 08, 2020
Jon Fisher

What to Know

  • With Notifier for Gmail installed, right-click the extension icon next to the Chrome navigation bar.
  • Choose Options and select Play alert sound for new emails in the Notifications section.
  • Change the sound in the drop-down menu and exit.

This article explains how to enable Gmail sound notifications using the Notifier for Gmail extension for Chrome. It includes information for enabling a pop-up notification for Gmail and sound notifications for other email providers.

How to Enable a New Mail Sound for Gmail

If you want to hear a new email sound when you use Gmail in your desktop web browser, you can make that happen—just not in Gmail itself.

Since Gmail doesn't support pushing sound notifications through a web browser, you must install a third-party program like Notifier for Gmail (a Chrome extension).

If you're using the Notifier for Gmail Chrome extension:

  1. Right-click the extension icon next to Chrome's navigation bar and choose Options.

    Screenshot showing Options menu item for Notifier for Gmail

  2. Scroll down to the Notifications section and make sure Play alert sound for new emails is selected.

  3. Change the sound using the drop-down menu.

    Screenshot of Notifier for Gmail settings screen highlighting Play alert sound for new emails and Default sound notification drop-down menu

  4. Exit the window when you're done. The changes are saved automatically.

You can also change your notification sounds on Android or change the new mail sound on iOS to achieve a similar effect in those mobile apps.

If you use Gmail through a downloadable email client like Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird, or eM Client, you make the sound change from within those programs.

How to Enable a Pop-Up Notification

You can set Gmail to display a pop-up notification when new email messages arrive in Chrome, Firefox, or Safari when you are signed in to Gmail and have it open in the browser. Just turn on that setting in Gmail by selecting the Settings icon then choosing See all settings and going to General > Desktop Notifications. The notification is not accompanied by a sound. 

How to Change Gmail Notification Sounds in Other Email Clients

For Outlook users, you can enable notification sounds for new email messages in the FILE > Options > Mail menu, with the Play a sound option from the Message arrival section. To change the sound, open Control Panel and search for "sound". Open the Sound Control Panel applet and modify the New Mail Notification option from the Sounds tab.

Mozilla Thunderbird users can go through a similar process to change the new mail alert noise.

For other email clients, look somewhere in a Settings or Options menu. Remember to use an audio file converter if your notification sound isn't in the correct audio format for the program.

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